Recalls
| Campaign | Manufacturer | Manufacturing date | Type | # of units affected | Date Owner notified Mfg | Recall Initiated by | Manufacturers of recalled vehicles/products | Report Recieved Date | Record Creation Date | Regulation Part Number | FMVSS Number | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEAT BELTS - FRONT - BUCKLE ASSEMBLY | ||||||||||||||||
| 01V227001 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | from 04/17/2000 to 06/19/2001 | V (Vehicle) | 1400000 | 07/25/2001 | MFR | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 07/16/2001 | 07/17/2001 | |||||||
| Defect Summary | Vehicle description: passenger and sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, and minivans. equipped with seat belts supplied by trw. it is possible that the driver's and/or front passenger's outboard seat belt buckle may not fully latch. ford crown victoria built at st. thomas assembly plant from 4/17/00 - 5/29/01 mercury grand marquis built at st. thomas assembly plant from 4/17/00 - 5/29/01. lincoln town cars built at wixom assembly plant from 3/27/00 - 5/30/01. lincoln navigators built at michigan truck plant from 4/11/00 - 5/31/01. ford windstars built at oakville assembly plant from 3/23/00 - 5/30/01. ford rangers built at twin cities plant from 3/28/00 - 5/30/01, and also at the edison plant from 3/13/00 - 5/25/01. ford f-150 truck built at norfolk plant from 4/18/00 - 5/25/00; at ontario plant from 5/10/00 - 5/28/01; at kansas city plant from 9/11/99 - 5/25/01; and at cuautitlan plant from 5/16/00 - 6/9/01. ford super duty f-250, f-350, f-450, and f-550 trucks built at kentucky plant from 4/17/00 - 5/27/01; and at cuautitlan plant from 5/16/00 - 6/19/01. ford excursions built at kentucky plant from 4/17/00 - 10/2/00. ford expeditions built at michigan truck plant from 4/11/00 - 5/31/01. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | In the event of a crash, the restraint system may not provide adequate occupant protection, increasing the risk of personal injury to the seat occupant. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Dealers will inspect the front outboard seat belt buckles and if the buckle fails the inspection process, it will be replaced. owner notification began july 25, 2001. owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1-866-436-7332. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236). | |||||||||||||||
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEAT BELTS | ||||||
| EA05004 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 02/17/2005 | 07/06/2005 | FRONT SEAT BELT BUCKLE ASSEMBLY | ||
| During the initial recall campaign in 2001, the subject vehicles were inspected by ford dealerships using a test tool that would detect a defective front seat outboard seat belt buckle assembly.approximately one million vehicles passed the inspection test for one or both front buckles.subsequent to the recall service action, odi received 15 consumer reports alleging that a passed inspection buckle subsequently failed to latch or inadvertently unlatched during use.in addition, ford has identified 543 owner and field reports alleging buckle failure subsequent to passing the inspection test.ford tested and examined over 100 warranty-returned buckles and found that 44% of the buckles had no problem or a condition not related to the recall inspection (non-latch related buckle damage or foreign contamination).warranty claims were highest during the 18-month period after the start of the recall (july 2001) and have been declining during the past 24 months.over the past 12 months, ford has received approximately 12 warranty claims per month out of a vehicle population of about one million.complaints counts are also decreasing.during the past seven months, odi has received only two complaints. a safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.accordingly, this investigation is closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances. | ||||||
| SEAT BELTS - FRONT - BUCKLE ASSEMBLY | ||||||
| EA05004 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 02/17/2005 | 07/06/2005 | FRONT SEAT BELT BUCKLE ASSEMBLY | ||
| During the initial recall campaign in 2001, the subject vehicles were inspected by ford dealerships using a test tool that would detect a defective front seat outboard seat belt buckle assembly.approximately one million vehicles passed the inspection test for one or both front buckles.subsequent to the recall service action, odi received 15 consumer reports alleging that a passed inspection buckle subsequently failed to latch or inadvertently unlatched during use.in addition, ford has identified 543 owner and field reports alleging buckle failure subsequent to passing the inspection test.ford tested and examined over 100 warranty-returned buckles and found that 44% of the buckles had no problem or a condition not related to the recall inspection (non-latch related buckle damage or foreign contamination).warranty claims were highest during the 18-month period after the start of the recall (july 2001) and have been declining during the past 24 months.over the past 12 months, ford has received approximately 12 warranty claims per month out of a vehicle population of about one million.complaints counts are also decreasing.during the past seven months, odi has received only two complaints. a safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.accordingly, this investigation is closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances. | ||||||
| RQ04011 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 10/22/2004 | 02/17/2005 | FRONT SEAT BELT BUCKLE ASSEMBLY | ||
| Under recall campaign (01v227), ford recalled approximately 1.3 million vehicles to inspect and if necessary replace the front driver and/or passenger seat belt buckle.approximately 1.1 million owners responded by taking their vehicles to a dealer for inspection of the buckle using a specialized buckle test tool.ford reported that 829,927 vehicles had both buckles pass the tool test and another 167,336 vehicles had one buckle pass.odi and ford received complaints alleging seat belt buckle failure shortly after passing the original recall inspection service.complainants alleged that the buckle failed by either not latching or false-latching (partial engagement of the latch to the latch plate).a false-latched buckle may release with minor movement or impact against the buckle housing including inadvertent release while the vehicle is in motion.odi is upgrading this recall query to an engineering analysis (ea05-004) to further analyze the field performance of those vehicles that ford dealers passed (one or both buckles) using ford's inspection test (997,263 vehicles). | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEAT BELTS - FRONT | |||
| 12/21/2005 | 115000 | 40 | 01/01/2001 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the driver's side seat belt does not latch securely. this started two years ago, and the seat belt unlatches at times. the dealership determined there was nothing wrong with the seat belt. *ak updated 2/7/2006 - *nm | |||
| 10/18/2001 | 8 | 09/01/2001 | |
| Driver's front seatbelt came undon at high speed breaking, causing vehicle to go out of control and throwing driver into dashboard. seat belt seems to have locked, but keeps poping out on dips and rocking of truck.*ak | |||
| SEAT BELTS - FRONT - BUCKLE ASSEMBLY | |||
| 07/02/2004 | 1 | 04/01/2002 | |
| Dt: consumer states that the seat belt latch keeps coming undone. consumer looked online and found that there was recall 01v227001. when consumer contacted ford she was told that this vehicle was not part of this recall. due to vin. the buckle started coming undone only on bumpy roads. but last week it came undone twice on a city street. she originally thought it was because she had not latched it properly, but once it started on the city streets, latching was not the problem. this problem occurred once a year. *ak | |||
| 01/04/2005 | 16510 | 2 | 01/04/2005 |
| 01 v 227 001/trw seat belt buckles: the front passenger seat belt would come undone while driving. in the event of a crash. the restraint system may not provide occupant protection. the vehicle has been to the dealer for the recall repairs, but the problem has recurred again. *jb *sc | |||
| 12/01/2002 | 77000 | 1 | 09/09/2000 |
| Front passenger's side seat belt unlatched. *ak the front passenger seat belt would release itself. the consumer informed the dealer of the problem but they indicated that they couldn't find anything wrong. the consumer decided to purchase and install a new part and now the problem is gone. the consumer later found out that the part was the subject of a recall. the manufacturer was notified and informed the consumer that her truck was not included in the recall due to vin. *nm | |||
| 05/08/2001 | 0 | ||
| Passenger's side seat belt buckle is popping out, each time it is being used where male part could latch in, then will pop out. dealer will replace part.*ak | |||