Ford Fusion (american version of Mondeo)
Ford has been realized recently that there is a possible problem of manufacturing 1.378.637 cars produced in north America. In the wake of two accidents, one of them with a hurt, it has been given with the problem: the bolts that hold the steering wheel may turn loose.
Due to a lack of insufficient pressure of tightening the screws, with the time, you can go losing firmness. If any mechanic is aware, with time and wear, may turn to fall, so that the steering wheel is off of the steering column. The rest is not hard to imagine.
To eliminate that possibility, the official Ford replaced the screws with more long withstand more torque, more a patch of nylon. This ensures that they are not going to move there. As in any call to fix, there is nothing to pay, with or without warranty.
steering Wheel of the Ford Fusion
Are affected Ford Fusion models 2014-2017, which were manufactured at Flat Rock (Michigan) between August 6, 2013 and February 29, 2016. It’s the same for the models 2014-2018 produced from 25 July 2013 to 5 march 2018 in Hermosillo (Mexico).
Your relative in the platform, the Lincoln MKZ, has the same problem, with affected units in Hermosillo during the same time as the Fusion. Note that corrected the problem in production for only 10 days, the press note was issued on the 14th day, the day before yesterday.
The Ford Fusion is marketed in Europe as the Mondeo, produced in Almussafes (Valencia). The european division of Ford has not said anything about it, so they are not affected by the units of european production and there is no risk to road safety. Everything is limited in north America.
Wheel of the Lincoln MKZ
1.378.637 cars affected are distributed as follows: 1.301.986 in the united States and associated territories, 62.479 in Canada and 14.172 in Mexico. None of them has ended in Europe. You have centralized all the production in the same place, Ford would have had to call to review to many more cars.
on the other hand, the Ford Focus 1.0 GTDI model 2013-2016 and Fusion 1.6 GTDI 2013-2015 still has to go through the workshop with a problem that can be reproduced in the clutch. Models automatic change are not affected, only the manual gearbox B6.
In the event that the driver causes repeated slippage of the clutch in a short time, this can lead to an early wear. With time, the press lost properties and be chained to heating and cooling cycles, cracks.
Ford Focus Sedan (american version)
These cracks may allow the passage of transmission fluid at a very high temperature, which, of met with a spark could start a fire. Ford has realized the problem before anyone gets hurt, so the anticipation has worked.
Such vz in a period of reduced sensitivity on the issues of quality or with regulators more lax in their function this could have gone unnoticed. Let us remember that not long ago this industry -I do not mean to Ford, but in general – I would have preferred to compensate few affected that review thousands or millions of cars. This problem only affects around 6,000 cars.
almost 10 years Ago Ford announced that it would sell the same cars in different world regions with minimal modifications (policy One Ford), which has reduced the enormous differences between models, Ford of north america and europe -essentially-. That policy is under review, you do not end up being effective.
Some models, like the Mustang, are produced at the same site for the entire world to not have a lot of volume outside of north America
anyway, although plants very distant among them from making the “same” car, there are still differences between providers, since the factories tend to receive pieces of companies that are near, it is the most effective level of logistics.
This episode reminds us that is “good” that the production is not centralized in the same place for all the world (a policy very japanese), and that this is dealt at the regional level. Centralization has involved some risks, that you tell Takata and their inflators of airbags is defective.
having found the deficiency of the screws on the steering wheel or press the clutch in european models, the be issues related to road safety, Ford would be forced to notify the authorities and entities such as the DGT to pass the notice to the owners to attend to the call to review.
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