Ford Probes Failures of Ignitions Used in Autos, Light Trucks

Ford Motor Co. acknowledged Monday that it has begun a preliminary investigation of failures in ignition systems used since the 1983 model year in nearly 16 million cars and light trucks.

“We are looking into concerns with it in certain applications,” Ford spokesman Charles Snearly said. “It is in the preliminary stage and, if we find something that requires some kind of service action, we will notify our customers.”

Because the probe is in its early stages, Snearly said, he could not disclose the models under investigation or whether other factors, such as operating environment, were involved in the ignition system failures.

The problem concerns what Ford calls its “thick film ignition,” or TFI system, an electronic ignition module mounted in the car’s distributor, he said.