PARK CITY, Kan. (KSNW) – Not long after Park City Police Chief Phil Bostian says he came to KSN worried about high levels of carbon monoxide readings in one of his Ford Explorers, he says Ford came calling.
“They told me that someone had forwarded the supervisor a news story,” says Bostian.
Last Thursday, six representatives were in Park City taking that Explorer out for themselves.
“They were able to replicate the problems we had with carbon monoxide immediately,” says Bostian.
He says Ford reps found a leaky part connected to the exhaust system.
“There was a carbon monoxide leak under the vehicle where the exhaust pipe went into what is called a resonator,” says Bostian. “They took that part with them, actually cut it off the vehicle, and took it back to Detroit with them.”
Problem solved? Not quite, the chief says.
“But that didn’t appear to be the cause of what was causing the leak into the vehicle,” says Bostian.
He says after purchasing the Explorers, they added aftermarket lights to the back of two of them.
“You take the spoiler off and put the lights on and they have some sheet metal that goes back in there that has holes.”
They’re positioned right under the spoiler.
What they found, he says, was the holes where the lights snapped into, were not completely sealed. Possibly allowing carbon monoxide from the exhaust to be recirculated back towards the vehicle and into the SUV through those unsealed holes.
He says Ford sealed those holes and ran another test even with the leaky resonator.
“They took it back out for a drive and got readings of zero. That apparently was the major source of infiltration,” says Bostian.
Meanwhile, the police car still sits in the shop while Ford is replacing the resonator for free.
“It was refreshing to see Ford’s response, but I get the impression that they don’t know exactly what is causing all these problems either,” says Bostian.
KSN reached out to Ford today about this specific Explorer and got a statement from them saying,
“As we can say for now is: Safety is our top priority. A dedicated Ford team is working with police customers, police equipment installers, Police Advisory Board members and NHTSA to investigate reported issues and solve them. Customers with concerns can call our dedicated hotline at 888-260-5575 or visit their local Ford dealership.
The chief also says the other Explorer where they, themselves, installed these lights, they’re considering taking them off even though they have only had issues with one of the Explorers.
