The Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ won't be on sale for much longer after Ford decided to scrap most of its passenger car line-up, but there are still plenty on the road in North America that requires a fix if a safety issue occurs, and one just has. Ford has announced specific examples of each sedan are being recalled to fix an issue relating to the seat belt anchor pretensioners.

According to Ford, increased temperatures that are generated during deployment of the driver or front-passenger seat belt anchor pretensioner could degrade the tensile strength of the cable below the level needed to restrain an occupant. As a result, the seat belt assemblies may not adequately restrain the occupant and increase the risk of injury during a crash.

In total, 103,374 vehicles are being recalled in the US, along with an additional 4,002 in Canada and 1,023 in Mexico. Affected vehicles include 2015 Ford Fusion vehicles built at Flat Rock Assembly Plant from August 1, 2014, to January 30, 2015, and at Hermosillo Assembly Plant from August 1, 2014, to November 24, 2014. 2015 Lincoln MKZ vehicles built at Hermosillo Assembly Plant from August 1, 2014, to November 21, 2014, are also affected. Ford says it is aware of one reported injury related to the defect.

Fortunately, the fix is very simple. Owners of an affected Ford Fusion or Lincoln MKZ will need to bring their car to a local dealer to have a coating applied that protects the cable during a pretensioner deployment. Ford will begin contacting customers on September 9 to arrange a visit. Both the Fusion and MKZ will go out of production in 2020 and, but the former could potentially be replaced by a new crossover, while a recent trademark suggests the Lincoln MKZ could be replaced by a new Zephyr sedan.