Is Covid the culprit for the 300k Ford Super Duty recall?

At the end of December, Ford Motor Co. issued a massive recall for nearly 300k Super Duty Trucks. On paper, the recall is fairly straight forward, stating that the high-pressure fuel pump on diesel trucks could fail. The fix is also simple: update the powertrain control module. But digging deeper, the cause of the Ford Super Duty recall is kind of unexpected: Covid.

Say what? How can Covid cause a recall on a vehicle? In the simplest terms: lack of driving due to Covid shutdowns. Let’s dig a little deeper.

Ford Super Duty recall back story

Digging into the chronology report provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), we see that the NHTSA had reached out to Ford as early as December 2021, asking the automaker if it was considering a recall based on recalls from competitors that also used the Bosch CP4 RP7 diesel HPFP in their vehicles.

We first started reporting on the issue with the Bosch CP4 RP7 back in April 2023, when it primarily affected Ram trucks. At that time, we theorized that some of the problems were due to the fact that diesel fuel in the U.S. doesn’t have the same lubricity as diesel used in Europe. In May, we covered the lawsuit on General Motors trucks with this “faulty” fuel pump.

The Bosch RP7 HPFP was introduced during the 2020 model year for Super Duty trucks and in 2021 for medium duty truck production on all diesel-powered vehicles. Ford replaced the RP7 pump with the RP8 in August of 2021, which increased the pumps roller shoe and tappet body clearances for improved fuel flow to increase cooling in the tappet area.

When the NHTSA first reached out to Ford about a recall, Ford said it hadn’t identified an “unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety” at that point and was monitoring the pump’s performance.

In 2022 and 2023, Ford continued to analyze warranty data trends, and based on the analysis, according to the chronology report: “Ford determined that the failed pumps were a result of aged biodiesel caused by fuel sitting for extended periods of time during Covid shutdowns.”

In 2024, Ford conduced some teardown analyses of returned parts, which also showed evidence of aged biodiesel deposits. As of November 13, 2024, Ford was aware of 3,070 warranty reports, 498 field reports and 58 customer services reports associated with this problem. Therefore, in December 2024, Ford decided to move forward with the recall.

Ford Super Duty recall details

The following recall details are copied directly from the NHTSA website:

High pressure Fuel pump failure can cause a loss of drive power, increasing the risk of a crash.

NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V957000
Manufacturer Ford Motor Company
Components FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL
Potential Number of Units Affected 295,449

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020-2022 F-Super Duty F250, F350, F450, F550, F600, and 2021-2022 F-650, F750 vehicles. Biodiesel deposits may form on the pump drivetrain roller components, which could lead to failure of the high pressure fuel pump.

Dealers will update the powertrain control module (PCM) software, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed January 13, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford’s number for this recall is 24S78.

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or go to nhtsa.gov.

Our take

Frankly, we’re surprised we haven’t seen more “Covid” issues related to vehicles sitting for long periods of time. Then again, maybe this is just the beginning of more to come. We’re also curious how this documentation will affect any pending lawsuits. If the cause is Covid, is this a failure on the part of the fuel pump or is it user error?