Ford Vehicles Have Problem Switch 23.5 Million Vehicles Have Type Of Ignition That Has Caught Fire

About 23.5 million Ford Motor Co. cars, minivans and light trucks in the United States have the same type of ignition switch that has caught fire in hundreds of Ford vehicles and prompted a recall in Canada.

There have been more than 820 reports of fires from the switches in the United States; and in some cases, fire occurred even when the vehicle was parked and shut off, according to documents on file at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. No injuries have been reported.

The vehicles with the same switch include all Ford, Mercury and Lincoln models built from 1984 to 1993 except the Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable and the Probe, which Ford makes with Mazda, NHTSA and Ford officials said.

“This is a very important (investigation) for us,” said Michael Brownlee, the agency’s associate administrator for safety.

“We’re talking about a huge number of vehicles,” he said. “We’re talking about some potentially serious problems here. So this is something that needs to be resolved soon.”

Francine Romine, a spokeswoman for Ford in Dearborn, Mich., said there was a much higher rate of fires per vehicles on the road in Canada.

Earlier this year, NHTSA officially upgraded its investigation into the switches in 188,000 Ford Escorts built in 1990. However, agency officials said Wednesday that they are interested in the other Ford vehicles that have the same ignition switch and might expand the investigation.

In Canada, Ford recalled 248,000 cars, minivans, sports utility vehicles and light trucks in late 1995 following 260 reports of fire or smoke from ignition switches, causing minor injuries to three people.

Ford said at that time it was looking into problem switches on 1989-91 models. But an internal Ford memo drafted Feb. 16, 1995, notes that nearly all of the company’s 1984 to 1993 models use the switch.