Ford Recalls 2020 Explorer, Lincoln Aviator SUVs

Ford Motor Co. is recalling its 2020 Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs because the may be missing a manual park release cover, which would violate federal motor vehicle safety standards, according to Ford.

The standards require the cover to be in place and only removable with a tool. If the cover is missing, the manual park release lever could be activated. That would result in unintended vehicle movement if the electronic parking brake isn't applied, which increases the risk of a crash.

Additionally, the vehicles may have an instrument cluster that's still in factory mode, which disables warning alerts and chimes. It also wouldn't display the gear positions and which gear is selected.

The recall affects 13,896 vehicles in the U.S. and 239 in Canada. The majority of the vehicles are still in dealer inventory.

Affected 2020 Explorer vehicles were built between March 27 and July 24, while the 2020 Aviator SUVs were built between April 10 and July 24.

Dealers will inspect the vehicles and install a manual park release cover if necessary. They will also verify that the instrument cluster is out of factory mode and clear any diagnostic codes. Ford's reference number for the recall is 19C06.