Just as people were getting excited about something with the mortgaged Ford logo on it, along comes a tailpipe fire problem, with 37,000 recalls right behind. That 37K would be the number of 2008 Ford diesel Super Duty trucks sold to date — yes, all of them — and while the fix only takes ten minutes, the damage to Ford's rep will last longer.
Ford has received three reports of leaking fuel or oil igniting when trapped in a diesel particulate filter near the tailpipe. In one case, a hot tailpipe set off a grass fire when the driver pulled off the road.
The glitch in the engine control software of the 2008 Super Duty F-250, F-350, and F-450 trucks comes at an especially bad time. Ford might not have been in such a hurry to ship (the trucks hit showrooms in February) if not for a one-year lag in the Super Duty model redesign — caused in part by a down-to-the-wire dispute with International Truck, maker of the diesel engine that triggered the recall. You couldn't ask for a better illustration of the way problems cascade through the auto industry ecosystem. Unfortunately for Ford, what was looking like a coup — a popular product rushed to market and sailing off the lot — has Jekyll-and-Hyded itself into another bad break for a company in desperate need of a lucky streak.
Ford Recalls Super Duty Trucks After Tailpipe Fires [Reuters]
