by New Ford recall: over 66,000 hybrids due to a fault in the sound warning system
Ford has announced a new recall campaign covering more than 66,000 hybrid vehicles. This time, the issue concerns the Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS), which may suddenly stop working. The peculiarity of the situation is that some of these vehicles had already undergone repairs under a previous recall, but the fix proved incomplete.
According to documents filed with the NHTSA, the recall affects 2025-2027 Ford Explorer Hybrid and 2024-2027 Lincoln Nautilus Hybrid models equipped with the Phoenix audio system. In total, Ford reports 18,242 Explorers and 48,141 Nautiluses, together amounting to 66,383 SUVs.
The sound you should hear
The problem is related to the Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS), sometimes called the pedestrian warning system. Federal regulations require electrified vehicles to emit warning sounds at low speeds, as the electric drivetrain is often too quiet for pedestrians to hear. Ford notes that affected vehicles may randomly fail to emit these sounds while traveling below 30 km/h in electric mode due to an audio processing software error.
Link to the previous recall
The peculiarity of this recall lies in its connection to the previous Ford Safety Recall 25SA2 campaign. That campaign was aimed at fixing a software defect in the digital signal processor (DSP) and audio control module. After dealers began applying the fix in late 2025, Ford started receiving complaints from owners that the pedestrian warning system had stopped working again. Many also saw a message on the instrument panel: “Pedestrian sound signal malfunction. Contact service.”
Root cause search continues
Ford’s investigation identified a potential software problem in the 24-channel DSP system used in some Nautilus hybrids. But this explanation covered only part of the issue. Later, engineers discovered another problem that could likely affect all audio system configurations in both the Nautilus Hybrid and Explorer Hybrid.
Ford believes the problem may be related to a loss of communication between the audio control module and the accessory protocol interface module, although the exact root cause is still under investigation. As of May 1, Ford had received 72 warranty claims related to pedestrian warning system failures after the recall, of which 65 involved the Nautilus and 7 involved the Explorer.
The automaker states it is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this defect. Additional corrective measures, beyond a software update, are under development. Hopefully, this time the problem will be resolved permanently, but we are not holding our breath.
This situation underscores the complexity of modern automotive systems, where software plays a critical role in safety. The fact that the previous fix did not work indicates that diagnosing and eliminating faults in such systems may require deeper analysis and testing. For owners, this means an additional visit to the dealer, but it is important that the company is actively working to resolve the issue to ensure pedestrian safety. Given the scale of the recall and the history of previous failed repair attempts, the success of the new campaign will be of great importance for consumer trust in the brand.
