2016 FORD TRANSIT — Complaint #1613071
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:FAN/MOTOR filed October 17, 2019
NHTSA complaint #1613071 (ODI reference 11269233) concerns a 2016 FORD TRANSIT and was filed on October 17, 2019. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 14, 2019. The vehicle had 86,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to New Hampshire based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:fan/motor, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD TRANSIT cohort independently describe similar visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:fan/motor failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2016 FORD TRANSIT shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 FORD TRANSIT. WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH, THE CONTACT BEGAN TO SMELL A BURNING ODOR AND FELT THAT THE SPEAKER AND CD THAT SHE EJECTED FROM THE RADIO WERE WARM. ALSO, WHEN THE DEFROSTER WAS ACTIVATED, STEAM BEGAN TO ACCUMULATE ON THE WINDOWS. AS THE CONTACT CONTINUED TO DRIVE, THE VEHICLE SHUT OFF WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT PULLED OVER AND ALLOWED THE VEHICLE TO COOL OFF. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE HOME. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO AUTOFAIR FORD (1475 S WILLOW ST, MANCHESTER, NH 03103, 603-634-1001) WHERE IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT WATER WAS ACCUMULATING ON THE AIR FILTER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WATER WAS ALSO DRIPPING ONTO THE BLOWER MOTOR HEATER, WHICH CAUSED AN ELECTRICAL SHORT. THE DEALER REPLACED THE BLOWER MOTOR AND INSTALLED A WATER DEFLECTION KIT. THEY ALSO REPLACED THE AIR FILTER AND THE AIR FILTER BOX COVER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURES AND STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT UNDER WARRANTY AND THERE WAS NO RECALL. THE MANUF
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1613071 |
| ODI Number | 11269233 |
| Date Filed | October 17, 2019 |
| Failure Date | October 14, 2019 |
| VIN | 1FBAX2CG7GK |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.