Ford recalls almost 340,000 F-150s in Canada for seatbelt fire risk

Ford is recalling two million F-150 pickup trucks from the last three model years to fix a problem with the front seatbelt pretensioners.

The company says it is aware of 17 reports of smoke or fire in the United States and six in Canada stemming from pretensioners in the front driver and passenger seats. The belt's pretensioner is what pulls in the seatbelt and makes it tight when the vehicle detects a possible collision, to strap in passengers as best as possible.

After learning of reports of faulty pretensioners, the company launched an investigation and found that some front ones can generate excessive sparks when they deploy. Those sparks can then ignite gases inside the vehicle's frame, which can burn components such as the car's insulation and carpet.

The total recall involves 1,995,776 vehicles in North America, with 1,619,112 in the United States, 339,884 in Canada and 36,780 in Mexico.

Affected vehicles include:

• 2015-18 Ford F-150 vehicles built at Dearborn Assembly Plant, March 12, 2014 through Aug. 23, 2018.
• 2015-18 Ford F-150 vehicles built at Kansas City Assembly Plant, Aug. 20, 2014 through Aug. 23, 2018.

Customers who think their vehicles are affected are instructed to contact their dealer. The recall is number is 18S27.

All repairs will be provided at no cost to customers, Ford says