A class action lawsuit was filed by BC and Ontario residents in Canada against the Ford Motor Co. which from 1983 to 1995 produced a dozen different models with defective engine modules. The Thick Film Ignition (TFI) module was mounted on the vehicle's distributor and often failed from overheating, causing the vehicle to stall.
In a report dated October 2, 2006, the BC Supreme Court has approved a $1.5 million class action settlement from Ford Motor for the defective TFI module. To those who replaced the modules or need the part replaced, Ford has agreed to pay up to $325 each.
Actually, it took a while for Canada to follow suit. It can be recalled that on December 9, 2002, after five years of litigation, a settlement was reached in a national class action in Alameda County Superior Court in California -- Howard v. Ford Motor Co. -- that reimbursed owners who complained of same problem.
The California version cited the defect “that may cause the vehicle to stall and die on the highway at any time.” It added that, “Failure at highway speeds can cause the driver to lose control or even result in a stalled vehicle being hit by a truck.
Some models had failure rates as high as 90%.” According to Ford, two-thirds of the failures were of the “die on the road” type. Pair this off with the actual count of subject Ford vehicles, which can reach to 22 million. At the rate, some if not a multitude of subject Ford vehicles are still hitting the road today. Disturbing enough.
More alarming is the predilection of Ford Motor Co. to keep things seemingly under wraps – such is, according to The Center for Auto Safety:
Ford Motor Company has known about this problem since it began, yet concealed it from consumers and government regulators for well over a decade. Just as in Firestone tires on Ford Explorers, a prime instrument in Ford's cover up was secrecy agreements in product liability lawsuits. Over 900 product liability lawsuits have been filed against Ford on these vehicles with protective orders and confidential settlement agreements entered in many.
For both Ford Motor Co. and the driving population, the wheel of seeming misfortunes continues: A class action lawsuit has been filed against Ford Motor Co. and partner companies for allegedly designing, manufacturing, installing, supplying, selling and distributing outside door handles systems that do not comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 206, Canadian Federal Motor Vehicles Safety Standard 206 or even Ford's internal standards.