Engineering Analysis · Closed
HEADLIGHT FAILURE
Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
This investigation led to a recall
NHTSA links this probe to recall campaign 98V009000.
Campaign 98V009000 predates our recall archive — check NHTSA.gov for details.
What NHTSA is examining
Excessive heat in an improperly manufactured circuit breaker within the headlight switch caused that circuit breaker to open for time periods of varying length to cool off.opening of the circuit breaker in this manner interrupts electric current flow to the headlights, shutting them off.headlight outages have ranger from brief flickers (less than one second) to greater than 20 seconds.over time, the outages grow in length and duration because of heat-induced deterioration of the switch and associated wiring.recall 98v-009 will apply to approximately 506,000 taurus, sable, mark viii, and continental vehicles produced from 1-dec.-92 through 30-sep-93 at the atlanta, chicago,and wixom assembly plants.87% of my 1992-1995 taurus/sable and 97% of my 1993-1995 mark viii warranty repairs (headlight switch replacement) involved vehicles built during the dec. 92 - oct. 93 build range.
Vehicles under investigation
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation records, updated daily. An investigation is not a determination that a defect exists; many probes close without a recall.