Ford has a self-admitted recall problem, breaking records in 2025 for the most vehicles recalled in a single year, totaling 12.9 million cars from 153 separate recalls. The next closest was Stellantis at 2.7 million cars from 53 different recalls. To address this issue, Ford is taking steps to mend the situation by implementing daily engine teardowns at every manufacturing plant, yielding improved metrics.
The solution won't come overnight, but the Blue Oval is making progress. Road & Track recently sat down with Ford's Essex engine plant manager, Neil Wilson, who detailed how things are changing when it comes to engine quality and reliability. For context, the Essex engine plant is responsible for manufacturing the Coyote 5.0-liter V-8 for the Mustang and F-150; it also builds the 6.7-liter and 7.3-liter V-8 for Super Duty trucks.
View Price on AmazonThe big change seen at Essex—and Ford plants everywhere now—are daily engine teardowns. Every single day, an engine is taken off the line; a series of tests are run on it before it's disassembled and inspected with a fine-tooth comb. Historically, Ford followed a once-every-three-months schedule for engine teardowns, or whenever it suspected there might be an issue. As of 2025, that strategy was replaced. And Ford claims it's already catching things that would've slipped through previously.
"We're going after it," Wilson starts. "And it's providing real insight on how to protect quality, and it's no longer a reactive tool. It's something that we're leaning pretty hard into. And it's paid for itself, in the respect that, you know, we can make these things better, improve our first time through, ensure that the customers are getting the best engines we can potentially put out for them."
Ford says it got the idea by looking around the globe at its most successful engine plants, and number one in quality happened to be the facility in Valencia, Spain. That plant tore an engine down every day, so now the same strategy is being implemented everywhere. This takes extra time, resources, and, ultimately, money, but Ford is investing in all of those to make this happen.
Source: roadandtrack.com
