The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary defect investigation into 1.7 million Ford Windstar vans.

The vehicles have a cruise control deactivation switch that's been recalled in nearly 10 million other Ford vehicles.

The vans, built between 1995-2003, are among a population of at least 6 million Ford vehicles that haven't been recalled but have the switch.


NHTSA said they've received 130 complaints of fires in the vans, with 36 complaints in the last year. Two of the fires caused structural damage to homes, NHTSA said.

Ford spokeswoman Jennifer Moore said the switches involved in the Windstar vans don't have electrical power running to them at all times, unlike the recalled vehicles. "We're cooperating with NHTSA," Moore said. "We've continued to monitor the field performance of our vehicles and we don't believe at this time there is an elevated risk of fire."

Moore said Ford didn't know the cause of the fires from the complaints.