— A Ford Expedition recall has convinced the government to close an investigation into seat belt pretensioners that deployed for no apparent reason in 2019 Ford Expeditions.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened the Ford Expedition investigation in November 2023 following owner complaints about inadvertent seat belt pretensioner deployments.
A seat belt pretensioner helps protect occupants in certain crashes.
In a split-second, the pretensioner pulls the seat belt against the occupant’s body in a frontal crash. A retractor pretensioner involves a shoulder belt and pulling it closer to the body in certain crashes.
Ford Expedition owners sometimes heard loud explosion sounds immediately before the seat belts tightened in the torso area. That's how a pretensioner should deploy, but not unless a crash occurs.
According to NHTSA:
"The investigation revealed certain seatbelt pretensioners may develop corroded squib pins where the bridge wire (heating element of pyro-technic device) is welded. Extended corrosion and a partial separation of the weld may cause a high resistance or an open circuit condition to occur, potentially resulting in pretensioner inadvertent deployment."
In February, Ford recalled 2018-2020 Expeditions and 2018-2020 Lincoln Navigators to replace both front seat belt retractors. At that time, Ford knew of 140 reports of inadvertent retractor pretensioner deployments, mainly in warm weather regions.
There have also been 11 alleged injuries caused by inadvertent deployments of the seat belt pretensioners.
According to the February recall, the Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators were built between October 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019.
NHTSA has closed the investigation based on the Ford Expedition recall.