|
Thousands of vehicles could potentially be affected by the problem, which can lead to the failure of half the braking system.
Owners have reported failures of brake hoses, big scares and near- misses, with a growing number contacting the Herald Sun about their cars.
The problem affects BA and some early BF Falcons, and also some Territorys.
"I believe it is a potentially life threatening problem. The braking is severely diminished," the Carsguide technical chief and former automotive engineer, Graham Smith, said yesterday.
"It's a problem with the brake hoses. Some are too short but we've also had a lot of reports of front brake hoses blowing. When it happens you lose one half of the braking system.
"It's true that cars have to be tested with one half of the braking system disabled. That's fine if you have nothing to hit, but most of us are driving around in heavy traffic with plenty to hit."
Ford has been investigating the problem for more than a month but said yesterday that it has not completed its work.
"It will be another three weeks before we complete testing," Ford Australia's present, Marin Burela, said.
"We are convinced it is not a seriously dangerous problem. If we thought there was any danger we would mount an immediate recall.
"We have not found any sort of problem in our testing. We want to go through this thoroughly to make sure we get it right."
But Smith said the growing number of reports, and the fact that it is a braking problem, should ring alarm bells at Ford.
"There could be more than one problem. Ford has already done a service update over one issue but not everyone takes their car to the dealership to be serviced," he said.
"The rear brake hoses were too short. In addition to that, I have had a lot of reports of front hoses blowing. I don't think it is just rear hoses.
"And I have a substantial number of reports of failures on sedans and utes, so I think it's right across the board. There are a fewer reports on the Territory, but I have had some of those as well."
Ford was advised of the reports to the Carsguide more than a month ago but said it is taking time to identify the problem and any potential fix.
"The engineers are working flat-out on it. All the brake hoses passed our initial testing, so we are taking the time to do it right," said Ford spokesperson, Sinead McAlary.
"There have been no accidents. People have always managed to brake and stop, so we don't believe it is a massive problem."
She said the early service update on the Falcon meant Ford was concentrating on the Territory.
"We've had more complaints about Territory front brake hoses. That's our top priority. We don't believe there is as much of an issue with the Falcon hoses."
She said Ford would mount an appropriate campaign once it had worked through the problem.
"It's still a little early to say at the moment. If there is any doubt we will do a big problem rather than a small one. We're looking at the cause, then when it went onto the production line."
The service update for the rear brake hoses on the Falcon was done in May, 2007 for around 200,000 cars built between September 2002 and March 2007.
|
