June, 2010 Archives

Second Largest Crib Recall Announced

CribA recall of 2 million cribs was announced earlier today. According to the CPSC, the drop sides of these cribs can “malfunction, detach or otherwise fail, causing part of the drop side to fall out of position, creating a space into which an infant or toddler can roll and become wedged or entrapped, which can lead to strangulation or suffocation. A child can also fall out of the crib. Drop-side incidents can also occur due to incorrect assembly and with age-related wear and tear.”

Seven different brands are included in this recall- Simmons Juvenile Products, Million Dollar Baby, LaJobi, Jardine, Evenflo, Delta Enterprise, and Child Craft Industries. Consumers who own a crib manufactured by one of these companies can view recalled models and recall details at the following links:

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Twenty Thousand Thanks!!!

Vegas Banner smCombining the speed of a drag racer with the stamina of a NASCAR driver, emissionwiz became one of FixYa’s top contributors soon after registering and has kept up the pace for two years now. He recently became the first Expert to cross the 20K line. No, you didn’t misread that. emissionwiz has provided twenty thousand solutions to FixYa’s users. At this moment his solution count actually stands at 20,109, and counting Live Chats and Premium assistance, he’s solved a staggering total of 20,653 problems.

We had to ask emissionwiz the obvious question- How on earth does he find the time? But emissionwiz brushes the question off, saying it only takes him a few hours per day to do this. Retired from his career in the military and then at a car dealership, emissionwiz views sharing the expertise earned over those years as a hobby.

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Near-Strangulation Prompts IKEA Blind Recall

IKEA has issued a recall of over 3 million Roman and roller blinds, adding itself to the other retailers who have joined the voluntary recall announced in December 2009 of all Roman shades and roll-up blinds. This recall was triggered by the near-strangulation of a toddler in Lowell, Massachusetts in February of this year.

There have been multiple incidents of children strangling in blinds made by IKEA, as well those made by other manufacturers. It is estimated that about one child per month dies after strangling on a window covering cord, and over 200 children have fallen victim in the last two decades.

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And GM Makes Three

GM 2Early today, GM announced a recall of 1.5 million vehicles, becoming the third automaker to do so in recent months. The company is recalling 1,365,070 US vehicles, 98,794 in Canada, 26,228 in Mexico, and 38,093 exported vehicles. The HotShot heated windshield washer fluid system, manufactured by Micro-Heat, has been linked to five fires, with no reports of injuries or crashes.

This same issue in the HotShot system also led to a recall in August 2008. GM says that they monitored the system after the first recall, and received a report about a smoking unity in June 2009. GM withheld payments to Micro-Heat after the first recall in order to recoup costs, forcing Micro-Heat to file for bankruptcy and liquidate.

Since Micro-Heat no longer exists, GM will not be able to replace affected systems with improved designs. The company is therefore offering owners of affected vehicles $100 “for the loss of the feature, not the recall” according to Jeff Boyer, Executive Director of Safety for GM.

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Familiar Flaw Affects Chrysler

Chrysler LogoChrysler has recently announced a slew of recalls. The reasons behind some of these recalls will be very familiar to most people.

On Friday, June 4, Chrysler recalled 25,336 Dodge Calibers and Jeep Compasses (2007 model year) due to problems with sticky gas pedals. The pedals in these vehicles were built by CTS Corp. which also built the accelerator pedal assemblies that lead to the recall of 2.3 million Toyota vehicles in late January.

Today, Chrysler announced an additional recall of nearly 600,000 vehicles. This newest recall affects as many as 284,831 Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans (2008 and 2009 model year). These models could develop a problem in the electrical system, potentially causing a short circuit in the latch for the sliding door, which could cause a fire.

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