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Ford Motor Company will recall 128,616 2010 and 2011 model-year Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans over a flaw that could cause the wheels to fall off the vehicles while in motion, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Thursday. The sedans affected by the recall come with a 17-inch steel wheel design that may create excessive force on the studs that fasten the wheels to the vehicle, causing them to break over time.
Ford said that it is possible for more than one stud to break on a wheel. When one of the studs breaks, the others absorb the extra pressure, increasing the likelihood that they may also break. Initially, the broken studs may cause the wheel and vehicle to vibrate. Should the driver fail to notice or correct the problem, the stress on the studs could worsen, ultimately causing the wheel to detach from the vehicle. The loss of a wheel poses a serious safety risk to the occupants of the affected vehicle in addition to other motorists in proximity.
According to Ford, the wheel defect originates in the “faulty” mounting pads on the rear wheels. The automaker also says that the rear wheel mounting surface may not have been properly assembled on some of the Fusion and Milan vehicles, which combined with the faulty steel wheel, may increase the odds of wheel separation.
Ford will notify owners of the defect so they can take their vehicles to a Ford dealer for inspection. The dealers will inspect the rear brake discs and replace the wheel lug nuts capping the threaded wheel studs on all four wheels. Faulty brake discs will also be replaced as needed, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on January 24, 2012.
NHTSA opened an investigation of the Fusion/Milan wheel problem in January 2010 after receiving 29 complaints about breaking wheel studs. Six of those cases involved wheel separation while driving – five rear-wheel and one front-wheel separation. Despite the seriousness of these incidents, nobody was injured.
This is the second reported incidence of problems with these vehicles. In May 2010, NHTSA announced that it opened a formal investigation into model-year 2010 Ford Fusions and Mercury Milans after reviewing complaints that the accelerator pedals in the vehicles could become trapped in the depressed position – a problem that could lead to sudden unintended acceleration and possible loss of control.
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