Ford initially said it was not a safety problem since the Freestar will coast during which it can be safely maneuvered and stopped because the engine continues to run.
Ford Motor is recalling more than 200,000 model year 2004-2005 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans because the torque converter can fail without warning leaving no driving power, increasing the risk of a crash. The Ford safety recall is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2012, after the company procures replacement parts. At least 65 complaints about the problem, going back to the last decade, prompted NHTSA in 2009 to initiate a series of requests for warranty and customer complaint data.
The new world of the web directly provided NHTSA with enough owner complaints to prompt and bolster its investigation, making it less dependent on automaker supplied data. It’s also likely the ‘Toyota effect’ was in play; one that came about at a newly vigorous NHTSA, after the safety agency levied record fines against Toyota for covering up safety defects. At the time the Ford investigation was underway, critics were asserting NHTSA was the ‘lapdog’ of the auto industry at Congressional hearings.
Last December Ford’s Field Review Committee approved “a field action to be conducted as a Safety Recall to avoid a protracted dispute with the agency.” Ford had maintained for years there was no real world proof of a problem, only two vague accident reports. By this time the NHTSA probe had been upgraded to an engineering analysis, one stop short of a recall for a safety related defect.
In an unusual acknowledgement of the Ford recall (11S25 or 12V-006) just made public, NHTSA said Ford made assertions – also unusual in my experience – in its required defect filing that are untrue and violate federal safety regulations.
“We note that your report states that ‘Ford has not determined that vehicle immobility caused by torque converter malfunction in these vehicles constitutes a safety defect. Ford is not aware of any reports pertaining to this condition where customers allege they were unable to maintain control of their vehicle . . . Ford has decided to conduct this field action as a Safety Recall, despite our belief that this condition does not present an unreasonable risk of accident or injury. NHTSA does not agree with this statement,” said Jennifer Timian Chief, Recall Management Division, Office of Defects Investigation Enforcement at NHTSA.
The acknowledgment/rebuke went on tell Ford that its owner letter must include specific language acknowledging a defect related to motor vehicle safety exists without disclaimers or this is a violation of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. NHTSA also said “If you send any owner notification letters to owners containing such disclaimers, the agency will take appropriate action for your violation of 49 CFR 577.8 and 577.9.”
Ford Motor did not respond to requests for comment and clarification.
I’m on Ford’s side on this. I don’t think loss of motive power necessarily constitutes a SAFETY defect. This is not a black/white issue. What evidence do either NHTSA or the professional critics (CFAS/IIHS) have? Accidents? Injuries? Decisions on whether something is safety-related can be very subjective at the margin. And marginal issues typically (unless human nature has changed) get very low response rates, thus nullifying or denigrating the credibility of NHTSA.
I disagree with your comments because these transmission don’t give any warning at all when they fail. I my situation I was approaching a control intersection when it failed. I ended up in the middle of the intersection making this a very bad situation to be in.
In May 2010, my husband, myself and our children were in our 2005 Ford Freestar van on the highway traveling approximately 55 mph, when my husband lost acceleration on the van. Fortunately, there was not much traffic and we were able to safely coast to the side of the road. If the situation had been different, we could have been involved in a serious accident. I do believe this loss of power is a safety issue, it is a serious accident waiting to happen,.
My family had begun our summer vacation on June 16 and 30 minutes into the trip I heard a pop and suddenly loss power on my 2004 Ford Freestar….we were going through mountains of North Carolina and two tunnels with no shoulders just before sudden loss of power… this happened at 5:30 AM, got it towed and currently is sitting at gas station as we rented a car to continue vacation trip to Orlando…based on what I have read we feel fortunate we had no accident… I will now pursue the recall because we had not received a notice yet…
I have a 2005 Ford Freestar, and about 3 years ago I was traveling on I-95 near Cocoa Beach Florida and my van lost forward power and I coasted to the side of the highway and wondered what happened? I was eventually towed to a nearby Service station where they gave me a choice of a re-built or brand new transmission, well I went with the new choice. I recently received a notice for recall of the transmissioin due to a defect in part of the transmission. Well my question is since I had a new transmission installed in 2009, does it include the repaired Torque Converter? I also wondered if I would be due a reimbursement for the monies I have spent for a new transmission?
Thanks,
Clay H. Wieland
cwieland@bellsouth.net
Ford is really putting it to their technicians on this recall also. They are paying them 4.0 hours labor to perform this service. That means they are paying them 4 hours to do this repair, therefore the technician is going to have to try and do this job as fast as he/she can in order to loss as little money as possible. This repair cannot be performed in the time Ford is paying.
Ford is really putting it to the customers also.In that four hour recall,the frame and front suspension has to be removed from the vehicle.This throws the vehicle alignment off.Ford refuses to pay for a realignment after this sevice.Perhaps the nhtsa should issue another safety recall to fix the alignment.
I was on the way up north to go camping with my family all 7 of us when the converter stripped out this was last year. We lost the week and I had to pay for it out of pocket not cheep. Then I get a letter about the recall. Still a Ford guy but it sucked bad. what can I do now?
Call the Customer Service Center listed in your owner’s manual. If you have a receipt, they can reimburse.
We have been put off by our dealer until parts were available. Now they say that it will take 2 days and they will not provide a loaner vehicle. Makes it hard to get this done with both of us working and 2 kids in school….
Agree with you! Same in my area, no loaners for this recall, I feel it isn’t MY fault FORD has had a recall!