Ford defect petition DP10005
Rear Axle Fracture Recall Scope. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this defect petition about the non-powered axle assembly on 1 model year (2003). Opened Dec 15, 2010, closed Dec 21, 2010 after 6 days without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn November 5, 2010, NHTSA received a Defect Petition from the owner of a MY 2003 Ford Windstar vehicle registered in the state of New York requesting that the scope of Recall 10V-385 be expanded to include additional MY 2003 vehicles experiencing the defect condition. The petitioner initially filed a complaint (VOQ 10345125) with ODI on July 25, 2010, two days after the axle failure. The complaint was subsequently amended and the petition filed after the consumer was denied compensation and repair under the recall. ODI has identified a total of five complaints from owners of MY 2003 Ford Windstar vehicles in Salt Belt states that were built after February 28, 2003, Ford's original cutoff date for 10V-385. On November 30, 2010, Ford submitted a letter supplementing recall 10V-385 (Ford 10S13) to add certain vehicles to the program. Ford's analysis of parts and information from the field showed: 1) that the revised heat treated axle introduced in production on February 28, 2003, may still have the potential for cracks due to corrosion related stress; and 2) that vehicles operated in Utah may be exposed to the same combination of environmental factors that can make them susceptible to cracks from stress related corrosion. Based on this analysis, Ford expanded the scope of 10V-385 to include MY 2003 vehicles built after February 28, 2003 and sold or currently registered in Salt Belt states and MY 1998 through 2003 vehicles sold or currently registered in Utah. Ford estimated that approximately 29,900 vehicles in the expanded scope may currently remain in service. Based on the above amended defect report submission, the petition has become moot and is therefore denied.
A Defect Petition is a petition from a member of the public asking NHTSA to open a defect investigation; the agency grants or denies it and publishes the reasons. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2003 Ford Windstar.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs DP10005 a recall?
No. A defect petition is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is DP10005 still open?
No. It closed on Dec 21, 2010 without a recall.
Which vehicles does DP10005 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2003 Ford Windstar. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.