Ford and Mercury engineering analysis EA12003
Corrosion of Third-Row Seat Attachment. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this engineering analysis about the seats on 8 model years (2004–2007). Opened Apr 23, 2012, closed May 2, 2013 after 12 months. It led to safety recall 13V081000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedFord is conducting a safety recall to repair the third-row seat's latch mechanisms in approximately 196,667 model year (MY) 2004 through 2007 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey vehicles (see NHTSA recall 13V-081 for more details).The recall covers vehicles originally sold, or currently registered, in the salt belt states or high corrosion areas of the United States: Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Approximately 100,000 remaining MY 2004-2007 Freestar and Monterey vehicles--those vehicles that were not originally sold, or are not currently registered, in salt belt states--are not included in the recall action. Although these vehicles are the same as the ones described above, they experience significantly lower failure rates because of reduced road salt exposure. ODI is currently aware of only one complaint on vehicle outside of the recall scope. ODI will monitor complaints and take further action if warranted by the circumstances. For owners of vehicles that are outside of the recall scope but exhibit the defect condition, owners (and affected Ford dealers) can contact Ford to request the recall repair. This Engineering Analysis is closed. See attached report and associated recall file for additional information. The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification numbers: 10399896, 10410491, 10420028, 10424850, 10433928, 10436592, 10438529, 10440616, 10441489, 10441641, 10442809, 10446564, 10450295, 10450559, 10450587, 10452933, 10453826, 10454977, 10455545, 10456985, 10457423, 10457910, 10458738, 10459042, 10460511, 10461074, 10462910, 10463126, 10463262, 10463366, 10463600, 10464243, 10467003, 10467680, 10468429, 10469188, 10469200, 10470216, 10470510, 10471280, 10471520, 10471813, 10471978, 10472514, 10473087, 10473159, 10477025, 10477387, 10477954, 10478449, 10479247, 10479758, 10480611, 10480665, 10481054, 10481412, 10482213, 10482236, 10482613, 10482620, 10487872, 10489445, 10490515, 10490641, 10490663, 10490744, 10491495, 10492220, 10493470, 10493572, 10496348, 10497631, 10497976, 10498310, 10498433, 10499681, 10499861, 10500495.
A Engineering Analysis is the deeper stage, usually upgraded from a Preliminary Evaluation: NHTSA tests, requests engineering documents and decides whether a safety defect exists. 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 became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2004 Ford Freestar; 2005 Ford Freestar; 2006 Ford Freestar; 2007 Ford Freestar; 2004 Mercury Monterey; 2005 Mercury Monterey; 2006 Mercury Monterey; 2007 Mercury Monterey.
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 EA12003 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 13V081000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is EA12003 still open?
No. It closed on May 2, 2013 and led to recall 13V081000.
Which vehicles does EA12003 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 8 model years: 2004 Ford Freestar, 2005 Ford Freestar, 2006 Ford Freestar, 2007 Ford Freestar, 2004 Mercury Monterey, 2005 Mercury Monterey and more. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.