Ford Fuel System, Gasoline: Tank Assembly

Ford is recalling about 350,000 vehicles over a problem with the fuel system, gasoline. Some high-speed rear-impact crashes have resulted in fuel tank punctures and fires in cvpi vehicles.

Campaign
02I003000
Manufacturer
FORD MOTOR COMPANY
Reported
15 October 2002
Vehicles
350,000
Built between
Jul 1992 – Oct 2002
Models
2
Recall type
Other
Initiated by
NHTSA investigation
Owners notified
Not yet
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between July 1992 and October 2002. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 1992-2003 Ford Crown VictoriaBuilt July 1992 to October 2002
  • 1992-2003 Ford CvpiBuilt July 1992 to October 2002

What the defect is

In order to enhance police office safety, model year 1992-2003 crown victoria police interceptor (cvpi) vehicles will be equipped with shields designed to help protect the fuel tank in high-speed rear-impact crashes. Ford also will be offering an optional trunk package designed to improve the safe transport of sharp-edged, heavy equipment in these vehicles.

What could happen

Some high-speed rear-impact crashes have resulted in fuel tank punctures and fires in cvpi vehicles.

What gets fixed

FORD HAS ADVISED US THAT SHIELD KITS HAVE BEEN AVAILABLE SINCE LATE OCTOBER AND WILL BE INSTALLED ON POLICE INTERCEPTOR VEHICLES AT NO COST. THE OPTIONAL TRANK PACKAGE WILL BE AVAILABLE BY THE END OF 2002. FORD HAS ESTABLISHED A NEW WEB SITE AT WWW.CVPI.COM TO ANSWER ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SAFE USE OF CPVI VEHICLES.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtJuly 1992 to October 2002
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA15 October 2002

No owner-notification date has been published yet. Manufacturers normally write to registered owners within 60 days of reporting a recall.

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 15 October 2002.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
02B02
Recalling manufacturer
FORD MOTOR COMPANY
Recall initiated by
ODI

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Customers can also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand