DETROIT, Nov 19 (Reuters) - U.S. safety regulators have closed an investigation into loss of steering in some large Ford Motor Co sedans after the automaker said it would address the issue on affected vehicles.
The investigation could have led to a recall in 28 states outside a 22-state region where salt is used on roads to melt ice and snow, which can cause corrosion.
In August, Ford recalled model year 2005 to 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Marquis and Lincoln Town Car sedans registered in the 22 cold-weather states. Ford no longer manufactures any of these three vehicles.
Rust could lead to separation of the steering column and the loss of steering control.
Ford identified 419,210 vehicles in this 22-state region, where 22 incidents of steering separation were reported.
Ford also identified 13 steering separation complaints in the United States outside the 22 cold-weather states where 386,003 of the affected vehicles were sold. Ford did not find evidence of the same corrosive issue found in the cold-weather states.
But to address the concerns of possible steering separations, Ford will inspect all affected vehicles outside the cold-weather states and replace parts of the steering shaft if they fail inspection, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.
Based on Ford's actions to expand the inspection of the three models of large sedans, NHTSA closed its investigation. The vehicles are not recalled outside the cold-weather states.