Service Brakes the Reason For Nissan Recalls

Service Brakes the Reason For Nissan Recalls

October 25, 2016 admin

Washington, D.C. – October 25, 2016 – A brake fluid leak in some Nissan vehicles may cause an electrical short which carries with it the risk of a fire breaking out, according to a recall memo from the National Traffic Safety Administration. The Nissan vehicles mentioned in the report included the 2016-2017 Maxima, 2015-2017 Murano and 2015-2016 Murano hybrid. Additionally, the report mentioned that as many as 120,329 vehicles were affected by the issue. Nissan informed dealers on September 2, 2016, and began preparing notifications for the owners to go out via first class mail some time in the following 60 days.

The Defect

The vehicles that are at risk for having the defect mentioned in the recall are equipped with actuators that were manufactured outside of specified dimensions. In fact, the wrong die temperatures may have resulted in the formation of seal hardness in the vehicles with Nissan’s Intelligent Cruise Control. If this occurs, the seal will likely leak brake fluid onto a circuit board. Although an ABS warning lamp, should be triggered in response to the leak, the an electrical short can occur and a fire could break out at that location in your vehicle.

Timeline Of Nissan’s Response

Nissan recommended that if the ABS light inside your Nissan vehicle stays illuminated for more than 10 seconds, you should pull over and park your car as soon as you can. Although it took a little time to investigate the issue, Nissan has done a good job of putting together a game plan to handle the recalls. Here are a few distinct actions that Nissan took over the course of first finding out about the problem to the issue of a recall:

  • June 7, 2016: Nissan was first notified of an incident involving thermal damage to a 2016 Nissan maxima. There was an inspection of the vehicle scheduled immediately to determine the cause and origin of the problem.
  • June 2016: After the inspection, Nissan determined that a fire did occur and likely originated in the area around the ABS actuator. Upon further investigation, it was made clear that the ABS warning lamp was on prior to the issue. Nissan proceeded to notify the ABS actuator unit supplier (ADVICS) and continued the investigation with the supplier.
  • June 2016 – August 2016: In collaboration with ADVICS, Nissan attempted to determine whether or not this is an isolated incident or one that affects a collection of vehicles. Nissan also monitored other incidents that sound similar to this one more closely.
  • August 24, 2016: Based on evidence from the investigation, Nissan determined that the defect was real and a risk to driver safety. As such, the company conducted a safety recall campaign to remedy the issue as much as possible.

The Solution

Every individual who responds to Nissan’s recall can have their vehicle examined at a dealership. Your Nissan professional should inspect the serial number of your ABS actuator to see if it was manufactured during an affected time. If it was, the dealer will replace your ABS actuator at no cost to you, the owner.

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Seat Defect Can Increase Chances Of Injury In Collision

Seat Defect Can Increase Chances Of Injury In Collision

October 24, 2016 admin

Auburn Hills, MI – October 24, 2016 – A manufacturing error in the third row seat of certain Audi Q7s may result in an increased chance of injury during a collision, according to a memo from the National Traffic Safety Administration. The vehicles mentioned in the report from the manufacturer, Volkswagen, include Audi Q7 SUVs that were manufactured between August 17, 2015 to July 31, 2016. In the vehicles affected by the defect, the third row of seats is likely to move forward more than it should in the event of a collision.

The Defect

The Audi Q7s that are at risk for the defect were manufactured with the wrong dimensions in the transverse pipe used to support the third row of seating. The improper construction of such a piece results in a weaker support system for the third row of seats, and hence, the increased chance of injury for passengers seated there in the event of a crash. The defect in the seating prevents 19,205 vehicles from conforming to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard.

Timeline of Volkswagen’s Response

The Q7 crossover vehicle from Audi has had problems up to this point already. Before this latest recall, Audi announced the recall of some of their Q7 vehicles due to inadequate exterior lighting. This problem with the seat is another, separate issue with the same model of vehicle which could pose a risk to passenger safety. In May of 2016, periodic quality testing first identified the issue. Immediately, Audi (Volkswagen) immediately launched an investigation to determine if the test failure was a result of a defective part or an incorrect test procedure. On August 25, 2016, the issue was presented at the Product Safety Committee. A decision was reached to conduct a compliance recall right away. Since the quality testing, Volkswagen has adjusted its manufacturing protocol to ensure that every Audi Q7 made on or after August 1, 2016, would have third row seating made with the correct dimensions.

The Solution

Although the issue is present in vehicles already on the roads, Volkswagen announced that the recall for eligible vehicles will begin in October of 2016. Audi customers should expect to receive a letter in the mail stating the problem and how to most conveniently get it solved. That said, Audi should be notifying every individual driving one of the vehicles affected by the defect. To remedy the situation, dealerships should install additional back braces to support passengers in the case of a collision. If you’re worried that your vehicle may be at risk for the defect, don’t allow any passengers to sit in your third row of seating until you’ve taken it into a dealership for inspection. The adjustments to your faulty vehicle will be done free of charge, of course. If you have any more questions about the recall, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Volkswagen or Audi professional today.

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Air Bag Software Issue for GM Vehicles

Air Bag Software Issue for GM Vehicles

October 21, 2016 admin

Detroit, MI – Oct. 21, 2016 – The software in the air bags of certain General Motors vehicles was the cause for the recall of about 4.3 million vehicles recently, according to the Detroit Free Press. The problem with the software is that, in certain circumstances, the electronic component tasked with deployment of the air bag will go into test-mode. If that was to occur, the result would be that the air bags would not deploy during a collision. For obvious reasons, that could translate to a major problem for the driver and passengers. Additionally, the seat belts may malfunction. So far, the defect has been linked to three injuries and even one death.

The Defect

Unlike many other recalls, the defect is a problem with the software as opposed to any hardware components. There is a sensing and diagnostic module that regulates both air bag deployment and seat belt pretensioners. Seat belt pretensioners are the part of your seat belt that is perhaps most responsible for saving lives. When you are in a collision, the sensors will trigger action by a concealed piston. The piston will fire into spool at the center of your seatbelt, which will, in turn, tighten around the wearer of the seat belt. Being pulled tightly against the car seat does a couple of things. For starters, it positions the passenger for the best use of the air bags. Also, it prevents the passenger from “submarining,” according to How Stuff Works. Submarining is the dangerous act of a passenger being pulled violently under the dashboard. The GM vehicles that are recalled include the 2014-2015 Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet SS and Spark EV; the 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Trax, Caprice PPV, Silverado 1500, Buick Encore and GMC Sierra 1500; as well as the 2015-2017 Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, Silverado HD, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, Sierra HD, Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV.

Timeline Of GM’s Response

In May of 2016, a 2014 Chevy Silverado crashed and the air bags inside did not deploy. General Motors reached out to auto parts manufacturing company, Delphi, right away. After months of vigorous testing and simulations, GM decided to recall the vehicles ahead of any more issues in early September. Luckily, the company is confident that the solution is not an overly complicated one.

The Solution

Owners of vehicles involved in the recall can stop by their local dealership to get the necessary software update, free of charge. General Motors will be contacting owners of affected vehicles to make sure they are informed. In a statement, GM maintained that the cost of this recall would not be a material one. The statement also said that GM would include information in their third-quarter earnings report which is expected to be released sometime around the end of October. That’s good news for General Motors, because in 2014 it had to pay nearly $2 billion in damages, compensation, fines and settlements for another recall involving the ignition switch.

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Timeline Of Takata Recalls

Timeline Of Takata Recalls

October 18, 2016 admin

Detroit, MI – Oct. 18, 2016 – BMW announced that the company is recalling an additional 4,000 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada that have problems with the air bag inflators made by automotive parts manufacturer, Takata, according to the Wall Street Journal. The recall is for 2014-2015 X5s and 2015 X3s and X5s. BMW has not been the only car manufactuer that has had recall issues as a result of the Takata air bag components, however. The Takata air bag recall has been going on for quite some time now. Here is a timeline of events:

May 19, 2015

The U.S. Department of Transportation urged parts manufacturer, Takata, to recall BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota vehicles that have defects with their frontal driver and side passenger air bag inflators. Up to this point, the defect had been responsible for six deaths. About 34 million vehicles were expected to be affected by the recall.

January 22, 2016

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration made a couple of announcements, neither or which were positive. The agency announced that there would be be additional recalls of about 5 million vehicles made by Audi, BMW, Daimler Vans, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Saab and Volkswagen. This came as a result of other, more saddening news of the ninth fatality in the U.S. (10th worldwide) as a result of the failed air bag inflators. The NHTSA said that a 2006 Ford Ranger involved in a crash in South Carolina shed more light on issues with the components of the air bag inflator.

February 12, 2016

Takata issued another recall of more vehicles, including BMW Daimler Vans, Sprinter Vans (labeled Mercedes-Benz, Dodge and Freightliner), Ford, Honda (and Acura), Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen with defective air bag inflators.

March 24, 2016

One week ahead of a March 31st deadline, BMW told to the NHTSA it would be unable to meet the deadline to supply sufficient parts to meet the need of fixing faulty inflators. The agency amended the deadline for BMW to have working parts by August 31, 2016, instead.

May 4, 2016

Nearly a year after the first round of recalls was issued by Takata, the recalls continued to expand to cover more defective air bags in various vehicles. Up to this point, the faulty Takata air bag inflators were responsible for 10 deaths and more than 100 injuries in the U.S. alone. The parts manufacturer had successfully recalled nearly 29 million vehicles. But the expansion called for the recall of an additional 35-40 million potentially affected vehicles.

September 24, 2016

A driver in Malaysia was killed in a car accident. Though there are still investigations of the Honda underway, professionals heavily suspect that air bags from Takata were the reason for the malfunction during impact. If investigators do prove that the air bags were behind the driver’s death, it would mark the 14th death since the issues began more than one year ago, according to the Car Connection. Across the world in the U.S., Takata began facing more and more legal trouble. The U.S. Department of Justice publicly stated that Takata mishandled the air bag defect.

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Steering Issues On-Target in New Mazda Recalls

Steering Issues On-Target in New Mazda Recalls

October 17, 2016 admin

Washington, D.C. — Oct. 17, 2016 — Ball joints in some Mazda vehicles are possibly vulnerable to a dangerous flaw. The model years in this recall range from 2007 to 2012, per official documents with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition, the source said that 190,102 Mazda CX-7 vehicles were potentially affected, with the first related field report of this issue dating to August 2015.

The higher-priority vehicles for this recall are reportedly located in states that use lots of road salt for ice. That’s because driving on salted roads can inadvertently introduce salt water into the ball joints. Over time, this exposure could corrode the joints, eventually separating it from the lower control arm and making it more difficult for the driver to steer properly.

Target regions include northern states like Indiana, Minnesota and New Hampshire, but also more southern states, such as Kentucky and West Virginia. Dealer notification is scheduled for September 30, with owner notification coming Oct. 10. Dealers will replace left and right lower control arms after the recall campaign.

As of this writing, the manufacturer has noted no injuries connected to this fault, and the report did not state any possible indications that the issue might be present.

The Mazda recall is just one of the more recent to concern possible road-salt corrosion. Last October, approximately 218,019 Nissan Versa vehicles were recalled because of the danger road salt posed to their front coil springs. Automotive News reported that corroded springs could eventually fracture, puncturing vehicle tires in the process.

The Versa model years subject to this recall ranged from 2007 to 2012. Similar to the Mazda recall, this Nissan action particularly looked at the vehicles in particular states. Vehicles were produced between May 8, 2006 and Nov. 12, 2012.

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Windshield Wiper Module Issues Lead to GM Recall

Windshield Wiper Module Issues Lead to GM Recall

October 14, 2016 admin

Warren, Mich. — Oct. 14, 2016 — In the latest GM recall news, the manufacturer will address hundreds of thousands of its vehicles with windshield wiper system issues. According to official documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall includes two 2013 vehicle models: the GMC Terrain and the Chevrolet Equinox.

Production periods for each of these affected models began on the same date, April 17, 2012. The Terrain production time range ended Aug. 13, 2013, while the Equinox production range ended Aug. 15. of the same year.

Though the original Part 573 Safety Recall Report did not list the exact number of vehicles, a later updated version listed the number as 367,808 potentially involved autos. All 100 percent of the recalled population is thought to be affected and have the defect.

This source said that the ball joints on some wiper modules could wear down and possibly detach from their sockets and separate entirely. Doing so could disable at least one wiper, making it more difficult for drivers to see during inclement weather.

GM first received report of the possible problems Dec. 15, 2015 through one of its staff members in Canada. The official investigation began Mar. 9, 2016, and the decision to finally conduct the recall came later, in August. The root cause of the ball joint corrosion issues was unidentified as of Aug. 18. The report did list the component supplier, Mitsuba, and noted that it is based in Monroeville, Indiana.

An Aug. 2 dealer-facing notice said that the remedy is still forthcoming and will appear in a later bulletin. However, the source did state that an update to the Global Warranty Management system’s Investigate Vehicle History would help dealers prepare by identifying the affected vehicles.

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NHTSA Investigation into Tesla Accident Ongoing

NHTSA Investigation into Tesla Accident Ongoing

October 12, 2016 admin

Washington, D.C. — Oct. 12, 2016 — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating a crash centering around the Tesla Model S and its autopilot feature. Business Insider recently included updates on the effort.

The accident took place May 7, and involved 40-year old Tesla driver Joshua Brown, who reportedly collided with a nearby fence when a trailer truck passed in front of him. The autopilot reportedly failed to recognize the oncoming trailer and therefore didn’t press on the brakes. The incident has not prompted a recall as of yet, but an investigation could theoretically lead to further action.

However, a June blog post from Tesla that appeared in the source stated that the NHTSA’s looking into this issue is “simply a preliminary evaluation to determine whether the system worked according to expectations.” The blog also explained that autopilot can only be used with acknowledgement from the user, and is initially not activated in vehicles.

Aside from this, the Tesla Model S has also appeared in recall news due to seat belt problems. A November 2015 recall saw a specific range of vehicles included because seat belts were not connected to the outboard lap pretensioner correctly. The recall included 58,773 vehicles that were potentially subject to the condition.

The fix for this problem required possible reassembly if the front belts in the vehicle aren’t connected. Affected models included Model S units with model years from between 2012 and 2015, with production rates ranging from May 31, 2012, to Nov. 12, 2015. An improperly bolted seat belt anchor could leave passengers insufficiently restrained during an accident, the Part 573 Safety Recall Report said.

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Two Ford Recalls Address Fuel Pump Issues

Two Ford Recalls Address Fuel Pump Issues

October 5, 2016 admin

Dearborn, Mich. — Oct. 05, 2016 — A pair of Ford recalls will address a wide range of vehicles produced for recent model years. In a single press release, the manufacturer announced the different actions, which include police vehicles as well as other models. Two of these were safety recalls centered around problems with fuel pumps.

The first of these involved control modules that could unexpectedly stall engines. Of the two recalls, this impacted the largest amount of models, affecting the Ford Flex, Taurus and Police Interceptor units, as well as Lincoln MKS and MKT vehicles, for a total population of 88,151 autos. Model years for all of these units in the first recall ranged from 2013 to 2015.

The other recall concerned 2,472 2015 and 2016 Ford Transit vehicles. While engines in these units could also potentially stall, the release said the cause was different: In this case, the problem came from malfunctioning fuel injection pumps.

Neither of these recalls have been connected to any accident reports, as far as Ford is aware. In each case, dealers will inspect and replace compromised parts.

Ford conducted another recall for 2015 Ford Transit models earlier this year. According to documents filed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, these vans could potentially contain deteriorating lift platforms, making it difficult to bring wheelchairs into the vans. The Part 573 Safety Recall Report said that the platform pivot plates in these vehicles would have visible cracking.

Although this last recall involved Ford vehicles, it came from the Massachusetts-based manufacturer New England Wheels. At the time of release, May 17, the report said that it could not list specific remedy details, with component supplier Ricon explaining the process in an April 29 notice instead.

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Acceleration Problems Affect Some Mitsubishi Vehicles in Recall

Acceleration Problems Affect Some Mitsubishi Vehicles in Recall

October 4, 2016 admin

Cypress, Calif. — Oct. 04, 2016 — One of the latest Mitsubishi recalls involves concerns over possible problems that might appear during acceleration. Earlier this year, between January and February, the manufacturer reportedly received claims of stopping vehicles, according to documents from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Part 573 Safety Recall Report includes 82,436 potentially affected vehicles, including the 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport and 2016 Outlander Sport, Outlander and Lancer models. The combined production dates range from Jun. 25, 2014 to Jul. 8, 2016.

In these autos, the Constant Velocity Transmission system could lead to a hesitant acceleration. As the source described, this is due to a temporary loss of signal in the range switch and could require dealers to reprogram the CVT-ECU to disregard the signal loss.

To address the problem, the manufacturer addressed range switches in the affected models on different dates in 2016: the Outlander and Lancer vehicles on Feb. 22 and the the Outlander Sport on April 6. A new spring will reportedly keep the range switch from losing signal momentarily.

The manufacturer notice for dealers said that the engine in affected vehicles will reduce engine torque when the range switch loses its signal. Dealers were cautioned to ensure that vehicles aren’t delivered without being repaired first. They were also advised to use a backup battery during the reprogramming procedure to keep a steady power supply at all times.

Although all of the vehicles were included in a single report, an Advance Technical Information Notice stated that two different campaign numbers are involved. The 2015 Outlander Sport is part of campaign C1606Z, while the 2016 vehicles are included under C1607Z.

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Honda Recalls 2016 Vehicles for Tail Light Issues

Honda Recalls 2016 Vehicles for Tail Light Issues

September 30, 2016 admin

Torrance, Calif. — Sept. 30, 2016 — Some Honda vehicles could fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards guideline 108 – “Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Assoc. Equipment.” The original acknowledgement, dated for Aug. 10, stated that some 2016 Honda Civic vehicles may potentially come with faulty lights.

The manufacturer reported the issue Jul. 8, and it could affect 11,846 2-door vehicles. In these autos, the source said, circuit board damage could affect the lights and make vehicles harder to see. All of the included vehicles were produced between Feb. 23 and May 20.

According to the Part 573 Safety Recall Report, the first vehicles with these issues were discovered May 24 as part of a vehicle quality check. The discovery led to the June 30 decision to conduct a recall, after circuit boards were possibly damaged in transit.

No specific signs for determining if the problem was present were listed. The remedy requires dealers to inspect Honda tail light assemblies. The report also said that there were no injuries related to this defect as of June 23.

The affected component comes from supplier Automotive Lighting LLC, based in Auburn Hills, Mich. Owner notification was scheduled Aug. 8, almost a full month after dealer notification on July 9. The report said that owners would be notified by mail if they were subject to this recall.

An instruction document from the manufacturer goes into greater detail about the procedures needed to repair the vehicles. Both the right and left taillight assemblies may be necessary for the remedy, depending on the specific case. The procedure will have dealers remove the trunk rear side trim panels to install either one or both taillights.

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