Ford Escape 2017–2019 — technical service bulletin
Bulletin SSM 47909 · NHTSA communication 10159502 · issued Apr 4, 2019
Technical service bulletin
communication type
Equipment
component
2017–2019
model years
6
vehicle entries
Official summary
SSM 47909 - 2017-2019 Escape, MKC - License Plate Bracket Nut(s) Damaged With Over Torqued Screw(s) 2017-2019 Escape and MKC vehicles may exhibit a concern of the license plate bracket nut(s) being damaged due to the screw(s) being over torqued. The torque specification for these screws are 1.7 Nm (1.25 lb-ft). Engineering recommends not to use any power tool to tighten these screws. Most any power tool will apply more torque to the screws than the allowed torque specification and will damage the plastic nut(s).
Vehicles covered
What a TSB means. Technical service bulletins are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls, and repairs are not automatically free (warranty extensions are an exception worth checking). The full document is available via NHTSA’s vehicle lookup.