Ford recalls 144,000 F-150 for Air bag problem
According to the Ford Motor Co, it would recall around 144,000 Ford F-150 models in the United States and Canada. These recalled vehicles are from the 2005 and 2006 model years. These F-150 models pose a risk with their airbags that could deploy because of a short circuit. Now these 144,000 F-150 pickup trucks are being recalled to fix this potential problem of inadvertent inflation of the driver’s airbag during normal driving that could result in a crash or injuries. Some of these injuries can be from the bag itself.
Ford has admitted that it had received a number of complaints about the airbag problem:
- It is alleged that this inadvertent air bag deployment occurs shortly after start up
- It is suspected that during assembly, a specific airbag wire located in the steering wheel could have been improperly positioned
- This wire may chafe, expose bare copper and cause an airbag wire in the steering wheel to short circuit
- This shortcut in turn would illuminate the warning lamp
- This anomaly if not attended promptly would cause an inadvertent driver frontal airbag deployment
According to the automaker, most of the vehicles with the flawed wire appeared to have been built during the first shift working at the Norfolk, Virginia, plant between November 2004 and June 2005. In the US around 135,000 trucks are being recalled and 9,000, in Canada.
The car maker has also assured that the risk of unwanted airbag deployment is relatively low and the airbag warning light would illuminate many times before a deployment. According to Ford Co, in most cases, when a vehicle’s airbag inflated due to this issue, it occurred within a few seconds after the truck was started. In cases where the airbag has deployed in the trucks, Ford said that a warning light had been illuminated notifying drivers that the vehicle needed service.
The recall notice was not immediately posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website as it was not known as to how many drivers had complained of the problem or if there were any reports of related injuries.
The car maker will notify the owners in early March and ask them to take the vehicles to their local dealer for replacement of the wiring harness. The safety repairs would involve replacement of the wiring harness. The automaker hopes that the repair to replace the flawed wiring harness would take less than half a day and would be done at no charge to the consumers by the Ford dealerships.
According to the Ford Motor Co. the figure of 144,000 F-150 pickups in the US and Canada accounts only to a small fraction of the 1.3 million trucks the National Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wanted to be recalled. The safety agency is reviewing Ford’s plan and will decide whether the 144,000 F-150 pickups recall is adequate or it can actually get Ford to recall all the vehicles it asked for.
The Ford F-series truck has been the best-selling US passenger vehicle for nearly 30 years.
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