Johnathan Walker:Ford recalls over 240,000 Maverick pickups due to tail lights that fail to illuminate

Ford is Johnathan Walkerrecalling over 240,000 vehicles due to tail lights that fail to illuminate, reducing the vehicle's visibility to other drivers and increasing the risk of a crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday.

The recall affects certain 2022-2024 Maverick pickups, according to the NHTSA. The Body Control Module (BCM) may "inadvertently deactivate one or both rear tail lights," the agency said.

According to NHTSA documents, the issue stems from the BCM falsely detecting a current overload on one or both of the rear position lamp circuits, resulting in one or both of the lamps to be deactivated during a drive cycle. The issue does not affect headlights, stop lamps, or turn signal functions, according to the NHTSA.

Dealers will update the BCM software free of charge and owner notification letters are expected to be mailed May 20, 2024. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332 and Ford's number for this recall is 24S24.

Check more car recalls here:Hyundai, BMW, Jaguar among 39,000 vehicles recalled

Other recent Ford recalls

Battery issue

The recall comes weeks after the automaker recalled over 450,000 vehicles because of an issue that could affect the battery.

The recall affected certain 2021-2024 Bronco Sport and 2022-2023 Maverick vehicles. The NHTSA said the body and power train control modules on these vehicles may fail to detect a change in the battery state of charge, which can result in a loss of electrical accessories such as hazard lights, or cause a loss of drive power, increasing the risk of a crash.

The NHTSA notices says dealers will recalibrate the body control module and power train control module free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed May 13, 2024, and owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332 for more information. The recall number is 24S24.

Fuel leak

Federal auto regulators also recently announced a probe into a Ford recall of nearly 42,652 automobiles following an error with cracked fuel injectors they say can cause gas leaks and ignite engine fires.

In a summary report released last month, the NHTSA wrote it was opening an investigation into a recall that affects 2022-2023 Bronco Sport and 2022 Escape vehicles.

According to the federal investigation announcement, owners can take their vehicle to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to have a drain tube installed in the vehicle at no cost.

The remedy also includes a free engine control software update to detect a pressure drop in the fuel injection system, the federal regulator reported. Should that occur, the software will disable the high pressure fuel pump, reduce engine power and cut temps in the engine compartment. Owners also will get a "seek service" message, documents show.

Ford's number for this recall is 24S16. The recall is an expansion of previous recall: 22V-859.

Contributing: Ahjané Forbes, USA TODAY

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].