On Friday, Ford Motor Co. announced that it will be recalling around 16, 000 of its 2011-12 Transit Connect vans for a potential windshield wiper fault. The details were let out by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The recall affects all model year 2011 vehicles manufactured from October 25, 2010 to January 30, 2011 and model year 2011 & 2012 vehicles manufactured between May 2, 2011 and July 24, 2011. The automaker said it had not received reports of any accidents related to the problem; they started investigating after receiving an oddly high amount of warranty claims.

According to the information provided to the NHTSA by Ford, the recall is an outcome of a defective windshield wiper arm pivot pin. On affected vehicles, the pivot pin used through the manufacture of both driver and passenger side wiper arm assemblies may have been shorter than specified, which has resulted in an ineffective riveting operation of the pin. The defect could cause inconsistent clearing of the windshield, and the Dearborn-based automaker has warned the possible detachment of the wiper arm, if the defect is not rectified. If the wiper arms fall then it could result in decreasing the driver’s visibility, which could increase the chances of a crash. As of now no injuries or crashes have been reported.

Ford plans to fix the issue by replacing both the driver’s and passenger’s side wiper arms and the blade assemblies free of charge. August 13^th is the scheduled date for the recall. Transit Connects wiper design is supposed to be updated very soon as the debut of all new version of the van is expected in the coming Paris Motor Show scheduled to happen next month. The recall marks the focus of Ford on quality through close observation of warranty trends.

via Left Lane