Ford Malaysia Issues Recall on Escapes
Ford Malaysia has sent out letters requesting owners of its recently-launched Escape to bring their vehicles in for replacement of a part on the fuel tank.
The notice, sent out to some 300 owners last week, concerns a lock nut which has been found to be defective with respect to manufacturing tolerances. As a result, it may not properly tighten when screwed onto top of the Fuel Delivery Module (FDM) which comprises the fuel pump and fuel level sensor. This could lead to fuel leakage when the tank is filled completely.
“We were first aware of the fault on September 4th when a customer reported smelling petrol in the cabin. Subsequent investigation revealed that there was fuel leakage around the FDM, and within a week, there were also similar complaints by two other owners,” explained T.H. Chong, Ford Malaysia’s Marketing Manager. He clarified that although the fuel tank is located under the rear seat area, any fuel that may leak will not get inside the cabin as the tank is on the outer side of the floor.
“We notified the plant which supplies the Escape CKD packs, which is in Japan, and they immediately conducted investigations which identified the lock nut as having been ‘out of spec’. Further investigations showed that a specific batch of these lock nuts from the supplier were possibly defective and needed to be changed,” he said.
Mr Chong added that Ford Australia had also reported a similar problem and was also carrying out the same replacement exercise. It is, however, not a global recall as Escapes sold in Europe and North America use parts that may come from different suppliers due to being assembled in different factories.
The replacement part will be provided and installed free of charge. Besides the lock nut, which measures 150 mm in diameter, a gasket sealing the FDM will also be changed (a standard practice for gaskets). The total cost of the exercise will be about RM26,400 for the 300+ units already delivered in Malaysia since the end of July 2001.
“Cost is not an issue here,” stressed Ford Malaysia MD Deborah Aronson. “Although there were only three reports, we feel that fuel leakage is a very serious matter. We apologize to our customers for this situation and have acted immediately in their best interests to correct the fault. We will change the affected part on all units delivered so far, regardless of whether the lock nut is defective or not.”
Ms Aronson hopes that Escape owners will bring their vehicles in as soon as possible for the replacement. She confirmed that all Ford service centres around the country have the necessary tools (a special tool is needed to unscrew the lock nut) and parts and that customers will not have to wait for parts to be delivered. The time needed to do the job is about an hour but it will be dependent on scheduling at the respective service centres. Queries concerning this matter can be made by calling the Ford Customer Relationship Centre (1-800-88-3673) or contacting Ford Malaysia via its website at www.ford.com.my.
It is noteworthy that Ford Malaysia has been open about this recall and even went to the extent of showing the press the affected part and how it will be changed. While recalls for defective parts are not unusual in this age of mass production, some manufacturers try to avoid acknowledging a defect openly because they feel that it will tarnish their image. It’s okay if the defect is not dangerous but if, say, a problem with the fuel delivery system results in an engine stalling and a fatal accident results, then the manufacturer could be considered highly irresponsible for not having notified customers and taken steps to protect them.
In fact, most customers would appreciate being informed of a defect and that a manufacturer is ready to rectify it. Ford Malaysia’s Mr Chong noted that after the letters were sent out, a few customers rang up the company to thank it for having acted immediately. This sentiment was also evident when Ford made the big decision to recall all its Explorers which were running on Firestone tyres that were alleged to be prone to failure. The company acted very quickly to have the tyres changed and did not even pause to determine the costs involved. A Ford spokesman said, at that time, that “the important thing is to get our customers out of danger [by changing their tyres right away]”.
