The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Ford have recalled select 2014 model-year Ford Escapes due to a potential issue with the urethane bond between the panorama sunroof and the attaching bracket.
“In some of the affected vehicles, an improperly cured urethane bond may exist between the panorama roof glass and the attaching bracket,” writes Ford in a letter sent to NHTSA explaining the July 2 recall.
Ford continues, “A panorama roof assembly with improperly cured urethane bond may result in noise, water leak or separation of the glass panel from the vehicle, potentially increasing the risk of accident or injury.”
If an automotive glass repair and replacement company gets a call regarding this issue, the shop’s owner should direct the customer to call their local Ford dealer, according to Ford. Directions to inspect the build date and sequence number to see if the sunroof is affected by the recall can be found here.
If the build date on the vehicle is October 10, 2013, and the sequence number is 253 through 287, Ford instructs its dealers to install a new front panorama roof glass assembly.
Approximately 1,867 vehicles in the United States and federalized territories are potentially affected.
The Auto Glass Safety Council (AGSC) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the safe replacement of auto glass. The AGSC was founded and is supported by companies in the auto glass replacement industry that keep safe installation as their primary goal and is an accredited American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards development organization. It has developed North America’s only auto glass replacement standard, the AGRSS® Standard (ANSI/AGRSS® 002-2002 Automotive Glass Replacement Safety Standard) which addresses procedures, education and product performance.