Austin Healey Suspension: Lower Ball Joint

Austin Healey is recalling about 22,714 vehicles over a problem with the suspension.

Campaign
78V258000
Manufacturer
JAGUAR CARS
Reported
1 December 1978
Vehicles
22,714
Built between
Oct 1972 – Oct 1975
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
28 February 1979
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between October 1972 and October 1975. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 1973-1975 Austin Healey MarinaBuilt October 1972 to October 1975

What the defect is

Ball joints installed on the involved vehicles as replacement parts may have been incorrectly heat-treated during manufacture. These replacement ball joints may break without prior warning, causing the suspension to collapse.

What gets fixed

DEALER WILL INSPECT AND, IF NECESSARY, REPLACE THE SUSPECT BALL JOINTS AT NO COST TO OWNER.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtOctober 1972 to October 1975
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA1 December 1978
  3. Owners notified28 February 1979

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 1 December 1978.

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
JAGUAR CARS
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.system: suspension; ball joints.consequences of defect: failure of the front suspension could cause loss ofvehicle control and an accident.

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