Ford Focus recalls. An opportunity to discuss preventive and corrective actions

[Claes Gefvenberg]

I just learned that Ford Motor is recalling 572 795 Ford Focus. That's a big recall, and I see a discussion about preventive and corrective actions coming up.

Apparently, two things prompted this (Please forgive me if I'm misinformed):

1. Salt water corrosion may occur inside a seal at the rear wheels. It could cause the rear wheels to wobble.

2. Something has caused cables to melt and in some cases caused engine fires.

Now: Seen from the ISO 9000 perspective the first clauses that come to mind are 8.5.2 & 8.5.3, but there is more to it. Let's hear your comments and opinions...

/Claes

 

[Laura M]

What about design review and validation?

 

[db]

Design, process?

Good point Laura. My take would be to ask if the problem(s) are related to a design flaw, or to a manufacturing flaw. If design didn't take into account salt water, we would be driven in one direction. If rather, the problem is material that did not meet spec, then perhaps purchasing or inspeciton might be a better place to look.

My understanding is that a certain amount of validation occurs through the end user. Perhaps we need better validation instructions.

 

[noboxwine]

What if?

I would love to see a copy of the DFMEA. I am sure it exists (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

 

[Neil]

DFMEA availability

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink indeed. We are primarily not an automotive supplier (~8% of our business) but we have QS-9000. In the last three years we have done 6 full APQPs for new parts. Despite, any number of pleas we have never been able to to obtain a customer DFMEA. If you appreciate the intent of APQP you know that the process is severely compromised by this. Classic case of, "Do what I say, not as I do". Wasn't the Ford Focus the automobile of the year according to a major automotive magazine...NNWW

 

[Randy Stewart]

Ya gotta wonder

I have to be careful on this one - Ford is our parent company!!! I know how I feel dealing with Ford and I can't imagine what it would be like as an outside supplier to them. We have a job running now that requires us to buy parts from another production stamping plant, we re-strike it and add an assembly to make a RH drive vehicle. When we went for engineering buy-off they laughed at us. We had to do a study to show we actually made the part better in order to get the buyoff. When we asked the stamping plant about the tools they stated that the job had been running for 5 years and they weren't going to touch the dies!!!! I know the Focus hasn't been around that long but I do believe it is a good look at the mentality. Suppliers can show the need for changes, but if it isn't in the budget forget it. APQP, etc. only works if you do it honestly and not just for paperwork requirements. IMO Ford messed up by making the "STA" an entry level position to get your career started. These people have too many programs, too little experience, too many OEM directed changes to track which directly links to too many deadlines to make. It is a wasted resource. Now with Toyota boasting about going from clay freeze to 1st part delivery in 12 months, watch out. That means less product development time and what will be cut????? DFMEA's and APQP of course!

 

[Graeme]

Disclaimer: I am an automotive consumer and not a supplier or producer, so I am not familiar with QS9xxx exept to the extent that it overlaps other standards I am familiar with. I am also a reasonably satisfied owner of a 2000 Focus.

Question - what kind of defect (whatever the cause) would allow salt water corrosion but not fresh water corrosion? Last August, well before this recall was announced, I had to have a rear wheel bearing replaced due to corrosion and "loss of lubricant". (The grease got hot, melted and flowed out.) Yet the car has not been anywhere near salt water, and I live far enough south that we don't even salt the roads in the winter. (This year, winter happened on February 3 & 4. )

Comment - I guess I am going to have to talk to my dealer to see if my car is included in the recall. It would be nice to get the bill for the bearing adjusted, and I am curious about the hot cable problem.

Irrelevant but True story about engine fires - long ago and far away, my wife was driving our first car (also a Ford product). She observed that the pale blue paint on the hood was turning brown, and she was starting to look through a definite heat haze in the air. Most odd, as it was the middle of winter (Maryland then, not Georgia!) Anyway, she decided to look into this phenomenon and pulled off the road at the next convenient place. She stopped, got out of the car, and then observed that a major panic attack appeared to be in progress. Everybody in sight was yelling and screaming, and most were running away - FAST! That was when she noticed that (a) she had pulled into a service station, (b) there was now a LOT of smoke coming from the engine area, and (c) she had parked next to the gasoline pumps! Fortunately, the fire station was only two blocks away. Root cause analysis showed that the problem started when the car had received routine service a couple of weeks earlier. The mechanic changed the fuel filter, which threaded into the carburetor body. He got it cross-threaded and rather than redo it again, he just got on it with the proverbial bigger wrench. That resulted in a cracked carburetor body and eventually gasoline leaking onto the exhaust manifold.

(Does everybody remember what a carburetor was? As in a Motorcraft 4-barrel on a 302 engine with dual exhaust!)

Graeme

 

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Any water of course...

Good question about the salt water, Graeme. I'll have to assume that any kind of water could enter, but of course the road salt used on the winter roads here would make the matter so much worse.

P.s. I just heard that only the U.S. manufactured cars are affected by the recall....

/Claes

 

[SteelMaiden]

Graeme said:

Disclaimer: I am an automotive consumer and not a supplier or producer,
(also a Ford product).
Graeme

Graeme, you must be a REAL loyal customer.

Maybe brand loyalty isn't what it's cracked up to be? I've driven 2 Fords in my life, both were recalled, both were constant trouble. I think that maybe that is where I learned my lesson on cause and effect.

Sorry to all the loyal Ford buyers, but this one just couldn't be ignored by the sarcastic, evil twin.

 

[Graeme]

SteelMaiden said:

Graeme, you must be a REAL loyal customer.

Not ALL that loyal, actually ... From the time I started driving, my automobiles have been: Morris Minor, Triumph Herald, Triumph Spitfire, great big green tracked vehicles that had USMC painted on them & big guns on top, Mercury Montego, Saab 99, Dodge Tradesman (van), Pontiac Bonneville (the small one), Oldsmobile Ciera (with the imitation diesel engine), Nissan pickup truck, Dodge Lancer (my mid-life crisis hot RED car), Mercury Sable, Mercury Villager and then the Ford Focus. And in truth the Montego, Bonneville, Nissan and Villager were/are in my wife's name so they are hers/ours instead of mine/ours.


Graeme