In
September 2005, you were mailed a letter announcing Safety
Recall 05S28 (Speed Control System Modification). At
that time, we anticipated that service parts would be
available in November 2005. However, the availability
of service parts has been delayed until February 2006. We
urge you to contact your dealer in February to schedule an
appointment to have the new parts installed. Until
these parts are available, you dealer is still authorized
to perform a temporary repair, which includes disconecting
the speed control system on your vehicle.
September 7,2005
DEARBORN, Mich.,
Sept. 7 - Ford Motor Company announced today that it is conducting
a voluntary safety recall on 1994-2002 Ford F-150, Ford Expedition,
Lincoln Navigator and Ford Bronco vehicles to correct a systems
interaction that could cause the speed control deactivation
switch to overheat and lead to an underhood fire. Ford estimates
that there are approximately 3.8 million of these vehicles
on the road today in the U.S.
The make and model years of affected vehicles include: 1994-2002
Ford F-150s, 1997-2002 Ford Expeditions, 1998-2002 Lincoln
Navigators and 1994-1996 Ford Broncos equipped with factory-installed
speed control.
Ford has worked closely with NHTSA to investigate this issue.
Ford's investigation found that brake fluid may leak through
the speed control deactivation switch into the speed control
system electrical components, potentially corroding them.
In rare cases, the corrosion in the electrical components
can lead to increasing resistance and higher electrical current
flow through the system. Together, these conditions could
lead to overheating and, possibly, a fire at the switch.
This system interaction is the result of the close proximity
and orientation of the speed control components in the recalled
vehicles.
To
address this issue, Ford will install a fused wiring harness
between the speed control deactivation switch and the speed
control mechanism of the affected vehicles. This will act
as a circuit breaker, eliminating the electrical current
to the switch in the rare event of increased current flow
through the switch.
"Our customers can be confident that this action will prevent
a speed control deactivation switch fire," said Ray Nevi,
assistant director, Ford Automotive Safety Office. " Our
investigation was complex because the root cause turned out
to be a system interaction rather than a single component
and we had very few confirmed incidents to analyze. Despite
this complexity, our solution effectively addresses the cause."
Ford is in the
process of acquiring sufficient fused wiring harnesses
to repair customers’ vehicles. Until replacement
parts are available, customers are instructed to take their
vehicles to a Ford or Lincoln Mercury dealership to have
the speed control deactivated.
Owners of affected vehicles will be notified by mail immediately.
Owners who have not already had their previously recalled
2000 model-year vehicles repaired should contact their dealers
to make arrangements for the repair.
Customers may
get further information at www.genuineservice.com or they
may contact Ford's Customer Relationship Center at 1 -
888-222-2751. For a videotape message about the recall,
customers may visit www.ford.com under the "Vehicle and Services" heading
and then either the "Safety" tab or the "Owners" tab.
