On October 21, 2008, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced they initiated a preliminary investigation to examine allegations that Chinese-made valve stems on up to 1 million 2007 model Ford Motor Co. vehicles may crack and leak air.
The documents, posted on NHTSA’s Web site, said the agency has received 37 complaints alleging that snap-in tire valves cracked and leaked air resulting in a flat tire on 2007 Ford vehicles. Of those, 11 complaints alleged the damage required the tire to be replaced.
Ford has received an unspecified number of complaints as well. In June, Tech International, a Johnstown, Ohio-based distributor of the Chinese-made parts, recalled 6 million TR413 model valve stems, offering free replacements and to pay for any tire damage caused by the defective part. The valves are manufactured by Shanghai Baolong Automotive Corp., which is a subsidiary of Topseal Auto Parts.
Ford Motor Co. spokesman Wes Sherwood said automaker uses tire stems made by Shanghai Baolong as standard equipment on most new vehicles. But he said the stems produced for Ford were made in a different part of the plant and with different materials than the ones recalled. “We do not think this is a safety issue,” Sherwood said. He said that Ford has gotten complaints from some consumers in connection with the stems, but none alleging injuries. He declined to say how many.
Senior Ford safety officials, including Sue Cischke, senior vice president for sustainability, environment and safety and the company’s director of automotive safety office, James Vondale, met with senior NHTSA officials in Washington to discuss the tire-stem issue on Sept. 10.
In 23 of the 37 complaints, owners said that more than one tire valve “was severely cracked or cracked and leaking and had to be replaced.” NHTSA is looking at TR431, TR414 and TR418 snap-in stems on Ford vehicles. NHTSA is looking at 1.05 million 2007 models that are under investigation. They are the Grand Marquis, F-150, Mustang, Edge, Fusion, Expedition, Explorer, MKX, MKZ, Milan, Focus and Escape.
Tires are a sensitive issue for Ford in the wake of hundreds of rollover deaths linked to Ford vehicles with Firestone tires. In 2000, Ford spent $3 billion to replace 11 million tires. At least 271 deaths were linked to suspect Bridgestone/Firestone tires many on Ford Explorers which sparked Congress to pass a new auto safety law to promote early detection of problems.
Sherwood said if owners of 2007 model Ford vehicles have concerns about their valve stems they can contact their dealer.
In May, NHTSA began investigating 23.5 million Shanghia Baolong made TR400 series tire valve stems distributed by North Carolina-based Dill Air Control Products.
Dill officials told NHTSA that valves made from July 2006 to mid-November 2006 may leak from cracks caused by exposure to air by a chemical. The issue has been linked to a “change in suppliers of a chemical used to provide ozone protection,” NHTSA said.
Those valve stems may have come out of the same Chinese factory that made the recalled vales stems distributed by Tech International.
On Sept. 24, NHTSA upgraded its investigation into an engineering analysis, noting that 4,767 complaints have been filed about the stems. Another 23,000 cracked tire stems were discovered during a tire inspection program.
Dill told NHTSA in July that it had replaced stems on 130,000 vehicles and recovered nearly 900,000 unused recalled stems. “We expect tire dealers to replace another 250,000 in 12 months,” Dill said.
Safety advocates urge motorists to inspect their valve stems for cracks and to check tire pressure.
“Air loss at highway speeds may result in a tire failure and loss-of-control crash,” said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research and Strategies.
NHTSA’s investigation follows the death of Robert Monk of Orlando, Fla., who was killed when the right rear tire of his 1998 Ford Explorer failed, triggering a rollover crash.
Kane said the tire failure has been linked to a cracked a Dill TR413 valve stem. That remains under investigation by NHTSA.
NHTSA in its Oct. 16 letter to Ford asked for a wide range of information surrounding the 2007 model vehicles requiring a response by Jan. 9. Sherwood said Ford would cooperate with the request.
