Ford recalls nearly 778,000 Windstar minivans

DEARBORN, Michigan (CNN) -- Ford Motor Co. is recalling nearly 778,000 Ford Windstar minivans for a fire hazard in the windshield wiper system. Some of those same vehicles may also have a fire hazard in the rear seat air conditioning/heating system.

Recall letters were sent to owners of the 1999-2001 Windstars, alerting them to the problems.

Small holes in the windshield wiper system can allow water or debris to clog the motor and cause it to overheat and ignite. There have been 10 reports of the windshield wiper motor catching fire.

About 525,000 of those same minivans may have a problem with the rear seat air conditioning/heating system. Not all of the 778,000 vehicles have this problem; it depends on their date of manufacture. Ford initiated the recall and, as required by law, notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of it.

On Tuesday, NHTSA closed its investigation of the 1996-1999 Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique and the 1999 Mercury Cougar. Those vehicles also had problems with the rear seat air conditioning. Ford has already notified 342,000 owners of those vehicles of the potential problem and recall.

The automaker has been addressing several quality issues in recent months.

Earlier this week, NHTSA announced it has begun an investigation to determine whether an estimated 437,000 Ford Expeditions have a defective front stabilizer bar. That part is designed to keep the sport utility vehicle from rolling over in a turn. NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation in July examining the stabilizer bars in 1997-98 Ford Expeditions.

Last year, NHTSA investigated problems with the front stabilizer bar links in the Ford Explorer, the smaller SUV companion to the Expedition. Ford initiated a recall to replace those bar links in 876,000 1995-97 Explorers and 1997 Mercury Mountaineers.

In June, Ford executives unveiled a companywide initiative to improve the quality of its vehicles during a meeting with analysts. The Consumer-Driven 6-Sigma program, as it's called, was introduced a month after J.D. Power and Associates issued its annual quality report, which was disappointing for the No. 2 automaker.

The report by the auto marketing and research firm showed the quality of the Ford vehicles was the lowest among the domestic automakers. CNN Consumer Safety Editor Julie Vallese and Field Producer Carol Yancho contributed to this report.