Ford Motor Company announced last week it is recalling 161,334 model year 2013 Escape vehicles manufactured October 5, 2011, through June 2, 2013 and equipped with 1.6L engines. The affected vehicles may experience localized overheating of the engine cylinder head which may cause cracks that could allow oil to leak.

Leaking engine oil may come into contact with a hot engine surface potentially resulting in an engine compartment fire.

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will modify the engine shielding, cooling and control systems, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin by January 23, 2014.

For some of the vehicles included in this campaign, this recall is in addition to NHTSA recall 12V-551. All covered vehicles, regardless of being inspected and repaired under the earlier recall, require an inspection and a remedy for this campaign.

Ford is also recalling approximately 12,000 model year 2013 Escape vehicles manufactured from October 5, 2011, through July 11, 2012, and equipped with a 1.6L engine subject to prior safety recall NHTSA 12V-336. In some cases, the engine compartment fuel line may have been installed incorrectly when repaired under the prior recall. The misinstalled fuel line could chafe and eventually leak fuel. A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire.

The redesigned Escape has been recalled seven times since July of 2012 to fix carpet padding that can interfere with the brake pedals, fuel lines that can crack, coolant leaks, and child safety locks.