Two problems related to front air bag have been reported for the 1996 Ford Econoline. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
On June 28, 2000, my wife made a left hand turn. As she was turning the engine went completly dead, power steering goes out and a yellow liquid shoots out from the steering column on to the dashboard and on my wife's legs causing the skin to burn. This was accompanied with noxious fumes causing my wife and two other passengers to cough and to evacuate the van. The van started back up after this incident. On July 2 & 3, 2000 we took the van to a1 auto care in hobe sound, FL. They checked for potiential antifreeze line leaks, checked the air bag components and discovered some of the yellow liquid on the steering column. They were unable to see anything wrong with the air bag itself. They called the Ford tech. Support line and could not come up with anything similar to this situation. On July 6, I called the Ford corp. They documented the event and did some research to see if similar incidents have happened. They claim to have nothing on record. They suggested that I contact NHTSA. On August 7, 2000, the same incident happened to the van again. This is a very serious situation. The yellow liquid causes burning of the skin and the fumes causes one to choke. There is definitely a defective part relating the air bag system. I know individuals to report about the yellow noxious liquid after their airbag deployed in an accident.
While driving down the highway a vehicle pulled out in front of the consumer's vehicle, and the consumer broadsided the vehicle. Consumer's airbag deployed but didn't stay up, causing injuries to the driver. Consumer has contacted the dealer about the incident.
| Air Bag Light On problems | |
| Front Air Bag problems |