Air Bag Problems of Ford Escort - part 1

The contact owned a 2000 Ford Escort. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 mph, the contact attempted to change lanes and crashed into a van. The air bags deployed with such an extreme force that the contact sustained injuries to the face, chest, and right arm that required medical attention. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to an unknown location where it was not diagnosed or repaired. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 179,000. The VIN was not available.

See all problems of the 2000 Ford Escort 🔎.

Air bag control diagnostic module shorted out due to ruptured heater core. When I spoke with the local dealership they told me to contact a local junk yard. There is a recall on this item. I never received a recall notice.

See all problems of the 1997 Ford Escort 🔎.

The contact owns a 1999 Ford Escort. While driving 35 mph he rear-ended another vehicle. The vehicle was completely destroyed and none of the air bags deployed. The dealer nor the manufacturer has been contacted. The cause of the failure was unknown. The failure and current mileages were 99,000.

See all problems of the 1999 Ford Escort 🔎.

Both air bags inadvertently deployed on the highway while driving at 65 mph. No injuries reported. Vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the cause could not be determined at this time.

Consumer receive recall notice 02-s44 replacement of air bags . Dealer failed to repair the recall. Consumer informed mechanic that the srs light appeared on the dashboard and remained on. Consumer stated that the light was not on before recall repairs were done. Service manager tammy.

The consumer states that the 1998 Ford Escort crashed into a light pole. The driver hit the pole and the air bag deployed and broke. The inside of the air bag sprayed the chemicals on the driver, the chemicals burnt her hands and arm. She said that she could not find a lawyer in her town to take case. The lawyers and the insurance company were working together against her. She said that she had a boil on her hand and a bruise on her chest. The consumer has pictures of the air bag. She wanted someone to reimburse her for the car because she lived in low income housing. She said vehicle was totaled and the junk dealer came and got it. And she did not get paid for it. A police report was taken.

See all problems of the 1998 Ford Escort 🔎.

My client, akruaria wright was driving her 1997 Ford Escort lx sedan south on GA hwy 300, when both the driver and passenger airbags spontaneously deployed. As noted in the police report, there was no contact or impact with any object or vehicle. The road that she was on is a major road; it is paved and in excellent condition. Upon deploying, the airbags forced the dash up and busted the windshield. The airbags, as they deployed, made contact with ms. Wright's face, arms, hands, and chest. On her face, arms , and hands she suffered minor burns from the contact. She also has suffered cervical and thoracic strain from the contact. At this time, the car is still waiting to be repaired. I have contacted the Ford motor company in dearborn, mi, but as of now I have not had a response.

On December, 17th, in the evening, my husband was on route 20, in marlborough, MA. He had made a wrong turn and was going 2 mph, doing a k-turn, when both the airbags in his 1998 Ford Escort inflated. He has a standard shift car. At the time of the faulty inflation, as he was struck by the airbag in the head, his feet came off the pedals and the car stalled, rolling to the side of the road and hitting a curb. We are very lucky that he was not on the highway when these airbags deployed. Had he not made the wrong turn, he would have been on the highway. At a speed of 65 mph on route 495, I don't believe his outcome would have been so good, after the airbag deployment. He suffers still from neck and back pain from the incident. The important point to note here is that he did not hit anything. The airbags just deployed on their own, while he was driving. We called Ford the next day to report this. They said that someone would contact us within 7-10 days. Two and a half weeks went by, and no one called. My husband called Ford again. They said there was nothing they could do. My husband then called our local Ford dealer. A regional rep. Was going to be at that location the following day. He called us, stating that within a few days Ford would be in contact with us. A few days went by, and he told us that there was nothing he could do, we had to file certain paperwork first before Ford would talk to us. The paperwork arrived the next day. It requests such things as "complete history of oil changes and any work performed on the car". It is a generic form, not applicable to faulty airbag deployment. I am writing to you because I have a problem with their lack of caring about consumer protection. What Ford should have done, was to immediately take possession of the car for as long as they needed to find out why the airbags deployed. Ford apparently has no interest in assessing the reason for the faulty airbag deployment.

The vehicles air bag caught on fire.

The consumer vehicle experienced symptoms of recall 02-v-323-000 which referenced the air bag monitor. The dealer refused to repair the problem because the vehicle mileage was high.

Air bags deployed and fire melted dash.

Heater core failure resulted in failure of airbag system due to placement of airbag computer without moisture shield.

No summary listed for above vehicle.

The recall air bag failed prior to recall notice (recall number 02v323000). The vehicle was parked in the consumers driveway when the air bags deployed. As a result the vehicle caught on fire. The consumer requested reimbursement for the loss of the vehicle.

Horn stuck, does not turn off. To replace, dealer must replace airbag also. Says airbag may malfunction because horn malfunctioned. About 7 similar problems are listed on this web site. This is a safety feature and a malfunction in the horn shouldn't cause problems in the airbag. Plus, it's not a wear and tear item that's wrong with the car. Had a problem with the horn while the car was under warranty and the dealer did not catch this problem with the horn/airbag. Isn't this a safety issue that could put passengers at risk. Who would guess that a problem with the horn may lead to a deployment problem with the airbag?.

Horn does not blow. Was told by a mechanic that problem was a defective air bag.

Vehicle is experiencing erratic operation of horn. Horn will go off without consumer engaging it. Dealership is replacing airbag as well as horn to fix this. Please provide any additional information.

The heater core leaked onto the air bag diagnostic module, causing it to short out and catch on fire. This item was replaced along with the heater core for a cost of $955. 00. I had to remove the battery cable to keep the car from catching on fire and burning up, the service manager at stegall Ford in pontotoc stated I should not have this problem again because the new part was sealed in plastic. I believe this is a serious design flaw after looking at your odi id logs of 865884,867236,845896 and 845837 along with numerous air bag deployments for this model car for no reason. I believe this part was changed by Ford and should have been recalled on all models. I work as a design engineer and if an electrical item is subject to moisture injestion, it should be sealed or potted to eliminate shorts and failure. The placement of this module under the heater core was wrong, I notified Ford and they only apoligized for the heater core leak, they did not acknowlege anything about the air bag module, I again notified them that they should be responsible for payment on this item, since the design had been changed, they have not replied to this in over a week, stating it would only take 3 days for a reply. To me this is a serious issue, I have worked in the past under fda guidelines in the medical industry with reporting and I do not like the way this is being handled by Ford, they are acting like they are trying to hide something, a persons life or personal injury is not something to sweep under the rug, although no one in my family sustained any injury, they could have, I will now try to sell this car as soon as I am able. Thank you jeffrey l plunk.

Vehicle fire involving 1997 Ford Escort. After incident occurred a recall was issued advising a manufacturer defect in air bags and air bag modules. However the vehicle was unable to drive because of severe damages so the dealership voided the recall. The consumer felt that Ford re -actions where unacceptable, and is requesting to be reimbursed for the loss due to manufacturer defect. The safety recall letter issued is (o2s44). Please investigate.

Ford just recently informed me that the defective horn reported just a few weeks out of warranty. Also involves the airbag. Robin marshall of Ford headquarters customer relations informed of this safety risk a couple of weeks ago: (313)845-5831. Ford never informed us of the additional airbag safety risk until this time. I reported the horn malfunction (as it was setting in the garage the horn suddenly sounded at around 2 a. M. ). Ford refuses to fix the problem without the payment of at least $300 and only recently agreed to even inspect the vehicle at their expense. As a result of this inspection (apparently) we were told of the airbag defect which, remember, has existed for years now.

05/25/1999; while driving at 35 mph, the head gasket on engine "blew out" car was undriveable. On 07/15/1999; the horn started honking continuously on it's own, when car was parked & locked. Had to remove fuse to shut off. Dealer said it was a bad air-bag module, not covered by warranty, cost $ 675. 00. 07/25/99, crankshaft pulley broke off, car not driveable. I note 4 other reports on this web-site for the crankshaft pulley, and 1 each for the head-gasket & horn/airbag problems + many other airbag problems.

Vehicle experiencing alignment problems due to suspension failure, which could have cause consumer to have an accident. However, the airbag was loose at the rear part of the steering wheel, which could have caused airbag to experience no deployment during the accident, resulting in multiple injuries.

The air bag burned the vehicles dash. This occurred prior to the consumer receiving the recall notification (recall number 02v-323000).

No deployment of air bag, and shut off valve failed during accident resulting in headaches from hitting head on mirror, neckaches and upper back problems. Nlm.

- the contact stated horn has not worked properly since she purchased the vehicle. The vehicle currently has 31,000 miles. The contact took the vehicle to dealer for repairs, and was told that the airbag was defective , and that itwas causing the horn not to work. The horn has been replaced, but it still did not work. The contact stated the horn would just come on and would not stop. The contact removed the circuit breaker a few weeks ago, but now the service engine light will not turn off. The dealer checked the computer system and found nothing wrong with the vehicle. The driver's side front had a leak in the firewall. The contact had the leak repaired four times.

False deployment of air bag during 10 mph (tap) of a guardrail, resulting in injury to eyes.

No deployment of airbags caused injury (neck & back) to driver during vehicle collision.

Steering wheel locked causing loss of control due to a defective air bag.

In oct of 1998 horn started to activate and won't stop unless driver unplugged it, consumer was out of an airbag and horn for a month, consumer sa0id thatcurrently problem was back, and dealer wastrying to charge consumer $700. 00 to fix this problem.

Air bag had violent deployment upon collision, causing burns, scrapes and bruises.

No deployment of airbags during collision, causing injury.

See all problems of the 1996 Ford Escort 🔎.

Steering wheel locked up,brakes failed to operate properly resulting in an accident, no deployment of air bags during collision.

Violent deployment of air bag burned and cut consumer's eye. (attorney for consumer).

No deployement of air bag in an accident, causing injuries. 514311 dup of 515150; posted on 09-07-1999.

No deployment of air bags during vehicle collision, driver's seat belt lock failed also, injuries due to failures.