DETROIT (AP) ? Ford has agreed to fix sticky throttles on nearly 468,000 Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable sedans.
Because of the company's decision, U.S. safety regulators have closed an investigation into the problem.
Last fall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating cars from the 2000 through 2003 model years. The safety agency and Ford received 100 complaints about throttles on cars with 3-Liter, four-valve Duratec V-6 engines.
The agency says Ford agreed to a "customer satisfaction campaign" and will fix problems for free.
Ford says the throttle cables can be damaged or disconnected during maintenance. Five crashes were reported, but no injuries.
Dealers will inspect the cables and add reinforcement to tabs that hold the cables in place. If the tabs are missing, the whole cable will be replaced.
NHTSA closed its investigation this past Wednesday, the agency said in documents posted Sunday on its website.
Ford says in a letter to dealers that they should replace throttle cables that have missing retention tabs. All the vehicles will get a reinforcement clip that will better hold the cables in place.
Ford was to mail letters to owners starting June 24, and dealers were told to repair vehicles even if the owners don't have the letters.
The Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable and are nearly identical cars. Ford ended the Mercury brand more than two years ago.
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Editor's note:? Keith Teare is the founder of just.me and a partner at Archimedes Labs. He is also the co-founder of TechCrunch. This was a momentous week for those of us who are watching the rapid transition that is taking place from desktop computing to mobile., and particularly for those focused on mobile-social as I am due to my job at just.me. Here is my take on what we just witnessed.
Amid grumblings of a “general fatigue” when it comes to software-based startups, a potentially transformative technology called 3D printing is poised to reach critical mass and mainstream awareness. Today’s news headlines about the technology tend to focus on the extreme possibilities in being able to print objects on demand – from the terrors of things like a homemade 3D-printed gun to heartwarming tales of printed robotic hands for children born without fingers. But the innovation is also powering a revolution of a different kind. An emerging class of creatives are using 3D printing techniques, not to either save or destroy the world and the people in it, but simply to create a little beauty along the way. These creatives, makers of the new “handmade” goods, are selling their art in online storefronts like Etsy and Shapeways, as well as within brick-and-mortar stores, and even museums. They range from technically adept programmers who never dabbled in hands-on art involving paint or clay or other materials, to formally trained artists and even do-it-yourselfers who taught themselves 3D modeling by watching tutorials on YouTube. Regardless of how they got there, the end result is an output of affordably priced, print-on-demand goods that reflect their own unique vision and inspirations, whether that’s a new kind of jewelry that couldn’t exist before the capabilities introduced by 3D printing, one-of-a-kind items used to decorate your home, or objects which buyers help craft themselves, using simple online tools. Here are some of their stories. This is part one of an ongoing series which will showcase some of the art that’s being fueled by the increasingly accessible 3D printing technology, and the artists behind the work. ~~~ Part One: The Formally Trained Artist Summer Powell has always been an artist. She has both undergrad and graduate degrees in graphic design, and has worked on a number of products involving mixed media, vacuum forming, and lenticular technology, while exploring the intersection of art and technology in years past. Along with a collaborator, she once produced a clock which used high-resolution animations to tell the time, for example. Powell says she first heard about 3D printing around 10 years ago and had been watching the space ever since waiting for it to become viable for use in her art. “I had industrial designer friends in New York, and I’d go see their prototyping 3D printing machines,” she says. “They were