- Vehicles
- 41,000
- Built between
- Not published
- Models
- 2
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 22 October 1977
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.
- 1978 Ford Fairmont
- 1978 Mercury Zephyr
What the defect is
On some of the involved vehicles, the transmission parking pawl may not engage the parking gear when the transmission selector lever is placed in the "park" position. This condition is attributable to excessive free play in the transmission shift linkage adjustment.
What gets fixed
DEALER WILL INSPECT AND PROPERLY ADJUST THE SHIFT LINKAGE, AT NO CHARGE.
Timeline
- Recall reported to NHTSA12 October 1977
- Owners notified22 October 1977
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 12 October 1977.
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
- Recalling manufacturer
- FORD MOTOR COMPANY
- Recall initiated by
- MFR
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
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equipped with automatic transmissionsand steering column-mounted shift controls.system: power train; parking pawl.consequences of defect: if the condition were to occur on a vehicle on whichthe driver had not engaged the parking brake, the vehicle could roll free andcause property damage and personal injury.
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.