Used Ford Bronco Sport & Escape Fuel-Injector Fire Recall (25V467): How to Vet One by VIN After the Viral "Fix Didn't Work" Fire

Key facts

• Campaign: NHTSA 25V467 / Ford 25S76; Part 573 defect report submitted July 11, 2025.
• Vehicles: 694,271 potentially involved — 339,044 Bronco Sport + 355,227 Escape. Estimated defect rate 0.3%.
• Model years / engine: 2021–2024 Bronco Sport and 2020–2022 Escape, 1.5L "Dragon" GTDI three-cylinder only (not 2.0L, not 2.5L hybrid).
• Defect: A fuel injector may crack; fuel leaks at a high rate, travels via a drain hole onto hot exhaust/turbo surfaces, and can cause an underhood fire.
• Warning signs: Fuel odor inside or outside the vehicle; smoke or flames from the engine bay or underbody; instrument-cluster warnings.
• Interim remedy: Free engine-control (PCM) software update that detects a cracked injector, disables the high-pressure fuel pump, derates power, and reduces ignition-source temperatures.
• Permanent remedy: Dealers update the engine-control software and replace the high-pressure fuel injectors and fuel rail assembly, free of charge.
• No do-not-drive order: For 25V467, NHTSA data shows no park-it and no park-outside advisory.
• Mailings: Interim owner letters began August 18, 2025; permanent-remedy letters expected July 27–31, 2026 (per updated recall documents cited in trade coverage).

What happened in the viral "fix didn't work" video?

A TikTok creator known as "Katie" (@katieee_lin) of Long Island, NY posted a video — viewed roughly 488,000-plus times in mid-2026 — showing her 2022 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend catch fire in her driveway seconds after she reversed. She says smoke then flames erupted from under the hood and the SUV is now in a junkyard. According to the owner and the coverage of it, she had the interim software recall performed, was told parts for a permanent repair were not yet available, never received the permanent-remedy notice, and says Ford told her it "wasn't their problem" and "never told owners to stop driving."

These are the owner's claims. Ford has not publicly confirmed her repair history or the cause of the fire, and no litigation outcome or NHTSA fault finding against Ford is established. The premise that a software-only fix might not hold is, however, consistent with the regulatory record: NHTSA opened Recall Query RQ24-008 in April 2024 to assess whether the earlier software-only remedy addressed the root cause, and Ford's own review group documented an underhood fire on a vehicle that had already received an earlier software remedy and had a confirmed cracked injector.

Which Ford Bronco Sport and Escape models are affected?

Recall 25V467 covers 1.5L-engine Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs across specific model years. Vehicles with the 2.0L EcoBoost, the 2.5L hybrid Escape, or the 2.0L Bronco Sport Badlands are not included. Because vehicles were not built in VIN order, trim and build window alone cannot confirm inclusion — a VIN check against NHTSA is required.

The 1.5L Bronco Sport covers base, Big Bend, Outer Banks, and Heritage trims. Campaign 25V467 supersedes prior fuel-injector recalls 22V859, 24V187, and 25V165, which covered overlapping but narrower model-year spans. Note on counts: the authoritative figure for 25V467 is 694,271; some trade sources cite ~858,000, which appears to conflate the cumulative population across overlapping recalls — treat 858K as non-authoritative for this campaign.

Why did the interim software "fix" reportedly fail — and what's the permanent remedy?

The interim remedy is a free engine-control software update: it detects a cracked injector and invokes a strategy that disables the high-pressure fuel pump, derates engine power, and reduces ignition-source temperatures. The permanent remedy is physical — dealers "update the engine control software and replace the high pressure fuel rail assembly and the fuel injector, free of charge."

The distinction matters because NHTSA's Recall Query RQ24-008 (opened April 11, 2024) stated the earlier software-only remedy "does not address the root cause" and "does not proactively call for the replacement of defective fuel injectors prior to their failure." After technical briefings in May and June 2025, Ford moved from a software-only fix to physically replacing the defective injectors — the material change behind 25V467. Trade coverage reports NHTSA closed the query after Ford agreed to replace injectors; the formal closing resolution is reported, not primary-verified here.

Is a used Bronco Sport with the recall still safe to drive, and is there a do-not-drive order?

For campaign 25V467, Ford did not issue a do-not-drive or park-outside order — NHTSA's data flags both park-it and park-outside as false. That is a key difference from other Ford recalls that carried do-not-drive framing. The estimated share of vehicles with the defect is 0.3%.

That said, the recall exists because a cracked injector can cause an underhood fire, and the interim software fix reduces but does not eliminate risk if a fresh injector cracks later. Any owner of an affected vehicle should complete the free repair promptly, watch for the warning signs (fuel odor, smoke or flames, cluster warnings), and — if buying used — confirm exactly which remedy has been performed with a Ford dealer.

How do I check this recall by VIN before buying?

Start with the free, authoritative tools, then layer in history. Here is the honest order of operations:

1. NHTSA VIN lookup (free) — nhtsa.gov/recalls. This is the authoritative source for whether 25V467 applies to a specific VIN and, critically, its remedy/open-vs-closed status. It shows whether the recall is still open (repair not confirmed complete) or closed.
2. Ford Owner Support / a Ford dealer. Ford's 25S76 page and a dealer running an OASIS check can confirm which remedy — interim software vs permanent injector replacement — was actually performed on that VIN, and can schedule the free repair. Ford Customer Service: 1-866-436-7332.
3. A VIN history report (e.g., a Zilocar VIN check). Useful alongside the above to screen for recall presence (a recall count greater than zero flags that the fire recall may apply) and — the differentiated value here — to surface prior fire/accident damage and salvage-auction history the listing won't show.

Ask the seller and the dealer directly: Is recall 25V467/25S76 open or closed on this VIN? Was the permanent injector-and-fuel-rail replacement done, or only the interim software update? An open fire recall is a legitimate negotiating point on price.

What a VIN check can and can't tell you here

A VIN history report is powerful for exposing a vehicle's damage past and for flagging that a recall applies — but it is not the source of truth for remedy status. Be precise about the boundary.

In short: use a VIN history report to catch a previously burned or churned Bronco Sport and to know the fire recall is in play — then cede remedy confirmation to NHTSA and a Ford dealer. A history report cannot and does not prove the fix was done, cannot map a VIN to the interim-vs-permanent stage, cannot flag the RQ24-008 investigation, and does not determine the legal title brand (it surfaces junk/salvage auction records, not the title-brand classification itself).

Before you buy a used Bronco Sport or Escape, a Zilocar VIN check screens for open-recall presence and surfaces accident and airbag-deployment records, junk & salvage auction history, odometer/rollback, theft (NICB), ownership, sales-listing history, specs, NHTSA/IIHS safety ratings, and market valuation — then confirm the recall's remedy status free at nhtsa.gov/recalls and with a Ford dealer. Zilocar does not claim to confirm a recall was repaired, track NHTSA investigations, or show firmware or title-brand status.

Sources

• Ford Owner Support — 25S76 Cracked Fuel Injector & Underhood Fire Risk Recall (manufacturer; official VIN lookup)
• NHTSA VIN Recall Lookup — remedy/open-vs-closed status (regulator; authoritative remedy-status tool)
• NHTSA Part 573 Safety Recall Report — 25V467 (regulator; counts, chronology, remedy)
• NHTSA Amended Acknowledgement / recall docket — 25V467 (regulator)
• CBS News — Ford recalls 694K Bronco Sport & Escape SUVs over fuel leak risk (major news; count/MY confirmation)
• Yahoo Autos — Woman claims a fixed Ford Bronco recall caused it to burst into flames (major news; owner details)
• Motor1 — Bronco Sport bursts into flames after recall she'd already "fixed" (trade; viral incident)
• Ford Authority — Bronco Sport bursts into flames following recall fix (trade)
• Lemon Law Help — Ford Fuel Injector Recall: Fire Risk for 694,000 SUVs (trade; cites July 27–31, 2026 window)

Last verified: 2026-07-04.