Ford recalls nearly 43,000 SUVs due to gas leaks that can cause fires, but remedy won't fix leaks
Ford recalls nearly 43,000 SUVs due to gas leaks that can cause fires, but remedy won't fix leaks
They’re not fixing the leaks, they’re making the car detect when it starts spraying gasoline inside the engine compartment so it will enter limp mode before a fire starts.
The driver can then push their disabled car to the side of the road, and assuming they weren’t killed in traffic, then Ford will replace the faulty injector.
Limp mode still let's you drive, it just reduces max revs and power.
Are you sure? It’sa Ford after all. Limp mode could mean a hammer drops from under the dash, smashes one of your knees, and puts you in limp mode.
"Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
Woman on plane: Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?
Narrator: You wouldn't believe.
Woman on plane: Which car company do you work for?
Narrator: A major one."
You know what doesn't leak gas from fuel injectors onto hot engine surfaces?
EVs. Just saying.
And yes, I know, you'll show me videos of piece of shit Teslas catching fire, as if that makes such problems equal to something like this.
A gasoline fire can be put out with about a thousand gallons of water. A lithium battery in an electric car can take 3,000-5,000 gallons of water to put out. There have been cases of wrecked Teslas reigniting at scrap yards weeks after they were destroyed.
they gotta start taking the batteries out of them before scrapping them, probably with mandatory recycling. also hot take all cars should have a public transit and protected bike lane tax applied to them
You’d think we’d have a better solution for extinguishing this by now. Solid state batteries can’t get here fast enough.
If EV fires take 3-5x as much water to put out, but ICE vehicles catch fire 30x more often as EVs, is that really so bad?
Teslas are a bad example anyway.
EVs are definitely the way to go here... just not a fucking tesla.
Unless salt water gets to them
GDI engines that need to run the fuel to the injectors at over 2,000 psi is just stupid. Using that much pressure for such a marginal gain in efficiency from other engines that only need like 50 psi.
2,000 psi is like a guarantee that at some point in that vehicles life there's going to be fuel leaks and problems. Ever see a firetruck shooting that giant stream of water from the end of its ladder? That's only 80 psi.
Direct injected cars are nothing new. Diesels run their injectors much higher than 2000psi for hundreds of thousands kilometers. Ford is just shit at engineering.
Don't try and bring diesel into this. They're pretty different. It also doesn't cause nearly the fire risk when they leak some fuel.
Also, they absolutely leak fuel. I've seen loads of diesels with fuel leaks (I drive a lot of diesels for work). But like I said, them leaking a bit isn't really a cause to sound the alarm bells for a fire, cause diesel fuel isn't a risk like that.
ah yes. Ford and saving money and fires...
The article says that this is an extension of a recall from 2022 for the same problem, and that Ford says replacement parts are available, but its odd to me that they wouldn't just replace them. I guess we're still on risk calculation vs people freaking over a known reason that their car could catch on fire
Yes. Human lives are just another data point for these companies.
If it's cheaper to have people die than to make things safely, we all know what they're going to do.
The solution is to create penalties that outweigh the profits.
People don’t pay enough attention or shit like this would kill brands
Wouldn't the solution be corporations equally owned by the workers?
Me (while reading about the "fix" in the article): That's just a Band-aid!
The article:
Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, called Ford’s remedy for the fuel leaks a “Band-aid type recall” and said the company is trying to avoid the cost of repairing the fuel injectors.
Me: That's what I just said!
"But remedy won't fix leaks."
That pretty much makes it not a fucking remedy!
Can we just recall all gas SUV's?
Ford Pinto!
Now now, don’t leave out the Bobcat.
Do not buy American cars.
I honestly don't know the reason, but they have made hot garbage for over 2 decades.
The interiors look like prison cells and the QA is nonexistent.
Don't forget the 90s hot garbage.
Does widdle baby American corporations need the bail out bottle?
Smells like no one changed the diaper after decades of the US auto industry sitting it's pants.
GM had a recall on their Epsilon extended platform that didn't fix the problem either. Wires would corrode due to no seals and proximity to HVAC. Safety systems would go off line, brake lights would get stuck on. A Colorado woman actually drove off a mountain because of this defect.
Still not fixed to this day, as the correct fix would involve replacing a computer module in millions of cars with one that has a weathertight interface. US automakers always get the laziest of passes.
Let's just throw it on the ground, definitely a better solution than making sure it won't leak
Fixed it for you.
Happy Birthday to the ground!
That's not my mom, that's a cell phone!
Patrick foretold!
"We take this thing here... and push it all the way over here."
Internalize profits, externalize costs