Ford issues four recalls involving 1.3M cars, SUVs

Ford Motor is recalling 740,878 SUVs in the U.S. to fix a steering defect, according to a government filing.

Ford issued four recalls Thursday covering 1.3 million vehicles, with two of the recalls involving power steering trouble in compact and full-size SUVs.

The biggest is 915,527 Ford Escapes and its corporate sibling, Mercury Mariner, from the 2008 to 2011 model years, over the steering issue. All were made at Ford's Kansas City plant. Of those, 740,878 are believed to be in the U.S.

A separate recall covered the same potential problem in the 2011 to 2013 full-size Explorer SUV. Some 195,527 vehicles are involved, of which 177,747 are believed to be in the U.S.

Ford says on both the Escape/Mariner and Explorer, the defect involves a glitch that could result in loss of power steering in the vehicles. The issue has been under investigation on the Escape within Ford since 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration filing. It took on new importance with an investigation by Canadian authorities last year. In January, Ford released a repair kit.

The issue in both recalls centers around an intermittent electrical connection in a torque sensor in the steering gear. When it happens, the system cannot detect when the driver turns the wheel, and then the system defaults to manual steering mode. In other words, no power steering. Since it takes a lot of effort to turn the wheel, a crash can result.

Ford says the previous generation of Escapes, one of its most popular models, aren't affected because they had a different steering design.

The other recalls included:

2010 to 2014 Taurus. Ford is recalling the popular sedan because a light that illuminates the license plate can corrode. If it does, it can cause a short circuit that can cause a fire. Some 196,639 Taurus sedans are covered by the recall.

Floor mats. Ford sold 82,576 floor mats for 2006 to 2011 Fusion sedan, Lincoln MKZ and related vehicles purchased at dealers that potentially could jam under gas pedals. That's the same issue that Toyota says was at the heart of its unintended-acceleration recalls a few years ago.

Contributing: James R. Healey