Oldest car to get a recall notice?

[MarrsCars]

So talk of recalls on another thread got me wondering about what the oldest/earliest car you know of that has gotten a recall notice? By that I mean has anyone ever gotten a notice for their '56 Chevy or '34 Ford in the last 10 or 20-years? When did recalls begin at all for manufacturers and is there a cutoff based on time or can they be issued indefinitely?

[keiser31]

The first recall that I ever remember was around 1960 or so. I was a kid at 8 years old, but I think it was 1960 when I heard about the engine mounts in the Chevrolets went bad or were bad from the start. GM had to offer a fix by tying the engine down with a cable or some sort of beefier mount. Of course, at 8 years old, I could be mistaken.

[joe_padavano]

The first recall that I ever remember was around 1960 or so. I was a kid at 8 years old, but I think it was 1960 when I heard about the engine mounts in the Chevrolets went bad or were bad from the start. GM had to offer a fix by tying the engine down with a cable or some sort of beefier mount. Of course, at 8 years old, I could be mistaken.

It was actually the mid-1960s and the fix was a cable from the block to the upper control arm shaft. The problem was that the GM motor mounts at the time were simply two pieces of metal with rubber vulcanized between them. When the rubber cracked and broke on the driver's side mount, the engine would torque over. The solid rod throttle linkage would then jam. GM changed to cable throttles in 1968 to mitigate this problem, and interlocking "fail safe" motor mounts in 1969.

Correction: The actual motor mount recall was in Dec 1971 according to NHTSA

NHTSA Campaign Number:

71V235000

Component:

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE

Manufacturer Involved:

GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

Potential Number of Units Affected:

6682084

Defect Summary:

THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT A SEPARATED MOTOR MOUNT MAY ALLOW THE ENGINE TO LIFT, WHICH MAY AFFECT THE THROTTLE LINKAGE, MOMENTARILY INCREASING THROTTLE, POSSIBLY TO FULL THROTTLE.

Consequence Summary:

UNEXPECTED LOSS OF THROTTLE CONTROL MAY CAUSE LOSS OFVEHICLE CONTROL AND AN ACCIDENT.

Corrective Summary:

INSPECT ENGINE MOUNTS AND INSTALL RESTRAINTS WHICH WILL LIMIT ENGINE LIFT AND ELIMINATE POSSIBLE SECONDARY EFFECTS TO THE THROTTLE LINKAGE DUE TO ENGINE MOUNT SEPARATION.

Edited May 2, 2014 by joe_padavano (see edit history)

[joe_padavano]

A little more info. The NHTSA wasn't established until Dec 31, 1970, so there wouldn't have been a whole lot of governent-mandated recalls before that. I did find a reference to a Corvair recall for defroster function and CO2 that predated the motor mount recall and applied to the 1961 and later model years. I also found several references to GM-mandated recalls, such as a 1965 program to replace three-piece Kelsey-Hayes wheels on Chevy trucks with one-piece wheels. The NHTSA made this one official ten years later.

[Rusty_OToole]

I got a recall on a 10 or 11 year old Ford Windstar van. This was 2 or 3 years ago.

"Silent recalls" used to be common. Auto makers would send a letter to their dealers warning of a defective part, and asking that they replace the part under warranty when the car showed up for service. But no notification was sent to owners. This changed under new safety regulations around 1970.

[JACK M]

I got a recall on my 95 Ford pick up a couple of years ago. I guess it was 17 years old or so. Something to do with the master cylinder, or some wiring to it.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Mercedes Benz will honor a recall on certain 107 chassis models - 450 SL and I think 380 SL for subframe cracking. By the time the 560 SL was introduced improvements had been made. They will do the repairs either free or at a deep discount regardless of how many prior owners the car has had. Many scenarios regarding how dealers handle this in recent times are noted in the Benzworld forum. The newest 380 SL is now 29 years old. That to me, seems like a good example of standing behind something. Now if they would just do that on those single timing chains on the 380 SLs THAT would be impressive.... :cool:

[RansomEli]

If I recall my car history properly, the air-cooled Chevrolet ( circa 1918) was so bad that the dealers were told to stop selling the models. Don't know if they took any cars back from customers.

[critterpainter]

I don't know if this counts as a recall but shortly after the war (WWII for you youngsters) Ford introduced an automatic transmission option. They were built and sold. Not a one exists in a running car today that I know of. Ford swapped them all out (along with the engine) for manual transmissions.

Bill

[Scooter Guy]

"Silent recalls" used to be common. Auto makers would send a letter to their dealers warning of a defective part, and asking that they replace the part under warranty when the car showed up for service. But no notification was sent to owners. This changed under new safety regulations around 1970.

That seems more like a 'warranty repair' or 'technical service bulletin' situation. If we're discussing those, I know that the little motor scooters that I like were subject to such and that was as early as 1946-1947. Just like you mentioned, the dealers received notice, not the end users. If scooters were receiving these, surely cars were too and 1947 couldn't have been the first. Not government mandated recalls, but manufacturer recalls and service notices.

[dictator27]

If I recall my car history properly, the air-cooled Chevrolet ( circa 1918) was so bad that the dealers were told to stop selling the models. Don't know if they took any cars back from customers.

That was 1923 and it was the Copper cooled Chevrolrt. It was not one of Charles Kettering's better ideas. The copper studs made the engine look like a mechanical porcupine but did nothing to effectively cool the engine. Chevrolet bought back all but two or three of them.

Studebaker had a recall on their V8 in 1951 for soft camshafts.

Terry

[Layden B]

I know, not what you asked for but Henry Ford "recalled" all of "The Ford" cars as they were called in 1903. Wouldn't back up! The next year they would be referred to as the Model A when Ford came out with the Model B.

[Rusty_OToole]

Lincoln and Mercury had their own automatic called "Liquimatic" in 1942. They were a failure, all were recalled and replaced with standard transmissions. 1 escaped and is now in the Ford Foundation museum.

Liquimatic equipped Mercury engine

http://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum/fileattachments/Liquamatic.jpg

Edited May 2, 2014 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

1958 Chrysler and DeSoto offered Bendix electronic fuel injection. At least 16 were built but they were quickly recalled and replaced by carburetors, most before they were sold.

One DeSoto survives. The tech who took it off a new DeSoto put it away in his attic and a few years ago, a collector found it and installed it on an early convertible, which had the option when new.

Rambler Rebel also announced the fuel injection option but I don't think any got into the hands of the public.

Incidentally Bendix licensed the system to Bosch. This was the first Bosch electronic injection which debuted on the 1968 VW squareback and was used by Cadillac on the 1976 Seville.

[Guest]

The procedures and requirements for manufacturer recalls took effect on 3/26/1973. See Part 577, Defect and Noncompliance Notification, of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards at: http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/FMVSS/index.html#P577

The oldest recall that I've heard of concerned a friend's 1974 Volvo 144 he acquired a couple of years ago. He had the local Volvo dealer run the VIN through the Volvo database, and discovered there was an outstanding recall on the gas tank. The dealer did the recall work, which involved installation of a new tank and some related hardware. Assuming that the recall was issued sometime in the mid- to late 1970s, a 30 to 35 year gap between recall notice and work completed is noteworthy.

[superior1980]

I seem to remember hearing about 1959 Cadillacs being recalled due to pitman arm breakage.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

The early 28 Model As had a lot of things corrected by service bulletins as running changes. when the existing parts were gone the next ones got improved designs. The front crossmember originally came up in front of the block and was bolted in. The factory at one point cut the upper parts off and replaced it with a wye shaped mount with vibration dampers. I think you could take your already bought car back to the dealer and get it done if you wanted to.Another car was the crosley with the sheetmetal engine. Those were replaced with the improved cast Iron,

[Larry Schramm]

If I recall my car history properly, the air-cooled Chevrolet ( circa 1918) was so bad that the dealers were told to stop selling the models. Don't know if they took any cars back from customers.

I believe that those cars had the copper cooled engines replaced with regular engines. There is one of the engines at The GM Heritage Center in Detroit and I have heard that there might be one or two that have survived but not sure.

Here is a link to the Copper Cooled history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Series_M_Copper-Cooled

Edited May 3, 2014 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[Bleach]

I got a recall on my 95 Ford pick up a couple of years ago. I guess it was 17 years old or so. Something to do with the master cylinder, or some wiring to it.

I got the same one for my 94 F150 about a week ago. I got it taken care of yesterday.

[mastertech]

1996 -2000 caravan-Plymouth voyager vans life time warenty on clock spings for the air bag due to a recall still do one about once a month, have done somevans 2or 3 times

[28 Chrysler]

Around 1976 the 1959/60 Caddies, there was an attempted recall for the steering. A spline would strip and the car would lose it's steering.G.M. said the were not many left on the road and the recall never happened.

[Bleach]

1996 -2000 caravan-Plymouth voyager vans life time warenty on clock spings for the air bag due to a recall still do one about once a month, have done somevans 2or 3 times

I wonder if there was one for the Ford F150's? I had to replace mine a few years ago.

[capngrog]

What about the 1946 Crosley Cobra (Copper brazed):eek: engine which, I believe, was replaced by a conventional cast iron block in 1947 or 1948? As I recall, Crosley Motors replaced all of the Cobra engines at no cost to the customer. I have two Crosleys, one, a 1947 with a replacement cast iron block and the other, a 1950 with the factory-installed cast iron block. I like 'em both.

Cheers,

Grog

[Dave Mellor NJ]

The early 28 Model As had a lot of things corrected by service bulletins as running changes. when the existing parts were gone the next ones got improved designs. The front crossmember originally came up in front of the block and was bolted in. The factory at one point cut the upper parts off and replaced it with a wye shaped mount with vibration dampers. I think you could take your already bought car back to the dealer and get it done if you wanted to.Another car was the crosley with the sheetmetal engine. Those were replaced with the improved cast Iron,

Grog, you must not have read my post(#18) to the end.

[capngrog]

Dave,

I must not have read your post (#18) to the end:o. I hereby recall my post #24 and will try to replace it with a new, improved post.

Embarrassed,

Grog

[R Walling]

I was a snow mobile dealer in 1960 and there was a recall on the centrifugal clutch.

Two notices went out, one to the owner and one to the dealer.

The one to the customer stated that the clutch could be defective and serious harm could be done to the rider if it is not replaced.

The one to the dealer only stated that the counter weights may become worn and separate over time causing further damage to the machine.

[rocketraider]

My folks had one of those motor mount fix Chevrolets- 69 Impala. Seems the dealer called it in sometime around 1972; I was driving because the old man sent me by there after school to pick it up and drive it home. That was when school bus drivers had a little leeway about letting students off at other than their designated stop.

I am second owner of my 93 F150 and Ford tracked it to me in 2006 for that cruise control brake switch recall. That was when it struck me that some carmakers were still using hydraulic brake switches on some cars.

@Roger above: seems like the lawyers were into things even in 1960.