1990 Ford Tempo Recalls

Recalls on record Updated July 2026

The 1990 Ford Tempo has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 7,900,000 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 174 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the electrical system. Last updated July 5, 2026.

Recall campaigns

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 96V071000 1996-04-25 7,900,000 affected
Defect

THE IGNITION SWITCH COULD EXPERIENCE AN INTERNAL SHORT CIRCUIT.

Consequence

THIS CONDITION COULD CAUSE OVERHEATING, SMOKE, AND POSSIBLY FIRE IN THE STEERING COLUMN AREA OF THE VEHICLE.

Remedy

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE IGNITION SWITCH.

Complaints by component

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION
21
3crashes4fires1injuries
SEAT BELTS
16
3crashes2injuries
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:SWITCH
14
10fires
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DRUM
13
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
12
2crashes3fires2injuries
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR
9
4fires
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS
5
STEERING:LINKAGES:TIE ROD ASSEMBLY
5
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY
4
2crashes2injuries
TIRES
4
1fires
Total complaints174

What owners report

Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.

“Car has repeatable problem of not starting...have had it towed, due to this, numerous times, spent thousands of dollars trying to get it fixed, etc. Only to discover that it has two ignition defects...potentially... Since the car was not new when I bought it 3 years ago, I have no recourse but to…”

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION · reported 2004-10-13

“Just after pulling into the driveway, the consumer smelled smoke . He opened the hood and noticed the top of the alternator plug was burning followed by wiring burning across to the battery. The terminal block on the left fender began burning and melting. *jb *nm”

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING · reported 2004-08-02

“Driver's side seat belt malfunctioned. Dealer refused to repair seat belt without payment. *ak”

SEAT BELTS:FRONT · reported 2004-08-02

“The tread on all four tires separated while driving 60 mph (kelly metric radial size 18570r14). Please provide the dot number. *nlm”

TIRES:TREAD/BELT · reported 2003-05-07

“Brake adjusters failed 3 times causing brake failure”

SERVICE BRAKES, AIR:SLACK ADJUSTERS · reported 2003-02-11

“While driving 40mph and without warning, engine stalled, consumer applied brakes and vehicle did not stop resulting in a collision, which totaled vehicle. Prior to the accident vehicle shut off 4 times, dealer replaced battery, alternator, plugs/wires, and starter but this did not correct the…”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE · reported 2001-12-21

“While driving 40mph and without warning, engine stalled, consumer applied brakes and vehicle did not stop resulting in a collision, which totaled vehicle. Prior to the accident vehicle shut off 4 times, dealer replaced battery, alternator, plugs/wires, and starter but this did not correct the…”

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM · reported 2001-12-21

“1.) rough idle, and oil light intermittently comes on when idling and only goes off when accelerating, but often stalls out, and doesn't want to re-start. (had oil changed twice to get excess gas out of it from trying to start it.) had to tow car three times. Paid $1,000 to try to get it fixed,…”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING · reported 2001-12-10

Defect investigations

Investigation DP96002 Opened 1996-01-11 · closed 1996-01-19

REAR BRAKE SYSTEM FAILURE

There is no summary currently available

Investigation EA90008 Opened 1989-12-27 · closed 1991-12-31

FAILED PASSIVE RESTRAINT

WE HAVE RECEIVED NUMEROUS REPORTS WHICH ALLEGE A MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE OF THE PASSIVE RESTRAINT SYSTEM.ADDITIONAL REPORTS ALLEGE THAT THE PASSIVE RESTRAINT SYSTEM FAILED TO RESTRAIN/ADEQUATELY PROTECT THE OCCUPANT DURING AN ACCIDENT

Investigation PE96005 Opened 1996-01-19 · closed 1996-05-28

REAR BRK ADJUSTER FAILURE

1984 - 1991 FORD TEMPO/MERCURY TOPAZ

Sources & methodology

Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1990 Ford Tempo as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.