Ford is recalling 148,663 Mustangs from the 2024, 2025 and 2026 model years because ground connections in the engine compartment wiring harness can fracture, and a fractured ground can take away drive power while the car is moving. Owners have started receiving interim warning letters. The repair itself is not expected until March 2027.
The wait is the sting. The recall covers Mustangs built from September 7, 2022 through June 9, 2026, and the fix is a hardware swap that dealers cannot yet perform.
Ground eyelets that fatigue under engine vibration
A ground connection is the return half of an electrical circuit: current leaves the battery, does its work, and comes back through a metal terminal bolted to the body or engine. When that terminal breaks, everything sharing the path can misbehave at once. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s campaign record, the engine compartment wiring harness ground connections “may fracture and result in a loss of drive power, or a loss of function in the windshield washing system, headlights, air conditioning, or engine cooling fan.” NHTSA’s consequence statement is short and direct: “A loss of driver power increases the risk of a crash,” and a loss of headlights or washer function “can reduce visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.”
The autoevolution account of Ford’s filing traces the fracture to assembly. Adhesive from heat-shrink material can intrude into the bolt-clearance area of the ground eyelets, bending them and cutting their fatigue resistance, so engine vibration eventually cracks the terminal. Fox Business reports that a Check Engine light, dashboard warnings or audible chimes may precede a power loss, though the filings do not promise that every failure gives notice.
Two broken eyelets in a June durability test
Ford’s own paperwork shows the company found the problem itself. Its Part 573 safety recall report says a durability test on June 4, 2026 turned up two broken eyelets on a 2027 model year vehicle, and a stop-ship followed. A Critical Concern Review Group evaluated the issue on June 9, engineers spent June and July studying failure modes and timing, and a Field Review Committee approved the recall on August 18. Ford filed with NHTSA on August 25 and notified dealers on August 28, the same day the affected VINs became searchable.
Field evidence was thin. As of August 4, Ford had identified eight U.S. warranty claims, four of them within three months of purchase, and had received no Vehicle Owner Questionnaires from customers. Fox Business reports no accidents or injuries documented as of the August 18 approval.
Ford estimates that about 1% of the recalled vehicles carry the defect. A 1% rate across 148,663 cars implies roughly 1,500 Mustangs with a terminal that could fail, and Ford has recalled all of them because it cannot tell from outside which ones they are. The CBS News summary of the filing places the build window from September 7, 2022 to June 9, 2026, and autoevolution identifies Flat Rock, Michigan as the plant.
An interim letter now, new terminals in March 2027
The remedy is a parts replacement. Per the NHTSA record, “Dealers will replace the engine compartment wiring harness ground terminals, free of charge,” and the Part 573 filing specifies four terminals swapped for revised standoff eyelet pigtails with a redesigned neck geometry. Interim letters, which notify owners of the safety risk, were mailed in early September; NHTSA’s record dates them September 5, while CBS News reports Ford’s window as August 31 through September 4. A second round of letters goes out once the parts exist, which the federal record puts at March 2027.
Autoevolution describes the replacement part as a terminal with stepped-neck geometry that removes the assembly interference behind the bent eyelets. That is the reason a software update or a simple re-torque will not do: the defect sits in the shape of the part and how it seats, so dealers need newly manufactured terminals for every one of the 148,663 cars, and the March 2027 date is when Ford expects those parts to exist.
Owners can look up a VIN on NHTSA’s recall site or call Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford’s recall reference is 26C40; the federal campaign number is 26V547.
The filings offer owners no driving restriction for the months in between, and the redesigned eyelet was engineered only after the June test, with Ford listing remedy letters in the first quarter of 2027. Seven months is a long time to carry a known fracture risk across 148,663 cars. The eight warranty claims in Ford’s filing are the count to watch: any new field failure during the wait would be the first real evidence of how well interim letters and dealer inspections are holding the line, and NHTSA’s public complaint database is where it would show up first.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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