Posted on 02/28/2008 12:34:42 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The government on Thursday warned owners of about 4.6 million recalled Ford vehicles to bring their cars and trucks immediately to dealerships to disconnect cruise control switch systems that have been linked to engine fires.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued the consumer advisory to the owners of certain unrepaired Ford, Lincoln and Mercury sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, vans and passenger cars who have not yet responded to past recalls.
The recalls have vexed the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker, affecting its popular F-Series pickup trucks, prompting hundreds of complaints and dozens of lawsuits over engine fires. Three deaths have been tied to the fires and Ford has struggled to produce enough parts to fix the problem.
About 9.6 million Ford vehicles have been recalled since 1999 and about 5 million have been fixed, raising concerns about the remaining vehicles on the road. NHTSA said they have received about 60 complaints of engine fires in the Ford vehicles since August 2007.
Ford said they supported the action and dealers would soon offer a more permanent fix.
"We absolutely want everybody to come in as soon as they can because we can eliminate the risk of fire for anyone with a vehicle in this recall," said Ford Motor Co. spokesman Wes Sherwood. He said the company would have an "ample supply" of the replacement parts by June.
NHTSA said many dealers will disconnect the cruise control switches as a "drive through" service so owners do not have to leave their vehicles at the dealership or schedule an appointment.
Dealers have installed a fused wiring harness into the speed control electrical system as part of the recall, but replacement parts have not been widely available. Owners can take their vehicle to a dealer to have the cruise control deactivated until the parts arrive.
NHTSA issued a lengthy list of older vehicles covered by the consumer advisory, including 1993-2004 Ford F150 trucks, 1994-2002 F250 through F550 Super Duty trucks with gasoline engines, and 1998-2001 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer SUVs, all of which were among the best-selling vehicles in the nation during those years.
A complete list was available at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/.
The Ford recalls have run into problems. Earlier this month, the automaker recalled about 225,000 vehicles that had already been repaired because some wiring harnesses appeared to be defective.
Ford also faces more than 100 lawsuits nationwide because of fires linked to the cruise control deactivation switch. Many owners have alleged the fires began after the vehicles were turned off and there have been three deaths attributed to that problem in Iowa, Georgia and Arkansas.
Last week, Ford was able to consolidate 77 lawsuits filed in Texas so a single judge can handle pretrial discovery.
Ford has said its internal investigations have found the fires did not cause deaths and injuries.
"In the cases where there was that allegation, we found that the source of the fire was unrelated to the vehicle," said Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley.
For additional details, owners can call Ford at (888) 222-2751.
“What a revolting development this is!”
-Chester A. Riley
About 9.6 million Ford vehicles have been recalled since 1999 and about 5 million have been fixed, raising concerns about the remaining vehicles on the road. NHTSA said they have received about 60 complaints of engine fires in the Ford vehicles since August 2007.
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NHTSA issued a lengthy list of older vehicles covered by the consumer advisory, including 1993-2004 Ford F150 trucks, 1994-2002 F250 through F550 Super Duty trucks with gasoline engines, and 1998-2001 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer SUVs, all of which were among the best-selling vehicles in the nation during those years.
A complete list was available at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/.
Does Toyota have a lot of recalls?
Yup.
And this why once I finally get my own car I’ll be buying Japanese. Hell Japanese car companies tend to create more jobs in this country than American car companies.
I had this done on my 2002 Ranger last fall. The fuse link took 5 minutes and I was outta there.
Thanks, sounds like a quick fix..
I hate it when wiring harnesses go bad..
for a brief moment, thought I saw OJ trapped inside..
It was a plug and play deal and my dealer said they were doing 100 or more every day.
I have an F150 that was on the recall. I must have received a notice a month until I took it in to get fixed.
It took about 15 minutes while I waited. I watched and it is a pretty straightforward splice job.
Fewer than Ford, and far fewer that result in fires of this scale.
This isn’t a case of a bad supplier part, either, this is a case of truly stupid design - for example, why the HECK would you leave the cruise control system powered when the car is turned off? Only Ford knows why they adopted that “standard” across the board.
And now Fords are burning.
This is old news. Ford doesn’t make the switch, it’s sourced from an Asian supplier most likely.
I quit buying Ford when my Mercury Sable engine and tranny only lasted 145,000 miles even after babying them
Nope. Made in USA by UAW workers. Sorry.
And if Ford didn’t 1) make the stupid decision to make the cruise control switch pressure operated by brake fluid in the master cylinder (which is a disaster waiting to happen) and 2) didn’t leave the cruise control system and therefore the switch POWERED when the vehicle is TURNED OFF, there wouldn’t actually be a fire problem.
My 2003 Toyota Sequoia has had one recall. Far better than my 1993 Ford Taurus did.
Honestly, I don’t see recalls as being all that bad. I mean, it’s more important that the manufacturer recognizes there is a problem and offers a way for it’s consumers to get it fixed at no cost.
I’d rather that than manufacturers denying that there’s a problem.
By the way, I notice that manufacturers seem to be becoming more proactive to head off full recalls with what they term as Technical Service Bulletins. I’m not sure how it works, but my local dealer explained it that if the TSB is issued promptly and are being dealt with as people bring their cars in for regular service, they can avoid recalls.
O RLY? Texas Instruments employs UAW workers? That’s news to me.
Um, TSBs and posting them quickly is nothing new. The difference between posting a TSB and a recall is that the recall has to be honored even if the vehicle has exited warranty, the TSB is performed only on vehicles under warranty or *at the customer’s expense* if the vehicle is out of warranty.
ALL the import makers have done floods of TSBs since just after WW2. I have a nice collection of Jaguar TSBs dating back to 1947, for example. If I assemble them all in a pile, it would be 20’ tall. A friend of mine has a similar collection for old Datsuns - that collection is huge, easily 40’ of shelving there.
FYI, Ford was forced to have this recall. They intially denied that there was a fire problem and denied it for literally the better part of a decade.
The best part is that only the domestic makers are stupid enough to use hydraulic pressure switches to activate the brakes and deactivate the cruise control. Not only does this lead to problems as the switch (outside in the engine bay, exposed to the elements) ages and decays, but it also means that it is perfectly possible to apply the brakes, let off the pedal just a hair, and the BRAKE LIGHTS GO OUT. Ooops, sorry you got rear ended there, bud. And no adjustment is possible.
“Imports” all spend the extra $0.25 per car (yes, you read that right, that’s the price delta) and use switches mounted to the brake pedal *inside* the cabin. This means that there are no possible brake fluid leaks due to the switch, the switches last a lot longer, and they can be adjusted as they are *simple* button switches.
Cute, huh?
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