Ford Air Bags: Inflator Module

Ford is recalling about 361,692 vehicles over a problem with the air bags. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.

Campaign
16V036000
Manufacturer
Ford Motor Company
Reported
25 January 2016
Vehicles
361,692
Built between
Mar 2003 – May 2006
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
NHTSA investigation
Owners notified
26 February 2016
Repaired
0%
Unrepaired
348,288

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between March 2003 and May 2006. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2004-2006 Ford RangerBuilt March 2003 to May 2006

Repair progress

348,288 of 361,692 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q2 2017.

0% repaired — 528 of 361,692 reported

Owners not reachable
12,777
Scrapped or exported
99

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2004-2006 Ranger vehicles manufactured March 24, 2003, to May 4, 2006. Upon deployment of the driver side frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.

What could happen

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.

What gets fixed

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the air bag inflators, free of charge. The recall began February 26, 2016.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtMarch 2003 to May 2006
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA25 January 2016
  3. Owners notified26 February 2016
  4. Latest repair reportQ2 2017 — 0% repaired

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 25 January 2016.

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.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16S03. Note: This recall supersedes 14V-343 and only applies to Rangers manufactured in North America.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
16S03
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

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

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