Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Ford adds Flex, Taurus, Lincolns and police cars to recall wave (LA Times)

2014 Ford Flex
Ford is recalling the 2014 Flex and other vehicles to fix a problem in the powertrain linkage. (Ford / Wieck)
Jeep, Subaru, Rolls-Royce are auto sales winners: Mini, Volkswagen down
This year’s record wave of automotive recalls continued Tuesday with Ford Motor Co. calling back about 101,000 vehicles in North America -- including its Edge and Flex sport-utility vehicles, for a variety of problems.

This latest action demonstrates how automakers are recalling vehicles for major defects and minor issues. 

The recalls included more than 90,000 SUVs and sedans that can experience a linkage problem that shuts off power to the wheels as well as just 368 Transit Connect commercial vans because the brake fluid reservoir cap has a European rather than U.S. label.

Automakers have become sensitive to recalls after Toyota paid a $1.2 billion federal fine this year for misleading regulators about defects and General Motors became the target of numerous federal investigations for waiting about a decade to recall cars with a faulty ignition system linked to more than 50 crashes and at least 13 deaths.

Ford’s recalls bring the number of vehicles called back by automakers in the U.S. to about 40 million this year, surpassing the previous high of 30.8 million set in 2004.

GM accounts for about 26 million of the recalled autos. There also have been large recalls by Toyota, Subaru, Nissan, Honda and others. Without GM, the industry has recalled about 14 million vehicles this year, about two-thirds of the number all automakers recalled in the U.S. in all of last year, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Ford’s action includes 92,022 Taurus, Lincoln MKS and Police Interceptor sedans, and Flex and Lincoln MKT SUVs, all from the 2013-2014 model years. It also includes 2012-2014 model year Edge and 2014 MKX SUVs. linkage in the powertrain to the right front wheel can break. When that happens, the engine still runs but the wheels don’t get power. 

Additionally, this condition may result in the car rolling away from a parked position if the gearshift is placed in “park” without the parking brake being activated. No accidents or injuries have been attributed to this All of these vehicles have a potential problem where the condition.





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