Ford issued a safety recall for 1.39 million small and full-size SUVs in the United States, citing life-threatening problems with the power steering.
Ford Motors, the second largest car maker in the world, issued three additional safety recalls involving different models. The biggest recall is of Ford's 1.39 million small and full-size SUVs to fix the faulty power steering followed by 200,000 Taurus sedans and 82, 576 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and MK sedans. Altogether, Ford has issued four recalls in just one week, mostly affecting vehicles in the U.S. and Canada.
Ford's latest recall affecting 1.39 million vehicles includes nearly 1.18 million SUVs within North America. The problem identified by the car maker could lead to loss of power steering control, resulting in a crash. The steering, however, will still be operable but as a manual control, which can be instantly identified by the driver due to the extra effort needed to turn the wheel.
The affected models in the recall include Ford Escapes and Mercury Mariners model year 2008-2011and full-sized Explorers in model years 2011-2013,USA Today reports.
According to the report, Ford has been investigating the matter in Ford Escape models since 2009 and finally dispatched a replacement kit to dealers in 2011, after Canadian authorities started looking into the case. Dealers did not replace the entire steering column to fix the issue as Ford suggested an alternate.
Car makers are giving more importance to the safety issues in vehicles after GM failed to address some safety issues and found itself running around court rooms. So far, auto makers in the United States hve recalled 22.7 million vehicles this year, whereas in the entire 2013 only 20.9 million vehicles were recalled, Wall Street Journal reports.
Ford also recalled Taurus sedans from model year 2010 to 2014 due to a corrosion that can take place in the license plate area. A light that illuminates the name plate of the vehicle can trigger a short circuit due to corrosion and cause a fire. Ford has reported 13 incidents of fire and one injured driver who tried to set off the fire with bare hands. Other recalls from this week involved Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and MK sedans from model year 2006 to 2011. Dealers will replace the driver's side floor mats, which have been interfering with the gas pedals, the report adds.
