Ford recalls 37,400 F-Series pickup trucks

DEARBORN, Mich., March 22 (UPI) Ford Motor Co. is recalling 37,400 Super Duty F-Series pickups after three customers saw flames coming out of the trucks' tailpipes, the U.S. automaker said.
Only 8,400 of the 2008 model-year trucks with 6.4-liter diesel engines have been sold, spokesman Dan Jarvis told United Press International Thursday. The 29,000 others are still on dealer lots. The popular trucks went on sale in February.
No injuries or vehicle fires have resulted from the incidents, Jarvis said.
The engines are made by Navistar International Corp., which briefly halted their shipment last month due to a contract dispute.
Ford received three Texas and Canada dealer reports of customers who saw flames caused by leaking fuel or oil that ignited in the exhaust system's diesel particulate filter near the tailpipe, Jarvis told UPI.
Owners of the recalled vehicles will be asked to bring them to dealerships for a free, four-minute computer software update, Jarvis said.
The update resets the powertrain control module so it will power down the engine in the rare case that the diesel particulate filter gets unusually hot, he said.
Unsold trucks are also getting the software update. The dealers received the update Thursday, Jarvis said.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International


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Adam Holloway, CFEI, CVFI