The government is investigating whether the rear coil spring can fracture and punch a hole in the rear tyres of some models of the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable, federal motor vehicle safety officials told the Associated Press (AP).
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In a separate probe, the government reportedly is reviewing potential turn indicator faults in three General Motors – the 2002 Chevrolet Malibu, Oldsmobile Alero and Pontiac Grand Am.
According to AP, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a preliminary investigation into 2000-2001 Taurus and Sable sedans after receiving 131 complaints about broken coil springs.
The inquiry reportedly involves about 467,000 vehicles – the Taurus was among the best-selling passenger cars in the United States during the two model years.
The news agency noted that most of the complaints came from northern states where vehicles are often subject to salt corrosion during the winter. About half of the owners who filed complaints said there were punctures in the rear tyres because of the broken coil springs.
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By GlobalDataFord spokeswoman Kristen Kinley told the Associated Press that the automaker was cooperating with NHTSA and “we’ll be reviewing the reports that they’ve received to better understand the allegations.”
There have been no crashes, injuries or fatalities linked to the Taurus and Sable review, the report added.
In the GM case, the government said it was reviewing nearly 400,000 cars, according to AP – NHTSA said it has received 42 complaints about a turn signal malfunction that leads to flickering or total failure of the turn signal lights and the indicator on the instrument panel.
The Associated Press noted that, in 2003, GM recalled 2000-2001 models of the Malibu, Alero and Grand Am to replace defective hazard switches that caused the turn signals and hazard lamps to fail. GM said then that the hazard switch caused the problem.
In December 2004, GM said it would replace the hazard switch at no cost for 1999-2000 model year vehicles of the Alero, Grand Am and Malibu sedans under 10 years or 150,000 miles, AP added.
GM spokesman Alan Adler told the news agency the company was cooperating with NHTSA in the investigation. There have been no crashes, injuries or deaths connected to the issue.
