THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604270324
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By CATHERINE O'BRIEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
Jill Fletcher was driving with a business associate on a highway near her home in Framingham, Mass., when the steering column of her 1989 Crown Victoria wagon suddenly started smoking.
She pulled over, ran a few steps to a restaurant and called the local Fire Department. ``When I came out there were flames shooting everywhere,'' Fletcher said. ``My car is a total loss.''
The fire, which occurred April 17, is still under investigation, but Fletcher believes it was an ignition-switch fire because of where and how the fire started.
On Thursday, Ford Motor Co. announced it was recalling about 7.9 million cars, minivans and pickups in the United States with the same type of ignition switch that was in Fletcher's car and that has caught fire in hundreds of vehicles.
It is the second-largest recall in U.S. history.
The No. 2 automaker also is expanding its Canadian recall of vehicles with the switches from the 248,000 announced late last year to a total of 859,000 to match the makes and models being fixed in the United States. That brings the total recall number to about 8.7 million vehicles.
The switches will be replaced for free. The cost of the recall was expected to exceed $200 million, Ford sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Traditionally, less than 70 percent of vehicle owners actually bring in their vehicle for a recall repair.
The ignition-switch problem was under intense scrutiny from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because consumers had reported about 820 fires caused by the switches.
The first Canadian recall followed 260 reports of fire or smoke from ignition switches, causing minor injuries to three people. No injuries have been reported in the United States.
NHTSA had been investigating 23.5 million Ford vehicles in the United States with the same type of ignition switch. However, some cars with the switch had no or few reports of fires, such as the 1984-87 Lincoln Continental and Lynx.
Ford spokeswoman Francine Romine said the problem was that a supplier shortened the space between switch terminals, creating the potential for a short circuit and fire. That problem was limited to about one-third of the vehicles, she said.
The supplier, United Technologies Automotive in Dearborn, Mich., changed to the closer switch terminals in May 1987 and started producing switches with the terminals farther apart in 1992, documents show.
``We're quite confident this is the right (vehicle) population,'' Romine said.
A class-action lawsuit against Ford, combining a handful of cases, is pending in federal court in New Jersey.
``We're not yet satisfied that the recall has gone far enough,'' said Richard Schiffrin, a lead lawyer on the case. ``There are cars with a higher fire rate that aren't included.''
A comparison of the fires reported to NHTSA and the vehicles being recalled shows that most model years with more than 10 fires reported per model year have been included in the recall.
However, documents show several exceptions: drivers of the 1986 Lincoln Town Car reported 19 switch or steering column fires; Aerostar consumers reported 12 fires in 1986 minivans; and 11 people reported the fires in 1987 F-series trucks.
``Many of the claims reported to NHTSA were unsubstantiated,'' Ford's Romine responded. ``Fires can happen for other reasons.''
Recalls in both countries now cover: 1988-90 Escorts; 1988-92 and some early 1993 Mustangs, Thunderbirds, Tempos and Mercury Cougars and Topazes; 1988-89 Crown Victorias and Mercury Grand Marquis; 1988-89 Lincoln Town Cars; 1988-91 Aerostar minivans; 1988-91 Bronco sport-utility vehicles and F-series pickups; and 1988 EXPs.
Michael Brownlee, NHTSA's associate administrator for safety, praised Ford for stepping forward to recall the vehicles. He said Ford's engineering explanation seems to make sense, but the agency will monitor the recall to make sure the problem has been identified correctly. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
List of Recalled Models
by CNB