On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:30:47 -0500, Mike Hunter wrote:
Really? This is the 5th largest recall of all time.
Better google Ford Transmission Recall. THey got out of it by sending you an orange sticker to put on your dash that said "WARNING! This Motor Vehicle may go from Park to Reverse at anytime without warning. Do not leave vehicle idling."
Or some such BS. My roomate had a Country Squire Land Barge and that's what he got in the mail. We had a good laugh over it and he stuck it to the refrigerator. That was 1980 if I remember right.
Ford petitioned the government saying it would be too expensive to fix the millions of transmissions that were on the road.
On June 10, 1980, NHTSA made an initial determination of defect in Ford vehicles with C-3, C-4, C-6, FMX, and JATCO automatic transmissions. The alleged problem with the transmissions is that a safety defect permits them to slip accidentally from park to reverse. As of the date of determination, NHTSA had received 23,000 complaints about Ford transmissions, including reports of 6,000 accidents, 1,710 injuries, and 98 fatalities--primarily the young and old, unable to save themselves--directly attributable to transmission slippage. As detailed below, this defect finding eventually resulted in a pseudo-recall wherein Ford agreed to mail warning labels to 23 million owners of Fords with these transmissions rather than recall them for mechanical repair. The Center for Auto Safety first called NHTSA's attention to the problem in July 1977, and shortly thereafter NHTSA instituted an investigation into 1966-79 Ford vehicles with C-6 or FMX transmissions. In the face of apparent administrative inaction by NHTSA, CAS in July 1978, renewed its warnings and asked NHTSA for a recall. CAS produced evidence of 12 deaths and 100 accidents which occurred because of transmission slippage. CAS reminded NHTSA of the long established precedent of the Kelsey-Hayes wheel case (United States v. General Motors Corp., 171 App. D.C. 27, 518 F.2d 420 (1975)) that a significant number of failures alone in normal use is a sufficient legal basis for a recall without determination of a precise cause of failure. But in October 1978, NHTSA denied the Center's recall request. It did, however, term its investigation a "matter of extremely high priority." NHTSA realized the magnitude of the proposed recall put its investigation on politically sensitive ground. Hence, any action required concrete evidence of defective design. On August 29, 1978, NHTSA issued a "Consumer Advisory" warning drivers not to leave their vehicles unattended with the engine running for even a few moments. The following month NHTSA conducted an investigation to find out if complaints against Ford transmissions were disproportionately higher than those against other manufacturers or whether the problem was common for all automatic transmissions. The study revealed, contrary to Ford's contentions, that Ford transmissions were 12 times more likely than General Motors' and 14 times more likely than Chryslers' to jump from park-to-reverse when jarred.
98 Deaths. Far more than the deaths reported for Toyota's problem, and the problem may have been excaberated by people pressing the accelerator hoping to free it.Moreover:
In August, 1980, in accordance with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, as amended, NHTSA held hearings at which interested persons were given the opportunity to present data and views as to the existence of a safety-related defect in these transmissions. Two months later, NHTSA Administrator Claybrook sent a memorandum to Secretary of Transportation Goldschmidt announcing her intention to order the recall of
10 million Fords with C-3, C-4 and FMX automatic transmissions. With respect to the JATCO and C-6 transmissions, she stated her belief that a remedy, such as a warning device, might be negotiated with Ford. Contrary to Administrator Claybrook's findings, on December 31, 1980, Secretary Goldschmidt announced DOT's agreement to close its three and one-half year investigation of the Ford automatic transmissions in exchange for Ford's pledge to send notification and warning labels to owners of almost 23 million Fords. On March 6, 1981, the Center for Auto Safety filed suit to overturn the agreement between Ford and DOT on the grounds that a mere warning label recall was illegal under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act which required mechanical remedy of defective vehicles and that there was no support in the record showing a label would reduce the number of accidents, deaths and injuries.By 1984:
Despite findings by the agency that Ford "park-to-reverse" accidents had resulted in a total of at least 306 deaths, and that the death rate from the defect was higher in 1984 than in any other year in history except one (1980), NHTSA announced on July 12, 1985, that it would not reopen the case.
SIX YEARS and the problem was NEVER fixed! Over 300 deaths from faulty tranmissions, and Ford got out of it with a sticker.