Suspect car fuses recalled
Chinese-made parts could overload, damage wiring
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- A California-based auto parts seller plans to recall as many as 295,000 Chinese-made fuse sets that could be linked to electrical fires, another in a rash of safety issues involving products made in China.
Harbor Freight Tools told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in an Aug. 10 letter obtained by The News that the company planned to quickly recall 295,000 aftermarket auto fuse sets sold over a two-year period.
Late Tuesday, the company said the recall could be narrowed to as little as a tenth of the original number, but its investigation is continuing.
The decision by Harbor Freight, based in Camarillo, Calif., comes after four customer complaints "in a very short period of time" around Aug. 4, along with questions it received from General Motors Corp. NHTSA has also received two complaints.
Harbor Freight said in the NHTSA letter, called a "defect report," that it is aware of property damage caused by the fuses, but not any injuries.
The planned recall is one of a series of safety incidents with Chinese-made goods in recent months, and is the second involving auto parts, more of which are being imported from that country. Last month, New Jersey importer Foreign Tire Sales said it would recall 255,000 Chinese-made tires because they lack a safety feature. Other Chinese products that have either been recalled or banned from import because of safety concerns include pet food, toothpaste, seafood and toys.
In a telephone interview, Harbor Freight's general counsel, Marc Friedman, said Tuesday the company had sent employees to China to learn what was wrong with the fuses in question.
"We are still investigating," he said, declining to identify the Chinese manufacturer. NHTSA also doesn't know the name of the manufacturer.
The Harbor Freight fuses, which were supposed to be 5-30 amps, apparently had the wrong amperages, which can lead to damage to a vehicle's wiring system. Harbor Freight stopped selling the fuses earlier this month, but still has not publicly disclosed the problems with the items. The fuse sets can still be purchased on eBay.
The "fuse element of one size was not blowing at the point it should" causing the "wires to fry," Friedman said. No vehicle fires have been reported, but some had "melted fuse boxes." The reason the company is considering reducing the recall population "is because of the relatively few complaints," Friedman said.
The letter from Harbor Freight said it had planned to start the recall on Aug. 15 "depending on NHTSA approval," and it included a planned two-page recall announcement. NHTSA said it wasn't holding up the recall.
Millions of suspect fuses sold
Between August 2005 and August 2007, Harbor Freight sold 295,000 fuse sets -- each with 120 fuses -- which means as many as 35 million fuses could be involved. The kits sold for between $3 and $10.
"Equipment recalls are always more difficult than vehicle recalls," said Rae Tyson, a NHTSA spokesman, because often it is difficult to track down the vehicles that contain the suspect parts.
"If you took your car to the shop, you probably have no idea if they used these fuses," she said
Harbor Freight suggested it may be difficult for vehicle owners who didn't directly buy the fuses to identify them in their vehicles. The fuses are color-coded by amps and have no serial numbers or date codes.
The company plans to notify anyone who purchased the fuses from the company's Web site, as well as mail-order customers, and will post recall notices in retail outlets. It will give customers a $5 gift certificate for returning the items, in addition to a refund.
GM notified dealers of fuse issue
Last month, GM sent an internal bulletin to dealers discouraging them from using the fuses and reminding them that they were not GM parts, spokesman Alan Adler said. It did so after it contacted Harbor Freight raising "casual concerns" about the fuses, Adler said. On Tuesday, GM was unaware that Harbor Freight planned to recall the fuses.
Harbor Tools had sought to limit public disclosure of the matter. The four-page defect report from Friedman was marked "Confidential Communication" and asked NHTSA "to protect Harbor Freight Tools' information and that the information otherwise be exempt from disclosure in the event that a request for disclosure is made pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act."
Friedman said late Tuesday the company no longer is seeking to limit public information about the recall.
For more information about the recall, call (800) 444-3343. The parts expected to be recalled: Storehouse 120 pc. Automotive Fuse Set, Mini Blade Type, Item No. 92939 and Storehouse 120 pc. Automotive Fuse Set, Blade Type, Item No. 92940