Ford and Mazda Recall Southern California Vehicles

03/27/96

Reuters reported that both Ford and Mazda are recalling thousands of vehicles that were originally sold or are registered in 10 Southern California Counties. The Ford recall will affect 118,000 1991-1994 Ford Explorers and Rangers; the Mazda recall will affect 500 Navajos built between 1991 and 1994 as well as 2,000 B-Series pickups from 1994. Both recalls stem from problems with fasteners that attach the braking system's master cylinder to the brake booster assembly.

United Press International reported that Ford announced that the problems are restricted to Southern California. Ford says that so far only nine injuries resulting from several minor accidents have been blamed on the faulty parts, which can cause the brakes to fail without warning. Ford said none of the accidents have been serious and no fatalities have been reported. Most of the injuries involved back problems.

The metal fasteners that may have failed were installed in vehicles sold further afield than California and in models other than Explorers and Rangers. Nonetheless, Ford said accident reports have only come in from the Los Angeles-San Diego area and have involved only Explorers and Rangers. Ford explains the narrow scope of the recall by pointing to the narrow range of accident reports. Ford engineers reportedly think that the failure of the fasteners can be pinned on some environmental condition unique to the Southern California region; the engineers are conducting metallurgical tests as part of their investigations.

Failure of the fasteners is often accompanied by an audible popping sound and a softening of the brake pedal. Failure of the fastener does not affect the performance of the emergency brake. Ford is notifying owners of recalled vehicles by mail and asking them to contact Ford dealers for free replacement of the fasteners and brake booster assembly.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel