Ford Recalls 565,591 Broncos as Unprotected Wiring Raises Fire Risk

A short, inadequately protected section of wiring is enough to trigger a recall of 565,591 Ford Broncos. In affected vehicles, an engine-compartment harness can rub against a sharp bracket edge, damage its electrical insulation and short circuit. The resulting heat or sparks increase the risk of fire.

Ford issued the recall on July 20, 2026, covering model-year 2021 through 2026 Bronco and Bronco Raptor vehicles. Owner letters are expected to begin mailing August 24. Owners can also enter their vehicle identification number in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recall lookup; recently announced recalls may not identify every affected vehicle immediately, so owners may need to check again.

How a missing covering becomes an electrical hazard

Automotive wiring insulation is intended to keep energized conductors electrically isolated. It is not necessarily designed to withstand repeated contact with a sharp metal edge. Where routing brings a harness close to a bracket, engineers can add clearance, retainers or an abrasion-resistant covering to keep vibration and normal vehicle movement from wearing through the insulation.

The manufacturing problem in this recall is identified as missing protective sheathing where wiring passes the bracket. If the harness contacts the edge repeatedly, abrasion can eventually expose or damage conductors. A conductor that then contacts metal or another circuit can create a short circuit, generating localized heat or sparks.

This is therefore not described as one intrinsically defective electrical component. The procedural lapse reportedly appeared across five wiring-harness designs. That distinction helps explain how a physically small omission could produce such a large recall population: the process for applying protection at the contact point affected multiple harness configurations and six model years.

The case also illustrates why wiring protection is part of system integration rather than merely a property of the wire itself. A harness may meet its electrical requirements, while its safety in the installed vehicle still depends on routing, retention, clearance from nearby hardware and protection at foreseeable contact points. Production controls must then ensure that the specified covering is installed consistently across different configurations.

Most recalled Broncos are expected to pass inspection

Ford estimates that 1% of the recalled vehicles contain the defect. Applied to the 565,591-vehicle population, that would mean approximately 5,656 Broncos may need the added protection. Most vehicles are expected to pass the dealer inspection without requiring the sheathing repair, but the broad campaign is necessary to identify the smaller affected group.

The expected remedy is an inspection followed, where required, by installation of convolute sheathing and abrasion tape. Convolute tubing provides a tougher physical barrier around the harness, while abrasion tape helps protect and secure the vulnerable section. Together, they isolate the wiring from the bracket contact point rather than changing the underlying electrical system.

If wiring has already been damaged, additional work may be necessary. A detailed official repair procedure for that scenario was not provided in the available recall information, so owners should not assume every vehicle will receive precisely the same work. Inspection determines whether the harness is properly protected and whether damage is present.

Reported warnings and owner action

Possible warning signs attributed to NHTSA include smoke entering through the air vents, an instrument-cluster warning and flames on the passenger side of the engine compartment. These signs do not establish that a particular vehicle has this defect, but smoke or signs of fire warrant immediate attention.

Fifteen associated Bronco fires have been reported, including seven involving Bronco Raptors. No serious injuries or deaths have been reported. There is no “do not drive” warning in effect, and the available information does not establish that off-road operation caused or amplified the problem.

Owners should use the authorized recall process rather than installing tubing or tape themselves. A do-it-yourself covering would not formally close the recall against the vehicle identification number, and it would bypass the dealer inspection intended to determine whether the wiring has already sustained damage.

The notable scale is not evidence that every recalled Bronco has damaged wiring; Ford’s estimate indicates the opposite. It reflects the challenge of finding a relatively small number of production omissions spread across five harness designs. The inspection campaign must cover more than half a million vehicles to locate the estimated 5,656 that may be missing protection at one critical contact point.

By Thomas Caldwell — AMI’s senior editor for mechanical and mobility engineering, covering vehicle electronics, systems integration, electrification, chassis systems, propulsion, and safety policy.