Ford's Faulty Ignition Switches

04/18/96

23 million Ford vehicles may be driving around the U.S. with an ignition switch that can cause a fire in the steering column, if it goes bad. All Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles built between 1984 and 1993--with the exception of the Taurus and Sable--were built with the switch which may short out and flare up, even if the vehicle is parked and turned off.

Ford recalled 248,000 vehicles in Canada because of the high rate of problems Canadians were having with the faulty switches--although Ford has said they haven't been able to pinpoint the problem. So far Ford has refused to recall any of the U.S. vehicles because, they say, the incident rates in the U.S. are quite low. Estimates have placed the cost of recalling and repairing all 23 million U.S. vehicles that currently have the switch at up to $2 billion. The estimates are based on current prices for replacing the switch at dealerships (between $50 and $90).

Ford places the Canadian incident rate for fires caused by faulty switches at 0.08%--i.e., approximately one out of every 1240 vehicles. The company says that in a population of 248,000 Canadian vehicles with the switch, 300 steering column fires have been reported and 200 of those were been blamed on faulty switches. Ford places the incident rate in the U.S. at 0.02%, or approximately one out of every 5,000 vehicles. The company says that only 800 steering column fires have been reported out of a population of 4 million vehicles that reported problems with the switch.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the problem which appears to result from the deterioration of a plastic insulator between terminals in the ignition switch. The deterioration allows a short circuit that causes over heating. The terminals in newer switches are spaced farther apart. Ford put a new switch into production in 1992 and stopped using the old one in 1993. Ford said that any consumers who are worried about the problem should have the switch replaced at their own expense. The repair should cost under $100.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel