The agency last November began investigating three reports of fires in the
driver’s door, apparently related to the master power switch and other electrical components.
In a filing posted on the agency Web site on Friday, investigators said that after checking further and obtaining additional information from Honda, they upgraded that investigation.
Honda last year recalled about 141,000 Fits from the 2007-8 model years for a fire hazard in the driver’s door, which involved the master power switch.
In other actions this week:
• Ford said it would recall an additional 1.2 million pickup trucks -– mostly F-150s -– because the driver air bag might inadvertently deploy. The affected models are the 2004-6 Ford F-150 and the 2006 Lincoln Mark LT, its upmarket sibling. Ford had resisted the recall, saying that such an action was not necessary and lacked “common sense,” but the safety agency insisted there was a problem.
• About 6,800 late-model Thomas Built Buses school buses are being recalled because of a fire hazard, according to the agency. A defect in a fuse-holder on air-conditioning units built by the Carrier Corporation of Farmington, Conn., could cause arcing and a fire.
The action is part of a recall announced earlier this year by Carrier of almost 45,000 air-conditioning units used on a variety of vehicles, which was prompted by three “thermal events” involving school buses, Carrier told N.H.T.S.A. The affected models are the 2006-11 Saf-T-Liner C2, Saf-T-Liner HDX, MVP-EF, FS-65 and Minotour.
• General Motors is recalling about 2,100 of its 2011 Chevrolet Cruze compact sedans because the steering wheel might not have been properly fastened to the steering column. The automaker first learned of the problem following one customer complaint that did not result in a crash, it told the safety agency.
On that vehicle, an investigation found that an incorrect steering wheel was originally installed. But when the correct steering wheel was subsequently installed at the G.M. assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, it was not properly fastened, G.M. said, prompting the wider recall.
• The agency is investigating whether corrosion could create steering problems on 84,000 Subaru Imprezas from the 2002-3 model years. The agency said it had seven complaints that corrosion caused the front lower control arms to fail, including two drivers who said they lost control of the vehicle but did not crash. The action is called a preliminary evaluation. If the agency decides the concern is warranted, it will upgrade the investigation to an engineering analysis. Michael McHale, a Subaru spokesman, said the automaker was also investigating.