Ford Motor Co. has recalled more than 1.3 million Taurus and Sable sedans in two separate actions in the United States to fix a faulty brake light and to replace an air filter that can catch fire, the automaker said in letters to safety authorities released on Wednesday.
Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, said one of the recalls includes about 938,789 Taurus and Sable cars for the 2000 to 2003 model years to replace the stop lamp switch and associated wiring.
Ford said that a malfunctioning electronic switch may cause stop lamps to become inoperable, or stay on all the time.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has received 61 complaints of the brake lamps failing, including two incidents that resulted in crashes and one that resulted in two injuries. At least 37 of those complaints were addressed as part of a March 2001 recall of 157,000 vehicles.
The second recall involved about 399,926 Taurus and Sable cars from the 2003 model year to replace the air filters that can catch fire. Ford said it received 65 reports of fires under the hood of the cars.
Ford said it will notify owners to take their cars to a dealership, which will fix the problems at no charge.
Last week, the NHTSA said it opened an investigation into the 1999-2002 model year Ford Windstar minivan after receiving 56 complaints that the power sliding door could open when the vehicle is moving.
