Ford Fire Recall Explained

Largest Single Recall in Ford History

On October 13, 2009, Ford Motor Co. announced an expansion to its largest-ever automotive recall by adding about 4.5 million vehicles to the recall over a faulty switch linked to hundreds of vehicle fires.

The action, which comes in the face of an 18-month federal investigation, means the company has now called back more than 14 million vehicles in eight separate recalls over a 10-year period because of the problem.

The cruise-control deactivation switches, made by Texas Instruments and sold for about $21, were installed in 16 million Ford vehicles over a decade before the automaker stopped using them in early 2003. The switches have been linked to at least 550 vehicle fires and 1,500 complaints.

The new recall includes:

Earlier Recalls 2007

On August 3, 2007, Ford Motor Co. again expanded the recall of Ford vehicles due to problems associated with the speed control deactivation system. The latest recall included several additional model years of some vehicles previously affected by the switch recall, as well as a few new models of cars, trucks and SUVs, for a total of 3.6 million vehicles recalled. Owners of the vehicles included in this recall will receive notices in the mail urging them to visit dealers to install a corrective fused wiring harness to repair the allegedly defective cruise control switch.

Customers may also contact Ford directly at 1-888-222-2751 or the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration's (NHTSA) auto safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236.

The August 2007 recall greatly widens the scope of previous Ford recalls made in March 2007, August 2006 and January/ September 2005. The March recall consisted of 155,000 2003 model year trucks, SUVs and cars. The January recall consisted of almost 800,000 Ford pickups and sport utility vehicles, including model year 2000 Ford F-150s, Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators and 2001 F-Series Super crew trucks made at the same time, while the September 7, 2005, recall included 3.8 million full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.

NHTSA first opened an investigation into the alleged switch defect in November 2004. In March 2005, NHTSA began a second investigation of the issue, this time including Ford F-150 pickups from 1995-1999 and 2001-2002 model years, and Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators from the 1997-1999 and 2001-2002 model years. The 2005 recall came less than two weeks after consumer advocate Ralph Nader criticized Ford for delaying action on the issue. Up to that point, NHTSA had received more than 1,000 complaints of engine fires linked to the faulty switch.

Vehicle Fire Attorneys | Lawyers

Owners of the Ford vehicles who lost their vehicle due to fire and also suffered other significant property damage (such as the loss of their house) or were personally injured, are welcome to contact an attorney at Lieff Cabraser experienced in handling fire recall claims against Ford by clicking here. There is no charge or obligation for our review of your case.

You may also contact us by telephone toll free at 1-866-313-1973 and request to speak to Ford fire recall attorney Mark Chalos. We will also investigate vehicles made by other manufacturers that caught fire and led to an injury or significant property damage.