NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Service Query SQ98-002: FUEL GAUGE DOES NOT READ BELOW 1/4
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Service Query SQ98-002 on January 27, 1998 and closed it on July 31, 1998. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique for it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- SQ98-002 (also written SQ98002)
- Investigation type
- Service Query
- Status
- Closed July 31, 1998
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Ford Motor Company
- Component
- Vehicle Speed Control — Linkages
- Vehicles and equipment
- Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique
A recall appears here only when NHTSA's investigations file links one to the investigation; NHTSA's summary or record can name others.
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Service Query SQ98-002.
FORD'S SERVICE BULLETIN DATED DECEMBER 8, 1997, POINTS OUT THAT THE FUEL GAUGE WILL NOT READ ABOVE 3/4 TANK OR BELOW 1/4 TANK OF FUEL.THE ERRONEOUS FUEL GAUGE READING WILL INDICATE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE FUEL RESERVE THAN ACTUALLY PRESENT IN THE FUEL TANK.ODI HAS ONE COMPLAINT WHERE THE DRIVER ALLEGED THAT HIS VEHICLE RAN OUT OF GAS DUE TO A FALSE FUEL GAUGE READING.THIS INVESTIGATION WASTO ASCERTAIN FACTS CONCERNING THE PROBLEM EXPERIENCE, SCOPE, AND RATIONAL FOR ELECTING NOT TO CONDUCT A SAFETY COMPAIGN.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Service Query SQ98-002. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Ford
Ford Contour
Mercury
Mercury Mystique
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for SQ98-002
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.