Ford Motor Company, of Dearborn, Michigan, has issued a warning to owners of about 4.6 million recalled vehicles that need to be brought into dealerships to disconnect the cruise control system. The cruise control systems of the recalled vehicles have recently been found to possibly start engine fires in the vehicles, which could lead to a catastrophic injury from a car accident. Three deaths have already been linked to the engine fire problem.

More than 100 car accident lawsuits have risen in connection to engine fires. Over 60 complaints of engine fires in Ford vehicles since August 2007 have been reported to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The following vehicles are included in the recall:

• 1993 ? 2004 F150
• 1993 ? 1999 F250 (gasoline engine)
• 1993 ? 1996 Bronco
• 1994 ? 1996 Econoline
• 1997 ? 2002 Ford Expedition
• 1998 ? 2002 Lincoln Navigator
• 1998 ? 2002 Ford Ranger
• 1992 ? 1998 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car
• 1993 ? 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII
• 1993 ? 1995 Ford Taurus SHO with automatic transmission
• 1994 ? Mercury Capri
• 1998 ? 2001 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer
• 2001 ? 2002 Ford Explorer Sport and Explorer Sport Trac
• 1992 ? 1993 and 1997 ? 2003 Ford E-150-350 gasoline or natural gas vehicles
• 2002 ? E-550 gasoline engine vehicles
• 1996 ? 2003 E-450 gasoline or natural gas vehicles
• 1994 ? 2002 F-250 through F-550 super Duty trucks (gasoline engine)
• 2000 ? 2002 Ford Excursion (gasoline engine)
• 2003 ? F250 ? F550 Super Duty, Ford Excursion
• 1995 ? 2002 Ford F53 Motor home chassis
• 2002 ? 2003 Lincoln Blackwood

Ford issued a separate recall earlier in February for about 225,000 vehicles due to improper re-wiring that appeared to be defective. More than 9.6 million Ford vehicles have been recalled since 1999, however only 5 million have been inspected and fixed.

Source: ?Ford, Lincoln, Mercury Recalls.? Nbc17.com, February 29, 2008.