Ford Recalls 3.6 Million Vehicles

(AP)  Ford Motor Co. said Friday it is recalling 3.6 million passenger cars, trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans to address concerns about a cruise control switch that has led to previous recalls based on reports of fires.

Ford said the recall covered more than a dozen vehicle models built from 1992-2004. The company said it was responding to concerns from owners about the safety of their cars and questions about the speed control deactivation switch in the vehicles that is powered at all times.

The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker previously had recalled nearly 6 million vehicles beginning in January 2005 because of engine fires linked to the cruise control systems in trucks, SUVs and vans.

"Customers remain concerned about the long-term durability of the speed control system and about the safety of their vehicles," said Ford spokesman Dan Jarvis.

He said the automaker had received "a few reports of fires" in Ford Crown Victoria passenger cars prior to the recall. He did not have a precise number.

The recall involves the following vehicles: 1998-2002 Ford Ranger, 1992-1997 Lincoln Town Car, 1992-1997 Ford Crown Victoria, 1992-1997 Mercury Grand Marquis, 1993-1998 Lincoln Mark VIII, 1993-1995 Taurus SHO, 1999-2001 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer.

Also covered are the 2001-2002 Ford Explorer Sport, 2001-2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, 1992-1993 E150-350 vans, 1997-2002 E150-350 vans, 1993 Ford F-Series pickups, 1993 Ford Bronco, 1994 Mercury Capri, 2003-2004 Ford F-150 Lightning, and 1995-2002 Ford F53 motor homes.

An additional 177,000 vehicles in Canada, Mexico and Europe are covered by the recall.

Jarvis said there have been no deaths, injuries or accidents associated with the recall.

It was Ford's sixth recall, involving a total of more than 10.4 million vehicles, conducted since 1999 because of problems with the speed control system, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The nation's largest single recall involved 7.9 million Ford vehicles in 1996 to replace an ignition switch.

Texas Instruments Inc. supplied the speed control switch in all the vehicles covered under Friday's announcement, Ford said.

TI spokeswoman Chris Rongone said Friday evening in an e-mail response that the company sold its former Sensors and Controls business in April 2006. It later became Sensata Technologies. She said neither TI, nor Sensata Technologies, has received any communication from Ford about the recall and nothing indicates the switch failed to meet Fords specifications.

Rongone said in August 2006 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded a two-year investigation and determined that the incidents were system-related and not caused by the deactivation switch.

Owners will begin receiving recall notices on Aug. 13. Jarvis said the parts for passenger cars would not be available until early October. In the meantime, owners can take their vehicle to a dealer to have their cruise control deactivated until the parts arrive. The parts are available for trucks, Jarvis said.

Dealers will install a fused wiring harness into the speed control electrical system or replace the deactivation switch if its found to be leaking.

Owners with questions about the recall can contact Ford at [phone].

[alphaa10-2009]

getit1776 mused, "Everybody sing along: "...so always look for, the union label..."
---
Actually, "getit1776" is mouthing GOP anti-union propaganda, but hasn't a clue, himself. In fact, were automotive unions fully involved in quality management, US car makers might be more popular with their own countrymen.

The current safety problem appears to be a design issue, not an assembly problem. Design issues are usually resolved by management by some formula of "cost effectiveness"-- not necessarily quality.

As poster davidsjones commented, he finds American-made cars inferior and unsafe. The current recall seems a matter of managerial/design failure, not assembly-line failure.

[davidsjones-2009]

This is the reason why our family and all my relatives do not by an American car. They are death traps and usually the bean counters at these failing companies say do not fix the problem, as it will be too expensive to fix all of them. Its better to get sued and settle than to fix the problem at the beginning. All these white-collar bimbo American car executives should be sent to Super Max and spend their rotten lives in jail. They are the real Taliban and they are working against this country. It%u2019s no wonder than they have lost market share. Its not because of Union wages or Health Plans, its because they design & produce crappy cars. Look at Toyotas or Hondas & you can see why they are better. Even a KIA is a better car than anything Detroit can even make, think about or develop. It%u2019s a sad state of affairs that we let these white-collar pricks take down a institution. Japanese made use to mean *** now its means the best that money can buy. American made means it was so farmed out or the bean counters %u2013 with no brains at all %u2013 are left to run the ship. Well these idiots just ran the ship over the edge and we are all dead because of these smucks.

[lawandorder7]

"...so always look for, the union label..." it should say "Don't look for the Union Lable, and if you see it, DON'T BUY".

[lawandorder7]

The big 3( little 3)don't know what quality is. Not many USA compaines do.

[kaiyo4u]

Maybe if the big three didn't get their parts rom China and have them assembled in Mexico, they would have some quality in their product.
A friend who worked for Hyster told me of their problems when the assembly of the forklifts were sent to Mexico. The assembled forklifts were then sent to the US for quality control inspections. They spent more time and money repairing them than the company could afford, so they did a partial shut down of the plant where the repair was based (hint, it was once world headquarters in the US). The only thing left there now is a shell of what once was.

[hawksprings]

Buy your Ford now before the company goes out of business.

[rikedoid]

Wow, I'm sure glad Ford has learned, and come a long way from the days of the Pinto gas tank fiasco. I wonder how many internal engineering memos about cruise switch flaws can show up for this one!
Makes me want to rush out to the showroom right now. Yes-sir-ee.

[oakishpines]

once upon a time, a bunch of folk built cars and builth on through great depressions and world wars,

henry ford said ' ... low wages will break business long before it will labor ... ',

not to step too hard on henry,

but for decades the ford emblem flashed around in the faces of non-ford labor and rolled around on their tongues,

and the world and even ford itself forgot all about the poor old dears that built ford, and forgot all about the rest of their non-ford contemporarries as well,

the same big business practices that built companies like ford forclosed on fords competition and big competion in every industry

leaving most on the road while media turned up noses at folk 'on the road',

how ironic yet classic, given auto lovers professed 'love of the road', that wealthy motorists splashed mud all over poor forclosed pedestrians,

even the aging and forgot cobwebbed mothballed original 'henry ford clan',

anyway: the technology got so great that the 'henry ford clan' never had to depend on social security again, and nor their 'henry ford year 2000+ clan' and they all volunteered to make nerf buses out of drip compost fertilizet and drip water irrigatet for the non-ford labor for free!

[rushlimpdrug]

The two worst buys I ever made were:
1. Buying a Ford;
2. Buying a Lincoln;
Had I been drunk at the time I would at least have had a good excuse.
I can only confess this to you know because you can't see my face.
Plezze homeland security, don't blow my cover.
thanks everyone for understanding.
end of confession

[getit1776]

Everybody sing along: "...so always look for, the union label..."