Ford Motor Company is recalling close to half a million cars over a fuel tank problem.
The recall affects the Mercury Milan and Ford Fusion after the car maker uncovered a possibility that the trouble can lead to a fire, implying that this problem demands an immediate repair.
Specifically, the affected 450,000 vehicles consist of Mercury Milan and Ford Fusion sedans, ranging from 2010 through 2011 models.
The particular problem was spotted inside the fuel systems of these particular vehicles, particularly the canister purge valve, which is responsible in supplying excess fuel vapor into the engine for burning.
It was discovered that this component may not operate appropriately. This might then result to changes in fuel pressures within the fuel tank. When pressure changes keep on, this might lead to fuel tank leak, which is very hazardous as it might result to fire.
To date, Ford said that it has not received any report of fire incident associated with this specific flaw of its vehicles.
Fortunately, the automaker has already identified a solution to this problem. Aside from repairing the purge valve and fuel tank, as appropriate, dealers are additionally going to update the software of the powertrain control module to correct unnecessary pressure buildups within the cars' fuel tank systems.
Owners of these vehicles will be provided with a letter indicating the recall of their vehicles.
The 451,865 cars affected by the recall were developed at the company's plant in Sonora, Mexico, the Hermosillo Assembly Plant. These were built from July 21, 2008 through March 4, 2011.
The Michigan-based company released the recall in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. around 34,000 cars are located in Canada, 7,000 are in Mexico and 411,000 can be found in the U.S.
In April, Ford also carried out a huge recall involving about 400,000 Ford autos in the U.S. because of busted latches issue, which could trigger doors to swing open while driving them.
In particular, Ford recalled 389,585 late-model Fusion, Ford Fiesta and Lincoln MKZ sedans upon discovering the aforementioned problem. During the time, over 200 complaints with regards to defective latches on Ford Fiesta subcompacts were documented by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
