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NHTSA recall 02V323000

A recall listed here may apply to a vehicle of this year, make and model. Only the manufacturer can say whether it applies to one vehicle: check the VIN with the official lookups.

Campaign
Published byNHTSA (United States)
Campaign number02V323000
Manufacturer's number02S44
ManufacturerFORD MOTOR COMPANY
Reported2002-12-09
Owners notified2003-02-11
ComponentAIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE-INACTIVE
Units potentially affected396217

What is wrong

ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, THE INTEGRATED AIR BAG MONITOR (IABM) CAN BE CONTAMINATED WITH WATER OR OTHER LIQUIDS AND COULD EXPERIENCE INTERNAL ELECTRICAL SHORTING.

What can happen

THIS MAY, IN TURN, CAUSE THE AIR BAG READINESS LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE AND IN VERY RARE OCCURRENCES, AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT, MELTED WIRING, OR FIRE MAY OCCUR.

The remedy

DEALERS WILL INSTALL THE SHIELD OVER THE IABM AND APPLY NYOGEL GREASE TO THE CONNECTOR. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN FEBRUARY 11, 2003. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT FORD AT 1-866-436-7332.

Notes

CUSTOMERS CAN ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S AUTO SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).

Vehicles this campaign lists
1997 FORD ESCORTBuilt 1995-11-02 to 1997-09-05.
1997 MERCURY TRACERBuilt 1995-11-02 to 1997-09-05.

A vehicle with no link is not in this site's catalog, which covers cars, multipurpose vehicles and trucks by model year. The campaign is from data as of 2026-10-19.

Investigated as EA02008

This recall followed 1 NHTSA investigation. An investigation is NHTSA looking into a possible defect. It is not a finding that a defect exists, and it does not say that any one vehicle is affected.

NHTSA investigations that led to this recall
EA02008Engineering analysis, opened 2002-06-10, closed 2002-12-11. WATER INTRUSION INTO AIRBAG MONITOR. AIR BAGS.

From NHTSA's investigation file, as of 2026-10-19. The JSON has NHTSA's summary of each.

Check one vehicle officially