Air Bags. Review the 184 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Service Brakes. Review the 29 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Wheels. Review the 18 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

14 crash reports3 fire reports5 injury reports

Electrical System complaints

7 reports

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Mileage unknown · Feb 20, 2024

Air BagsElectrical SystemService BrakesCrash

Brakes have failed. Cannot even get to dealership because of this for the repair. Also, airbag light is still on and no repair listed for recall issue.

NHTSA ODI #11573030

175,000 miles · Jan 24, 2020

Air BagsElectrical System

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AFTER RECEIVING A LETTER IN THE MAIL REGARDING MY AIRBAG RECALL, I BROUGHT MY VEHICLE INTO WARREN FORD TO HAVE THE AIRBAGS RECALL RESOLVED. WHEN I PICKED UP MY CAR THERE WAS NOW AN AIRBAG LIGHT ON, ON THE DASH. PRIOR TO HAVING ANY WORK DONE THERE WERE NO DASH LIGHTS ON. WARREN FORD INFORMED US UPON REQUEST THAT THERE IS "NOTHING THEY ARE WILLING TO DO." THIS IS AN ISSUE BECAUSE PRIOR TO THE WORK BEING DONE I HAD NO ISSUES AND NOW THERE IS A LIGHT ON SHOWING ME THAT THERE IS SOME TYPE OF SAFETY CONCERN NOW. SINCE THE LIGHT WASN'T ON WHEN WE ORIGINALLY BROUGHT IT TO THE SHOP FOR THE AIRBAG RECALL, THERE MUST HAVE BEEN SOME KIND OF MISTAKE WHILE THEY WERE WORKING ON THE VEHICLE. THE AIRBAG RECALL REALLY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ISSUE NOW, THE ISSUE NOW IS THAT WARREN FORD SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR NOT FIXING/RESOLVING THE AIRBAG LIGHT ISSUE THAT IS ONLY ON SINCE THEY COMPLETED THE AIRBAG REPLACEMENT. THIS RECALL WORK WAS COMPLETED AROUND DECEMBER OF 2018. WARREN FORD STATED IT WAS NOT A LIFE THREATENING CONCERN AND TOLD US TO BRING THE CAR BACK AS SOON AS IT WAS CONVENIENT TO HAVE THEM RESOLVE THE LIGHT ISSUE. THEN WHEN WE BROUGHT THE CAR BACK THATS WHEN THEY SAID THERES NOTHING TO BE DONE AND THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE TO DO THE WORK.

NHTSA ODI #11301640

89,400 miles · May 9, 2019

Electrical SystemEngineUnknown Or Other

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CAR WILL NOT START BECAUSE OF ELECTRICAL COMPUTER AND WHEN IT DOES START THE CAR STALLS WHEN OUT ON THE ROAD OR HIGHWAY PUTTING MY FAMILY OR MYSELF AT RISK OF INJURY OR DEATH. I CALLED LINCOLN HOTLINE AND THEY REFUSED TO PAY FOR THE REPAIR AFTER IT HAD ALREADY BEEN TO A DEALERSHIP FOR DIAGNOSTIC THEY COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG AND SAID IT WAS FINE THEN WENT TO PICK CAR UP AND IT WOULDN'T START. WHEN HOME TO GET SPARE KEY STILL SAME PROBLEM. I LIVE IN THE COUNTRY AND ALL FORD DEALERSHIPS ARE FAR AWAY FROM ME SO NOT CONVENIENT TO KEEP RUNNING BACK AND FORTH FOR A REPAIR THEY (FORD MOTOR COMPANY SHOULD HAVE TAKEN CARE OF. LET'S BE CLEAR THEY KNOW THERE IS A PROBLEM AND REFUSE TO FIX IT. TALKED TO 2 PEOPLE @ 1 800-241-3673 AND THE FLAT OUT TOLD ME THEY WILL NOT PAY FOR THE REPAIR. I'VE HAD THE CAR STALL IN AN INTERESECTION AND ON THE HIGHWAY SEVERAL TIMES . SOMETIMES I HAVE TO TURN THE KEY SWITCH 30 40 50 60 TIMES OR MORE TO GET IT TO START. THE TSB FROM FORD MOTOR CO. SAYS THAT WHEN CHANGING THE BATTERY IN THE 2007 LINCOLN MKZ IT WILL CAUSE A PROBLEM WITH THE ECM THE BRAIN CAUSING THE PROBLEMS I DESCRIBED. I EVEN TOLD THEM ABOUT STALLING ON THE HIGHWAY AND THEY STILL REFUSE TO PAY FOR THE REPAIR. THEY DID FIX MY AIR BAD OUT OF WARRANTY BUT WON'T FIX THIS . I FIND THIS UNACCEPTABLE AND REFUSE TO PAY FOR IT OUT OF MY OWN POCKET. CAN YOU HELP PLEASE AFFECTED CARS WOULD BE 2007 LINCOLN MKZ. MERCURY MILAN AND FORD FUSION. I'M SURE IT NOT AN ISOLATED PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM STARTED LAST YEAR 2018 I DON'T REMEMBER THE EXACT DATE I WILL PUT IN THE DATE BOX BELOW THE DATE FORD MOTOR COMPANY/ LINCOLN REFUSED TO DO REPAIR FREE OF CHARGE

NHTSA ODI #11206533

42,000 miles · Aug 4, 2014

Electrical System

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 LINCOLN MKZ. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE KEY WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO REMOVE FROM THE IGNITION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AFTER NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS ON SOME OCCASIONS, THE KEY COULD BE REMOVED FROM THE IGNITION. IN ADDITION, THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE UNINTENDED ACCELERATED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REMOVE THE KEY FROM THE IGNITION. THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 14E028000 (EQUIPMENT). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 42,000.

NHTSA ODI #10618788

84,000 miles · Jun 3, 2014

Electrical System

MY IGNITION COIL IMPLODED. I REPLACED 6 PLUGS AND ONE COIL, BUT AS THEY WERE GETTING INSTALLED THE MECHANIC SHOWED ME THAT THE COMPUTER IN MY CAR WAS NOT GIVING A READING TO THE NEW COIL, I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER AND THEY CONFIRMED THAT I NEED A NEW COMPUTER (PCM) THE CAR SHAKES UNDER 50 MPH, STOP LIGHTS, ETC...THE DEALER…

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NHTSA ODI #10595831

38,000 miles · Jun 24, 2013

Electrical SystemEngineLatches/locks/linkages

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 LINCOLN MKZ. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ENGINE FAILED TO OPERATE ONCE THE IGNITION WAS STARTED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THE BATTERY WAS REPLACED. THE FAILURE RECURRED THREE TIMES WITH THE REPLACEMENT OF THE BATTERY EACH TIME. IN ADDITION, THE FRONT DRIVER'S SIDE INFERIOR POWER DOOR LOCK FAILED TO UNLOCK. THE CONTACT HAD TO EXIT THE VEHICLE FROM THE FRONT PASSENGER'S SIDE DOOR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE DEFECT. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNAVAILABLE. UPDATED 08/06/13*LJ

NHTSA ODI #10521475

15,000 miles · Mar 2, 2010

Electrical SystemEngine And Engine Cooling

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2007 LINCOLN MKZ W/ 40K MILES WELL-MAINTAINED. ON FOUR SEPARATE OCCASIONS APPROX 3 MONTHS APART, WHEN ENGINE STILL SOMEWHAT COOL AND WITHIN 5 MILES OF START-UP, VEHICLE IS STOPPED IN DRIVE WITH FOOT-BRAKE APPLIED. ENGINE SUDDENLY REVS AND CAR BEGINS TO ACCELERATE, DESPITE APPLICATION OF HARD BRAKE PRESSURE. TO AVOID COLLISION, DRIVER MUST SHIFT TO NEUTRAL OR PARK AND TURN OFF ENGINE. STILL UNDER WARRANTY. DEALER (1) DOWNLOADED AND APPLIED COMPUTERIZED UPDATES, (2) CHANGED BATTERY, (3) REVIEWED ALL ONLINE AND FORD MOCO BULLETINS BUT FOUND NOTHING RELEVANT. PROBLEM IS VERY SERIOUS BUT OCCURS ONLY INTERMITTENTLY & DEALER CANNOT DUPLICATE. DRIVER HAS CONTACTED FORD/LINCOLN IN DETROIT AND OPENED A CASE FILE TO RESEARCH & TRACK PROBLEM. MOST RECENT OCCURRENCE ON FEB 28, 2010, AT 3:00 PM. CAR TAKEN TO DEALERSHIP ON 03/01. DEALER WILL HAVE REGIONAL FORD ENGINEER EXAMINE VEHICLE. *TR

NHTSA ODI #10315804

Official recalls

21V158000 · Air Bags:frontal:driver Side:inflator Module

Mar 10, 2021

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Ranger, 2006-2012 Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr, Lincoln MKZ, 2006-2011 Mercury Milan, 2007-2010 Ford Edge, and Lincoln MKX vehicles. The driver's side air bag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver-side airbag inflator or module with an alternate one, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on April 9, 2021 for the passenger side, and November 14, 2022 for the driver side. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S12.

19V904000 · Service Brakes, Hydraulic:antilock/traction Control/electronic Limited Slip:control Unit/module

Dec 18, 2019

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2006-2010 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ vehicles. The valves within the ABS Hydraulic Control Units (HCU) may react with brake fluids containing specific corrosion preventative additives. This reaction may cause the valves to not close properly.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If the valves do not properly close, additional brake pedal travel may be required to stop the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will flush the brake system with DOT 4 fluid and install a new brake fluid reservoir cap. In addition, the HCU will be tested to detect a possible stuck valve condition, replacing the HCU as necessary. All services will be performed free of charge. The recall began April 1, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S54.

17V024000 · Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module

Jan 10, 2017

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2012 Ford Fusion and Mustang and Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" above, Ford is recalling certain 2009 Ford Ranger, Edge, Fusion and Mustang, Lincoln MKX, MKZ and Zephyr and Mercury Milan vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, or "Zone B." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" or "Zone B" above, Ford is recalling certain 2007-2008 Ford Ranger, Edge and Lincoln MKX, 2006-2008 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ, 2005-2008 Ford Mustang and 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. Interim letters informing owners of the recall and that parts are not yet available began mailing March 1, 2017. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S01.

16V384000 · Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module

May 31, 2016

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2007-2011 Ford Ranger vehicles, 2006-2011 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ vehicles, 2007-2010 Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX vehicles, 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles, and 2005-2011 Ford Mustang vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" above, Ford is recalling certain model year 2007-2008 Ford Ranger, Edge and Lincoln MKX vehicles, 2006-2008 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ vehicles, 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles and 2005-2008 Ford Mustang vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, or "Zone B." Any vehicle not included in "Zone A", or "Zone B" is not included in the safety recall. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. Ford mailed interim letters informing owners that parts are not yet available on July 15, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S01.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

EA18002 · Extended Braking Distance

Opened Apr 18, 2018 · Closed Jan 15, 2021

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Service Brakes, Air:antilock:control Unit/module

On April 18, 2018, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Engineering Analysis (EA) 18-002 to investigate reports of braking concerns in model year (MY) 2006-12 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ, and MY 2006-11 Mercury Milan vehicles manufactured with Continental Automotive System?s ABS hydraulic control units (HCUs). Complainants report that after an ABS braking event (initiated by slippery or uneven surfaces) the brake pedal moved towards the floor and the vehicle stopping distance increased beyond driver expectations.Inside the HCU are four hydraulic normally closed (NC) valves with zinc-coated moving armatures that control the flow of brake fluid. Unstable brake fluid can degrade over time, allow the brake fluid to gel, and corrosion to form on the armatures. The high-viscosity gelation and corrosion can cause the armatures to become stuck (open). In some cases, braking returns to normal when the armature(s) subsequently become unstuck. The intermittent condition proves difficult to diagnose with complainants reporting having (non-HCU) repairs conducted only to have the condition return.During the investigation, 14 HCUs from complaint vehicles were recovered, including seven from reported crashes. NHTSA?s Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC) disassembled the HCUs, removed the four NC valves in each, and confirmed 22 of the 56 NC valves contained stuck armatures. On seven of the 14 HCUs, both front wheel armatures were stuck, on nine of the 14 HCUs two or three armatures were stuck. And 52 of the 56 NC armatures exhibited corrosion of the zinc coating. Forces required to extract stuck armatures from the valve sleeve were measured to range from 1.1 to 18.0 lbs. VRTC also conducted ABS braking tests on a variety of test surfaces that showed HCU failures cause increases in pedal travel and braking distances. Testing also showed that if the driver was able to apply four times the brake pedal force and two times the brake pedal travel, then high-vehicle decelerations could be achieved, however, single or multiple wheel lockups were also occurring.Based on Ford?s response to ODI?s July 20, 2018 information request letter, and complainants' reports to NHTSA, ODI identified a population of vehicles with an elevated level of field failure compared to vehicles produced both before and after.Further evaluation of Ford?s response identified that the brake fluid used to produce these vehicles, a specific formulation of a DOT3 fluid provided by CCI Corporation between February 2006 and July 2009, differed from the brake fluid used in other vehicle populations. ODI used the correlation of fluid specification and elevated field failures to identify a vehicle population exhibiting a defect trend. The complaints, crashes and injuries cited above, and the 14 recovered HCUs involve vehicles from this population.On December 18, 2019, Ford submitted safety recall (19V-904) to remedy HCU failures on the MY 2006-2010 Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ, and Mercury Milan vehicles manufactured with the suspect CCI brake fluid formulation. Ford will function test the HCU and replace the DOT 3 brake fluid with an improved DOT 4 brake fluid. If the HCU fails the function test, Ford will install an HCU with a different armature coating (black oxide). HCUs with black oxide coating were fully phased into Ford?s new vehicle production by MY 2016; these HCUs do not appear to be experiencing armature corrosion. ODI notes that the non-recalled EA18-002 subject vehicles, which were manufactured with a different specification brake fluid, did not display an elevated level of field failures like the recalled vehicles.Based on available information, Ford?s rec

EA12009 · Floor Mat Interference With Accelerator

Opened Dec 12, 2012 · Closed Jun 12, 2014

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Vehicle Speed Control; Vehicle Speed Control:accelerator Pedal

On May 27, 2014, Ford Motor Company submitted recall 14E-028 (Ford recall #14S07) to correct a safety-related problem with certain driver's side Ford optional all-weather floor mats sold for use in model year 2006 through 2011 model year Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr, and Lincoln MKZ vehicles built at Hermosillo Assembly Plant (HAP) from November 9, 2007, to October 31 ,2010.NHTSA testing determined that the original accessory all-weather mat with a single retention clip (Figure 1), may interfere with accelerator pedal return to idle with the mat retained by the clip and rotated clockwise.Both the single- and double-clip (Figure 2) all-weather floor mats may interfere with the accelerator pedal return to idle when the mats are not secured by the retention clip(s).Testing showed that this can occur if the mats are moved forward from the clipped position approximately two inches into a position in which the rear edge of the mats will abut the retention clip(s) when installed singly and align with the clip(s) when stacked on another floor mat.The pedal interference incidents reviewed by the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) include 1 crash and 9 incidents with allegations of brake friction materials smoking and/or requiring repair for heat related damage.The crash incident occurred after the parking brake was applied at speed, resulting in loss-of-control vehicle yaw event caused by lock-up of the rear tires.The spin-out resulted in a side impact collision with an oncoming vehicle in an opposing lane of traffic. For the 29 incidents with sufficient information available to make an assessment; 23 (79%) were controlled by the driver either shifting to neutral, turning the engine off, or both; 4 (14%) were ended by the driver either kicking the pedal free (2) or pulling the mat away from the pedal (2); and 2 (7%) were ended by the pedal freeing itself from the mat with no apparent driver action.None of the drivers who reacted to the incident by shifting to neutral or turning the engine off reported any difficulties with either action.The subject mats were sold by Ford and Lincoln dealers directly to customers as an optional accessory equipment item or, beginning in November 2007, the mats were also available as a factory installed accessory if ordered with a new vehicle.Ford estimates that approximately 82,579 affected driver's side all weather floor mats were sold worldwide; either over the counter through Ford dealerships or as original equipment.Owners that purchased the subject all-weather floor mats as a factory installed accessory with their new vehicle will be notified to return their all weather floor mats to their Ford or Lincoln Dealership in exchange for replacement mats.Owners of all other potentially affected vehicles will be notified that, if they have an affected Ford driver's side all weather floor mat, they should return their mats to the dealership in exchange for replacement mats.The VOQs associated with the closing of this investigation are: 10327597, 10332233, 10334211, 10335336, 10339330, 10348772 (and duplicate 10342572), 10372674, 10379562, 10415911, 10426255, 10434107, 10521053, 10554966.This investigation is hereby closed.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Vehicle Speed Control:accelerator Pedal

Vehicle Speed Control

PE08060 · Tire Valve Cracking

Opened Oct 14, 2008 · Closed Apr 9, 2009

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Tires:valve

ON OCTOBER 14, 2008, ODI OPENED PE08-060 TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF CRACKED AND LEAKING SNAP-IN TIRE VALVES IN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2007 VEHICLES MANUFACTURED BY FORD MOTOR COMPANY.THE VALVES WERE SUPPLIED TO FORD BY TOPSEAL AUTO-PARTS, A SUBSIDIARY OF THE SHANGHAI BAOLONG AUTOMOTIVE CORPORATION IN CHINA.VALVES MADE BY TOPSEAL FOR AFTERMARKET SALE WERE THE SUBJECT OF TWO RECENT SAFETY RECALLS BY TECH INTERNATIONAL (08T-018) AND DILL AIR CONTROLS (08T-028), THE LATTER OF WHICH WAS INVESTIGATED BY ODI IN PE08-036 AND EA08-022.THE DEFECT CONDITIONS ADDRESSED BY THE AFTERMARKET TIRE VALVE RECALLS BOTH INVOLVED INADEQUATE RESISTANCE TO OZONE CRACKING DUE TO ISSUES WITH THE SUPPLY OF ANTI-OZONANT CHEMICALS TO TOPSEAL FOR A PERIOD FROM JULY TO MID-NOVEMBER 2006.THE AFTERMARKET VALVES WERE COMPOUNDED WITH A BLEND OF EPDM AND NATURAL RUBBER, USING A RELATIVELY LOW PERCENTAGE OF EPDM (EPDM PROVIDES INHERENT RESISTANCE TO OZONE CRACKING).HENCE, THE NEED FOR ANTI-OZONANT CHEMICALS AND THE PROBLEMS WITH CRACKING WHEN THOSE CHEMICALS WERE MISSING OR OUT OF SPECIFICATION IN SOME LOTS OF VALVES.BOTH RECALL CAMPAIGNS INVOLVED INSPECTION PROGRAMS TO IDENTIFY AND REPLACE VALVES WITH VISIBLE SURFACE CRACKING.ALTHOUGH THE TOPSEAL VALVES SUPPLIED TO FORD ALSO APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY THE ANTI-OZONANT SUPPLY ISSUES IN MID TO LATE-2006, FORD INDICATED THAT ITS VALVES WERE MADE AT A DIFFERENT TOPSEAL PRODUCTION LINE AND WERE COMPOUNDED WITH A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF EPDM RUBBER TO MEET MORE STRINGENT SPECIFICATIONS FROM FORD.ODI'S ANALYSIS OF COMPLAINT AND WARRANTY DATA PROVIDED BY FORD SHOWED THAT PROBLEMS WITH CRACKED TIRE VALVES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER FOR MY 2007 VEHICLES PRODUCED FROM DECEMBER 2006 THROUGH MARCH 2007.FORD RESPONDED BY IMPLEMENTING CHANGES IN ITS MATERIAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR SNAP-IN RUBBER TIRE VALVES AND ALSO INCREASING THE QUALITY AND ACCEPTANCE STANDARDS FOR VALVES IMPORTED FOR USE IN ITS VEHICLES.WHILE THE COMPLAINT AND WARRANTY CLAIM RATES ARE ELEVATED FOR SUBJECT VEHICLES PRODUCED FROM DECEMBER 2006 THROUGH MARCH 2007, THE RATES OF LEAKING VALVES ARE WELL BELOW ONE PERCENT OF PRODUCTION FOR EACH OF THE PEAK MONTHS FOR ALL OF THE AFFECTED MODELS.A SUBSTANTIAL MAJORITY OF THE SUBJECT VEHICLES ARE EQUIPPED WITH TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS (TPMS) WHICH WARN THE DRIVER WHEN ANY TIRE PRESSURES DROPS BELOW 25 PERCENT OF RECOMMENDED INFLATION PRESSURE. AS OUTLINED IN A LETTER TO ODI DATED APRIL 6, 2009, FORD HAS AGREED TO SEND LETTERS TO OWNERS OF CERTAIN MY 2007 AND 2008 FORD, LINCOLN AND MERCURY VEHICLES TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CRACKING CONCERN. LETTERS WILL BE SENT TO OWNERS OF VEHICLES BUILT FROM NOVEMBER 2006 THROUGH MAY 2007.OWNERS CAN OPT FOR A FREE DEALER INSPECTION.VALVES EXHIBITING SURFACE CRACKS OR AIR LEAKAGE RELATED TO OZONE ATTACK WILL BE REPLACED BY FORD UNDER ITS NORMAL WARRANTY TERMS.FORD EXPECTS TO SEND THE LETTER BY APPROXIMATELY MID-MAY 2009. BASED ON THE USE OF TPMS IN THE MAJORITY OF SUBJECT VEHICLES AND THE RELATIVELY LOW RATES OF REPAIRS ASSOCIATED WITH LEAKING VALVES AND RESULTANT TIRE DAMAGE, ODI BELIEVES THAT THE ACTIONS FORD HAS AGREED TO TAKE WILL PROVIDE EFFECTIVE AND EXPEDITIOUS RESOLUTION FOR VEHICLES THAT WERE BUILT DURING THE PERIOD WHEN VALVES WITH INADEQUATE RESISTANCE TO OZONE CRACKING WERE MOST LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN USED IN VEHICLE PRODUCTION.FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF THIS MATTER WOULD NOT BE AN EFFICIENT ALLOCATION OF AGENCY RESOURCES.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 WILL CONTINUE TO