If you’ve spent any time in the northern part of the country or Canada in the winter, you’ve probably come across a parking lot with a bunch of 120-volt wall outlets (usually one for each parking spot). At first glance, it might seem like these outlets are for charging electric cars—which they may indeed be used for—but actually, they’re more commonly used to plug in an onboard feature called a block heater.
In extremely low temperatures, engine oil becomes less fluid, and the tolerances between parts shrink, placing extra strain on an engine’s starter when you attempt to start it. Starting a freezing-cold engine is like trying to stir stale taffy in a bowl with a manual whisk.
Block heaters solve this problem. They are heating elements placed somewhere on the engine that, when plugged in via a wire to an external power source, warm up a part of the engine (usually the coolant or the oil) before it’s started. It’s an optional extra on countless vehicles, either as a factory add-on or a dealer-installed kit.
Ford has just issued a recall for a block heater used in a few of its cars from the 2010s because it might be working a little bit too well to heat said cars.
When The Heating Part Goes Too Far
The recall, published last week, pertains to a certain block heater part used on the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines found in Ford Focuses built from 2012 to 2018, Ford Escapes built from 2011 to 2019, and Lincoln MKCs built from 2014 to 2016, for a total of 116,672 potentially affected vehicles.
This specific block heater is responsible for heating the coolant when plugged into a wall outlet via a dedicated wire. But according to recall documents, its structure can fail and spring a leak from the coolant system:
Engine block heater solder joints can develop cracks around the element base which allows coolant to infiltrate into the block heater to cord interface. Evaporation of this coolant leaves behind electrically conductive salt deposits. Over time, these deposits accumulate, forming a salt bridge or corroding electrical connections, which could establish an electrical path to ground and may result in a resistive short circuit.
In short (see what I did there?), when the block heater is plugged in, the salt deposits may generate a short circuit and cause a fire. Ford’s investigation team says that as of last month, it has found 12 Escapes in which owners say their cars were subject to fires caused by the block heater, but no accidents or injuries.
Ford Used CT Scans To Find The Problem
Ford says it was first alerted to a potential problem with the block heater in question almost exactly a year ago, in January 2025. Though a four-month review of the part “did not identify any manufacturing quality concerns” and “were manufactured within Ford’s specifications and met all design requirements,” analysis of the failed block heaters from three of the torched Escapes ultimately revealed the issue:
In July 2025, microscopic images of three failed CV6T EBHs [engine block heaters] from fire-damaged 2014-2017 Escape 2.0L Engine vehicles were analyzed. The images revealed cracks to the solder joint around the base of the heater element, indicating a potential path for coolant to seep inside the cord connector pocket.
In August 2025, the CCRG investigation team reviewed CT-scan images from the same failed CV6T parts. These images also indicated internal solder voids. The root cause for the solder joint cracks and solder voids remains under investigation.
At least a fire wouldn’t happen without warning. Because a failed block heater, in this case, would leak coolant, that means you’d notice it on the ground or in the way your car is acting (through it slowly overheating, a loss of cabin heat, or even a low coolant warning indicator on your dash). The short-circuiting can also cause damage to the 110-volt cord and emit a smell or even smoke.
Ford is telling potentially affected owners to simply stop using their engine block heaters. Seeing as how it’s the dead of winter, that’s some great timing that I’m sure people will be thrilled with. Even better news: According to the recall docs, there isn’t an updated part available yet, and owners will have to wait until mid-April to hear about a permanent fix. It’s going to be a rough winter for nearly 120,000 Ford owners out there.
Top image: Ford
Seems like they could at least replace the failing part as a quick fix, then do it again when they get one that won’t crack under the expansion/contraction cycles. If it took that long for the problem to surface, it would buy them time to solve it for good. This is a 10-15 year problem and this “temporary” fix would probably last the remaining life of the car.
Ford really shock blocked their customers from having any fun with warming their bits this winter.