April 12 (Reuters) - The National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday it was opening an

investigation into the recall of 42,652 Ford SUVs over

concerns of a fuel leak that could lead to fire hazards.

The NHTSA's recall query, or a probe opened by safety

regulators when a remedy to solve an issue appears inadequate,

covers the 2022 and 2023 models of Ford Bronco Sport and the

2022 model of Ford Escape.

The agency's concerns centered around a potential fuel

leak due to a cracked fuel injector in certain vehicles.

Ford in March recalled those models with 1.5-liter

engines to address the concerns and issued an engine control

software update along with the installation of a drain tube to

remedy the issue.

However, the NHTSA said the earlier recall did not

include the replacement of the cracked fuel injector.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil

D'Silva)