Despite its recent renaissance -- including a well-received redesign of the Taurus and a surprise Motor Trend Car of the Year win for the Fusion -- Ford has not found itself immune to the recent spate of safety and quality investigations and recalls.

On Wednesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it is widening the scope of an investigation opened in July into transmission failures for 2004-2005 model year Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans.

The original investigation stemmed from 178 complaints of transmission failure, some of which resulted in a loss of power. Combined with 227 complaints of loss of power for those same models, the agency has widened its scope to include an engineering analysis. Ford has reported to the administration 2,791 warranty claims covering loss of power, which includes one accident but no injuries.

The issue most likely has to do with the torque converter shaft splines stripping, which would result in a loss of power to the drivetrain. Ford has said that repair, by itself, would cost roughly $1,000, but that potential damage to other components could up the cost to three times that amount.

Find more information at NHTSA's Web site here.

(Source: The New York Times' Wheels blog.)