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Ford Recalls 4.5M Vehicles Over Fire Concern

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Oct 13, 2009 4:00 pm US/Eastern

Ford Recalls 4.5M Vehicles Over Fire Concern

Defective Cruise Control Switch Could Cause A Fire

DETROIT (CBS) ― Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will add 4.5 million older-model vehicles to the long list of those recalled because a defective cruise control switch could cause a fire.


Company spokesman Wes Sherwood said 1.1 million Ford Windstar minivans will be recalled for repairs due to a small risk of fires.

He said another 3.4 million Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles with the same switches also will be recalled even though there have been no reports of fires with them. Those vehicles mainly are trucks and sport utility vehicles.

All vehicles covered by the recall are from the 1992 to 2003 model years.

Sherwood said this is Ford's seventh recall due to the Texas Instruments speed control switches. The recalls cover a total of 14.3 million vehicles and combined are the largest in Ford's history.

The Dearborn, Mich., automaker will begin notifying vehicle owners of the recall by mail starting at the end of the month with instructions on how to get the repairs done.

Until then, Ford recommends that Windstar owners in the covered model years park their vehicles outdoors.

"With the Windstars that have shown some elevated risk, we would encourage people to park outside of their garage until they can have the recall performed," Sherwood said.

Ford is not recommending this for the other vehicles affected in this recall because they haven't shown the same risk of fires, he said.

Consumers can track vehicle recalls on the government-run Web site, Safecar.gov.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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