A California lawyer is petitioning the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require Ford to recall 17 million 1997-2004 Expedition sport-utilities, F-Series pickups and other vehicles with V-8 and V-10 engines, a step that would more than double the biggest recall in U.S. history. Donald Ricketts says spark plugs in the vehicles can come loose and fly through the hood. Ford would not comment, saying it has not seen the petition. Now, NHTSA will decide whether to start an investigation. According to the petition, the agency has received 312 related complaints and Ford, 1,000. The biggest previous recall was 7.7 million Fords in 1996.
———-
Transportation in brief is compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
