|
Server : Apache/2.4.62 System : FreeBSD fbsdweb2.web.rcn.net 14.1-RELEASE FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE releng/14.1-n267679-10e31f0946d8 GENERIC amd64 User : www ( 80) PHP Version : 8.3.8 Disable Function : NONE Directory : /domains/samscars/ |
Upload File : |
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<meta name="Author" content="MARK GIAMMALVO">
<meta name="GENERATOR"
content="Mozilla/4.04 [en] (Win95; U) [Netscape]">
<title>To Recall or Not to recall Mark Giammalvo</title>
</head>
<body>
<center>
<table border="1" cols="2" width="100%" cellpadding="20">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top" width="10%" height="10%">
<center><big><big><b><i><font color="#3333ff">Giammalvo Files</font></i></b></big></big></center>
<big><big> </big></big>
<center></center>
<img src="mark3.jpg" alt="Mark Giammalvo" height="180"
width="167">
<center></center>
<p><i><font color="#000000">Mark Giammalvo specializes in driveability
diagnostics </font><font color="#000000">at his family business,
Sam Giammalvo's Auto Sales & Service, Inc. in New</font>
<font color="#000000">Bedford, MA. </font> </i>
</p>
<i><font
color="#000000">Mark, who has been with the business for
over 20 years, is an ASE Master Technician and Parts Specialist.
He also holds the ASE L1 certification, and has an
associates degree in business</font> <font color="#000000">management.
<br>
Mark is also a writer for Motor Age Magazine and is the past secretary
of the Alliance of Automotive Service Professionals, (AASP).</font></i>
</td>
<td align="center" valign="CENTER"> <font
color="#000000"><a href="ourarticles.htm"><img src="sam-logo.gif"
alt="" border="0" height="71" width="351">
</a> </font> <br>
<br>
<center></center>
<p><small><i><font color="#000000">(Printed in the Journal of The Alliance
of Automotive Service Providers, AASP) </font></i></small></p>
<div align="justify"><br>
<br>
<div align="center"><big><big><b> To recall or not to recall...that
is the question.</b></big></big><br>
</div>
<br>
Ever see a part failure resulting in a recall before it's a recall?
How about this recent development: Last month we had a 1993 Sable owner
towed in with a broken r/f coil spring. When we were turning the car into
the service bay a sharp piece of the coil spring blew out the r/f tire.
We recommend that the customer change both front springs and the tire. The
customer agreed. I called the dealer to ask if they had ever seen a 23,000
mile Sable with a broken spring before, since their were no service bulletins
and we thought spring failure on such a young car was odd. The parts manager
said he had seen a "few" in the past but "not a lot". <br>
<br>
Well, just today the same customer comes in with a letter from Ford
announcing recall 98S15/98M02. Guess what Ford is doing to correct the
problem? New springs right? Not! Well, only if they fail first. The
letter reports that the coil springs can fracture if the vehicle is operated
in high corrosion North American States. They will: <br>
(1). <i>Provide Additional Warranty for front spring replacement,
regardless of mileage through Dec 31, 2001. Only if they fail. </i><br>
(2). <i>They will be installing special shields on the front springs
so that if a spring does fail, it will not cause the tire to blow out.</i>
(So no one is killed). (Bad enough the owner will be scared out of his
mind on the highway when the spring fails and the car does a nose dive.)
<br>
<br>
I'd like to meet the person at Ford that negotiated that deal
with NHTSA. Probably could sell an Eskimo a freezer. Talk about a Band-Aid.
Why not just replace the faulty springs in the first place? (Bean counter
at Ford: <i>" No that would be to costly"</i>) I notice in
the letter from Ford that they only mention corrosion as being the cause.
The NHTSA web site is more revealing with the statement: "The front coil
springs can fracture as a result of corrosion in combination with small
cracks in the springs.. the front tire could deflate due to a broken front
coil spring contacting the tire, increasing the risk of vehicle crash".
As Paul Harvey would say: "that's the rest of the story" <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<p> <br>
</p>
<p><font color="#000000"> </font> <br>
</p>
<p><font color="#000000"> </font>
<br>
</p>
<center><font color="#000000"> <a href="ourarticles.htm"><img
src="sam-logo_002.gif" alt="" border="0" height="71" width="351">
</a> </font><font
color="#ff0000"><font size="+3"> </font></font> </center>
<center> </center>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</center>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</body>
</html>