Hybrid Car – More Fun with Less Gas

Re: Toyota struggles to stop runaway crisis

register ::  Login Password  :: Lost Password?
please rate
this thread
Posted by Ashton Crusher on February 6, 2010, 10:40 pm
 


wrote:


That last sentence is a hoot.  When a GM, Ford, or Chrysler had a
recall the "I love Toyota" crowd were all over them, there was no
"It's pretty rare for _any_ car to not have at least a couple of
recalls with the increasing complexity of vehicles."   Now that it's
Toyota getting a black eye suddenly a recall is no big deal.  And
similarly, even though Toyota has known about this problem for years,
the Toyota loyalists are claiming how "up front" T is and how
"quickly" they are addressing it.... my ass.

Posted by =?iso-2022-jp?q?Hachiroku_=1B$ on February 7, 2010, 10:47 am
 


On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:30:47 -0500, Mike Hunter wrote:


Really? This is the 5th largest recall of all time.

Better google Ford Transmission Recall. THey got out of it by sending you
an orange sticker to put on your dash that said "WARNING! This Motor
Vehicle may go from Park to Reverse at anytime without warning. Do not
leave vehicle idling."

Or some such BS. My roomate had a Country Squire Land Barge and that's
what he got in the mail. We had a good laugh over it and he stuck it to
the refrigerator. That was 1980 if I remember right.

Ford petitioned the government saying it would be too expensive to fix the
millions of transmissions that were on the road.


    On June 10, 1980, NHTSA made an initial determination of defect in
    Ford vehicles with C-3, C-4, C-6, FMX, and JATCO automatic
    transmissions. The alleged problem with the transmissions is that a
    safety defect permits them to slip accidentally from park to reverse.
    As of the date of determination, NHTSA had received 23,000 complaints
    about Ford transmissions, including reports of 6,000 accidents, 1,710
    injuries, and 98 fatalities--primarily the young and old, unable to
    save themselves--directly attributable to transmission slippage. As
    detailed below, this defect finding eventually resulted in a
    pseudo-recall wherein Ford agreed to mail warning labels to 23 million
    owners of Fords with these transmissions rather than recall them for
    mechanical repair. The Center for Auto Safety first called NHTSA's
    attention to the problem in July 1977, and shortly thereafter NHTSA
    instituted an investigation into 1966-79 Ford vehicles with C-6 or FMX
    transmissions. In the face of apparent administrative inaction by
    NHTSA, CAS in July 1978, renewed its warnings and asked NHTSA for a
    recall. CAS produced evidence of 12 deaths and 100 accidents which
    occurred because of transmission slippage. CAS reminded NHTSA of the
    long established precedent of the Kelsey-Hayes wheel case (United
    States v. General Motors Corp., 171 App. D.C. 27, 518 F.2d 420 (1975))
    that a significant number of failures alone in normal use is a
    sufficient legal basis for a recall without determination of a precise
    cause of failure. But in October 1978, NHTSA denied the Center's
    recall request. It did, however, term its investigation a "matter of
    extremely high priority." NHTSA realized the magnitude of the proposed
    recall put its investigation on politically sensitive ground. Hence,
    any action required concrete evidence of defective design. On August
    29, 1978, NHTSA issued a "Consumer Advisory" warning drivers not to
    leave their vehicles unattended with the engine running for even a few
    moments. The following month NHTSA conducted an investigation to find
    out if complaints against Ford transmissions were disproportionately
    higher than those against other manufacturers or whether the problem
    was common for all automatic transmissions. The study revealed,
    contrary to Ford's contentions, that Ford transmissions were 12 times
    more likely than General Motors' and 14 times more likely than
    Chryslers' to jump from park-to-reverse when jarred.

98 Deaths. Far more than the deaths reported for Toyota's problem, and the
problem may have been excaberated by people pressing the accelerator
hoping to free it.

Moreover:

In August, 1980, in accordance with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle
Safety Act of 1966, as amended, NHTSA held hearings at which interested
persons were given the opportunity to present data and views as to the
existence of a safety-related defect in these transmissions. Two months
later, NHTSA Administrator Claybrook sent a memorandum to Secretary of
Transportation Goldschmidt announcing her intention to order the recall of
10 million Fords with C-3, C-4 and FMX automatic transmissions. With
respect to the JATCO and C-6 transmissions, she stated her belief that a
remedy, such as a warning device, might be negotiated with Ford.
    Contrary to Administrator Claybrook's findings, on December 31, 1980,
    Secretary Goldschmidt announced DOT's agreement to close its three and
    one-half year investigation of the Ford automatic transmissions in
    exchange for Ford's pledge to send notification and warning labels to
    owners of almost 23 million Fords. On March 6, 1981, the Center for
    Auto Safety filed suit to overturn the agreement between Ford and DOT
    on the grounds that a mere warning label recall was illegal under the
    National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act which required
    mechanical remedy of defective vehicles and that there was no support
    in the record showing a label would reduce the number of accidents,
    deaths and injuries.

By 1984:

Despite findings by the agency that Ford "park-to-reverse" accidents had
resulted in a total of at least 306 deaths, and that the death rate from
the defect was higher in 1984 than in any other year in history except one
(1980), NHTSA announced on July 12, 1985, that it would not reopen the
case.


SIX YEARS and the problem was NEVER fixed! Over 300 deaths from faulty
tranmissions, and Ford got out of it with a sticker.





Posted by jim beam on February 7, 2010, 11:06 am
 

On 02/07/2010 07:47 AM, Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote:

wow, nice post.  best post links to your sources though.





Posted by =?iso-2022-jp?q?Hachiroku_=1B$ on February 7, 2010, 2:05 pm
 

On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:06:12 -0800, jim beam wrote:


Why, you're absolutely correct:

http://www.autosafety.org/ford-transmissions-failure-hold-park


Posted by =?iso-2022-jp?q?Hachiroku_=1B$ on February 8, 2010, 9:03 pm
 

On Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:22:24 -0500, Mike Hunter wrote:


<YAWN>

Taking Joe's place, are we?

Even Ford admitted the transmissions could jump out of park at any time.

The 'recalled' the cars by issuing stickers. Wow.

I think it was THE BIGGEST and the most dangerous recall of all time, and
it was 'fixed' with a sticker for the dashboard.



This Thread
Bookmark this thread:
 
 
 
 
 
 
  •  
  • Subject
  • Author
  • Date