Tempo L4-122 2.0L DSL (1984)
Technical Service Bulletin # 489840801
Date: 840801
Recall - Seat Belt Spacer Installation
August, 1984
To:
Selected North American Ford and Lincoln-Mercury Product Dealers and Affiliated Ford Motor Companies
Subject:
Safety Recall 489 - 1981-1983 Escort and Lynx 4 Door Sedans and Wagons and 1984 Tempo and Topaz 4 Door Sedans, With
Non-Reclining Front Seats, For Installation of Front Seat Belt Protective Spacers
Vehicles and Defects Involved
VEHICLES INVOLVED:
1981 through 1983 Escort and Lynx 4 door sedans and wagons with non-reclining front seats and 1984 Tempo and Topaz 4 door sedans with
non-reclining front seats.
Two door sedans and 4 door sedans and wagons equipped with reclining front seats are not included in the recall.
DESCRIPTION OF DEFECT AND CORRECTION:
Ford Motor Company has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it is initiating Safety Recall 489 to add a molded foam
spacer between the front lower decorative plastic cover and the seat frame reinforcement on the vehicles identified on the enclosed listing. The front seat
belts of these vehicles could be cut by the seat frame structure if the vehicles were involved in high-speed frontal impacts. The decorative plastic covers
that are positioned over the seat frame reinforcement brackets may bend or break because of the tension of the belts against them during a crash. This
may permit the belt webbing to contact the brackets and, in extreme cases, to be severed. The level of protection that the seat belts otherwise provide
would be reduced and the risk of injury to occupants would be increased. To correct the condition, molded foam spacers are to be installed between the
lower plastic decorative covers and the seat frame reinforcement brackets on both front seats.
*
* IMPORTANT NOTE * *
OWNERS ARE TO BE ENCOURAGED TO USE THE SEAT BELTS BEFORE THE RECALL SERVICE IS PERFORMED - AND TO CONTINUE
TO USE THE SEAT BELTS AFTER THE SERVICE IS COMPLETED. EVEN PRIOR TO THE RECALL MODIFICATION, THE SEAT BELTS
WILL PROVIDE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION TO OCCUPANTS IN ACCIDENTS. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SEAT
BELT PERFORMANCE IN OCCUPANT PROTECTION, OWNERS SHOULD BE URGED TO HAVE THIS RECALL SERVICE PERFORMED
WITHOUT DELAY.
PLEASE READ THIS BULLETIN IN ITS ENTIRETY AND CIRCULATE IT TO YOUR PARTS AND SERVICE PERSONNEL. ANY
QUESTIONS REGARDING ITS CONTENT SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO YOUR SUPERVISING FORD LOCATION OR TO FDMO, WIXOM.
Owner and Dealer Information
NOTIFICATION OF OWNERS:
Owners will be informed in the owner letters that parts will be made available to repair their vehicle after September 17, 1984.
The enclosed list identifies units delivered to your dealership which are involved in this recall. Other eligible vehicles may be brought to your dealership
by their owners for this recall service. Those units also are to be corrected as promptly as possible. If the owner of any eligible vehicle does not have a
Customer Notification and Dealer Claim Form (FED-1864 or FCS-1864), complete a Form 1864 and send it in to be reimbursed. For Dealers in Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands - To determine vehicle eligibility, please use "CARES."
Vehicle owners whose names and addresses are shown on the enclosed recall listing are being notified by First Class Mail. If you have knowledge that a
suspect vehicle has been sold, but the owner's name and address does not appear on the listing, please contact the owner immediately and provide him a
copy of the owner letter. If the owner of any vehicle cannot be contacted or does not make an appointment to have his vehicle corrected, advise your
supervising Ford location of the owner's name and address so that we can handle further notification.
If no vehicle listing is enclosed, you are not involved at this time, and this Service Recall Bulletin is for information only.
DEALERSHIP OBLIGATIONS:
Dealers are obligated to perform this recall service promptly following presentation of the vehicles by the owners. United States law requires that we
advise owners in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and certain territories of the procedure to be followed by them in informing the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, if the defect is not corrected without charge within a reasonable time after the vehicle is brought in. This notice is included
in the owner letter (copy attached) to be sent to owners in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Canal Zone, Guam and the Northern Mariana
Islands. It is also important, however, that you promptly report (to your supervising location or Wixom) any instances in which an owner will not allow
you to complete this recall because of objections to delays in scheduling, or for any other reason.
