Ford recalls 4.5 million vehicles for faulty switch

David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington -- Ford Motor Co. agreed to expand its largest-ever recall by about 4.5 million vehicles over a faulty switch linked to hundreds of vehicle fires.

The action, which comes in the face of an 18-month federal investigation, means the company has now called back more than 14 million vehicles in eight separate recalls over a 10-year period because of the problem.

The cruise-control deactivation switches, made by Texas Instruments and sold for about $21, were installed in 16 million Ford vehicles over a decade before the automaker stopped using them in early 2003. The switches have been linked to at least 550 vehicle fires and 1,500 complaints.

The automaker notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a letter dated Friday and received by the agency today.

Ford told NHTSA it will recall all of the vehicles that are still on the road that have the switches even though it does not believe there is a safety reason to recall 3.4 million of the vehicles. The automaker is attempting to transcend an issue that has dogged it for years.

Safety advocates have long urged Ford to take the step. The automaker resisted that step, arguing that it would continue to monitor the remaining vehicles with the switches, but recall them only if data showed a higher incidence of fires.

Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, a Massachusetts research firm that works with plaintiffs attorneys, said the recall of all of the vehicles was long overdue.

"These recalls have dragged on for years and could have been fixed a long time ago," Kane said. "This is obviously an expensive fix and the longer it dragged out the fewer vehicles that are still on the road that Ford has to fix."

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urged consumers to quickly get the vehicles repaired.

"These hazardous cruise control switches pose a safety risk even while the cruise control is not in use and vehicles are turned off or unattended. I urge consumers to pay attention to this warning and bring the affected models in to have them repaired as soon as possible," LaHood said.

All owners of recalled Ford vehicles should immediately make appointments with their dealers and not park their vehicles in garages or near homes until repairs are made, LaHood said.

The new recall, outlined in a seven-page letter first obtained by The Detroit News, includes nearly 1.1 million 1995-2003 Ford Windstar vans that were the subject of a government investigation, along with 3.4 million other vehicles, including about 1 million Explorers, 740,000 Econoline vans and 1.1 million Ford Super Duty trucks.

"Ford is making a safety-related defect determination for the Windstar vehicles," James Vondale, director of Ford's automotive safety office, said in the letter. "We have not made a safety-related defect determination for the other vehicles included in this recall, but are including them to avoid any future concerns related to a potential fire risk resulting from the Texas Instruments (switch) either from the agency or from our customers."

Ford said the switch "may, under certain conditions, leak internally and then overheat, smoke or burn."

NHTSA has repeatedly urged the 9.6 million vehicle owners of recalled vehicles to get their vehicles fixed because of risk of fire.

Ford spokesman Mark Truby said the company "is not aware of any smoke or fire related accidents, injuries or fatalities relating to the (switches) in these recalled vehicles," referring to today's recall.

The switch is used to deactivate a vehicle's cruise control when a driver taps the brake pedal. Most of the suits allege fires began long after the vehicles were turned off.

Ford said in its letter it was recalling all remaining vehicles with the switch "to address possible ongoing customer lack of confidence in vehicles with the switch."

The automaker will notify customers of the recall beginning Oct. 26. Owners of the recalled vehicles will be instructed to take their vehicles to a Ford or Lincoln/Mercury dealer for installation of a fused wiring harness to eliminate the potential risk of fire. Ford will make a separate additional fix to some Windstar models where the switch is leaking and will make other repairs as necessary

Ford still faces dozens of lawsuits on the issue.

Between 1999 and 2008, Ford previously recalled 9.6 million vehicles with the switch.

In May 2008, the NHTSA opened an investigation into the switches on 1.6 million Ford Windstar vans. It upgraded the probe to an engineering analysis in September 2008 after 419 complaints of engine fires, with at least two saying fires damaged a home or garage.

Ford argued in 2008 that the switches in the Windstar vans were in different configurations than those in the previously recalled vehicles, and therefore didn't need to be replaced.

But Ford's letter to NHTSA said the automaker has seen an "increase in the number of leaking switches has been observed on Windstar vehicles, along with a small number of reports of switch fires."

In the letter, Ford said, "Aside from the Windstar, the additional vehicles addressed in this action have different system parameters and do not pose an unreasonable risk to safety. However, Ford is taking this action on all of these vehicles to address possible ongoing customer lack of confidence in vehicles with the affected switch."

The new recall includes:

• 1995-2003 model year Ford Windstar

• 2000-2003 Ford Excursion diesels

• 1993-1997 and 1999-2003 Ford F-Super Duty diesel;

• 1992-2003 Ford Econoline

• 1995-2002 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer

• 1995-1997 and 2001-2003 Ford Ranger

• 1994 Ford F53 Motor home vehicles equipped with the Texas Instruments speed control deactivation.

In many cases, insurance companies initially paid for damage to homes in fires that the owners claim were sparked by Ford vehicles, and then the insurers sued Ford to try to recoup their losses.

Only a few cases involving the faulty switches have gone to trial, among them one in South Carolina. A jury there in March 2007 awarded a couple $3.5 million, including $3 million in punitive damages, over a house fire allegedly started in a 2000 Ford Expedition. That verdict was upheld on an initial appeal.

In March 2008, The Detroit News first reported on a death linked by government investigators to the Ford switch. The case involved Al Gavegan Jr., 76, who died Aug. 14, 2007, in a blaze that started when a late-night fire spread from a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis parked in his attached garage in San Antonio, investigators found.

A police report listed the fire's probable cause as "an electrical malfunction in the engine compartment of the vehicle." Ford settled a suit brought by Gavegan's family for an undisclosed of some ahead of a trial that had been set for late last year. A lawyer for Gavegan's family declined to comment.

In 1999, Ford recalled the 1992 and 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis models to replace the switch, but not the1994 model that Gavegan drove. At the time, Ford said a specific batch of switches were to blame. Then, in August 2007, Ford expanded the recall to include 1994 Mercury Marquis models.

The company has insisted that its investigation was "inconclusive" as to whether the Gavegan house fire was caused by the vehicle.

Last year, Ford found itself in the position of recalling the recall. On Feb. 1, 2008, Ford issued a recall for 225,000 vehicles because of defective wiring harnesses that were used in the first fix.

The Windstar vans, built between 1995-2003, were among a population of at least 6 million Ford vehicles that were built but not recalled -- until today.

Ford has said the switches involved in the Windstar vans, unlike the previously recalled vehicles, don't have electrical power running to them at all times.

In 1999, Ford issued the first recall of vehicles with the same cruise control switch. The combined recall campaigns represent one of the largest recall efforts over a single safety issue in U.S. history.

In February 2008, NHTSA urged owners of some 4.6 million recalled Ford vehicles to get them fixed or at least have their cruise control deactivated immediately.

dshepardson@detnews.com (202) 662-8735