A defective processing module may cut the rearview camera feed or certain driver assistance features.
Ford Motor Company just issued a new recall campaign covering some of its most popular SUV models, including the Ford Explorer as well as the Lincoln Aviator, Nautilus and Navigator. According to what the automaker told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), certain examples of these vehicles could have a defective image processing module that could intermittently reset. If that happens, drivers may lose their rearview camera feed or various advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features.
An initial report, submitted to the NHTSA on March 18, cited the recall population as 339,619 vehicles. However, a newer report filed the next day, on March 19, shows a smaller-scale recall than Ford initially told safety regulators. As of the latest available information, this campaign impacts as many as 254,640 vehicles, but affects the same models as before.
Ford notes in the report: “The Image Processing Module A (IMPA) may experience a computational overload when tracking a high volume of moving objects in dense vehicle and pedestrian traffic environments. This overload can trigger a module reset; in certain instances, multiple module resets occurring over multiple ignition cycles can lead to a persistent loss of functionality.”
If the module does indeed fail, the car will display one or more warnings in the instrument cluster. Those potential warnings include “Front Camera Fault”, “Pre-Collision Assist Not Available” or “Lane-Keeping System Off”. The blind-spot warning indicators may also illuminate, even if there’s no obstacle in the driver’s blind spot at that time.
To-date, Ford says it is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the problem. The company does not note exactly how many issues or claims it has encountered, but did note that “all the warranty claims occurred on a certain configuration of vehicles with 6 radar sensors and primarily occurred on vehicles commonly used in livery applications.”
This recall (NHTSA recall number 26V-165, Ford recall number 26S21) affects the following models:
- 2025 Ford Explorer (101,073 units) built between November 29, 2023 and July 16, 2025
- 2022 – 2026 Lincoln Navigator (68,238 units) built between April 15, 2021 and November 26, 2025
- 2024 – 2025 Lincoln Nautilus (62,793 units) built between September 24, 2022 and August 26, 2025
- 2025 Lincoln Aviator (22,536 units) built between November 29, 2023 and May 21, 2025
Ford is sending out notices to dealers on how to handle this problem between March 25 and March 29. From there, owners will be notified between March 30 and April 6 about an update for the processing module software. The update will be over-the-air (OTA), and “includes robustness actions to prevent reset events during driving conditions associated with object tracking saturation”. There’s no further clarification on if or how that will actually affect the performance of these ADAS systems in conditions that would otherwise overload the module, but it seems that update will at least stop it resetting itself and disabling the rearview camera or some ADAS systems altogether.
While customers should not have to visit the dealer, they will have the option to do so. Either way, the remedy update will be installed free of charge.
