"Jeff" <kidsdoc2000@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:e%4fj.8319$4m5.6864@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Picasso wrote:
>> still just me wrote:
> <...>
>
>>> "Recalls" these days are generally only for safety related items.
>>> If
>>> the manufacturer won't be sued, they typically just issue a TSB,
>>> or
>>> perhaps have a "service campaign" for significant issues that they
>>> feel will hurt their reputation or really piss off the customers.
>>> They
>>> only "recall" when absolutely necessary or ordered to do so.
>>
>> Yeah, like the cruise control module that they sent me a letter in
>> July saying the parts wont be available until quarter 4... so in
>> november i was at the dealer with my pickup, and of course it was
>> not available, apparently until quarter 1...
>>
>> Speaking of "absolutely necessary" the car is a 1993... cruise
>> worked fine all those years, and works fine to this day. They
>> recomended I schedule an appointment to have it disconnected... now
>> theres a waste of time ... scheduling an appointment to break
>> something, then come back to get it fixed right... yep, that sounds
>> about like our ford dealer.
>
> Fixing a potential cruise control module is necessary if you're
> going to drive the vehicle with cruise control. However, more likely
> they were either ordered to do it by the Feds or knew they were
> going to be ordered to do it. However, the idea of disconnecting the
> cruise control is Ford's. It has to do with liability.
Ford initiated the original CC recall voluntarily (although NHTSA was
likely to have forced an eventual recall). However this last follow-up
recall seems like over-kill times three. My Father's Ranger got the
treatment. It is 8 years old, doesn't have the always live circuit,
and has never had a problem, yet it now has a ****ny bundle of wires
tacked onto the switch at the master cylinder. I think Ford just
decided they didn't want any more insurance fires blamed on the CC
deactivation switch. I've followed the history of this in the NHTSA
complaint database. Before Ford initiated the original recall, there
were very few re****ts of fires related to the CC deactivation switch.
Almost all of the complaints were identified as being associated with
a particular batch of switches used on F150s and Expeditions. For
these vehicles, the circuit that included the CC deactivation switch
was always live (had power even when the ignition was off). Within
days of the announcement of the original recall, the complaints
started pouring in. You might say that people didn't know they should
complain until they realized why their truck may have caught on fire.
However, many of the complaints were very suspicious - the wording was
literally copied from the press re****ts. And a large number of
complaints dealt with vehicles that did not have the same always live
circuit used by the F150. Ranger, Explorers, Ford cars all used a
similar switch, but the circuit was a switched circuit (no power when
the ignition was off). Yet even these vehicles were claimed to be
bursting into flame when parked. All very suspicious. Ford tried to
end the complaints by recalling all the vehicles with always live
circuits. But this was not enough. Finally they have recalled
everything that could remotely have the problem, at a cost of
billions. I suppose it is the only way to end the madness, but it sure
seems like overkill to me.
Ed
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