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Coloradobus · 08-07-2006, 06:17 PM

Our 1997 B-Van is not in the recall. I just called Ford dealer down the street, and the service took the campaign recall number and our VIN. Our van was made Jan 1997, and Airstream got a hold of it, made it a camper March 1997.

2cowpokes · 08-25-2006, 01:11 PM

We received Ford’s recall notice on Aug. 21; it was postmarked Aug. 18. It was in our mailbox when we were closing the gate as the fire truck was on its way out. Julius brought the letter to the house while I was on the phone to our insurance company to request that they dispatch a claims adjuster.

Quotes from Ford’s letter:
“Ford Motor Company has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain 1994-2002 F-250/350/450/550, 1994-E-150/250/350, 1996-2002 E-450 (including motorhome applications), 2000-2002 Excursion, and 1998 Explorer and Mountaineer vehicles equipped with Speed Control….”

Further Quote: “What is the issue? On your vehicle, an underhood speed control deactivation switch may overheat, smoke, or burn, which could result in an underhood fire. This condition may occur either when the vehicle is parked [which ours was] or when it is being operated, even if the speed control is not in use.”

Our 1996 F250 was just sitting in the barn lot – only a few feet from the A/S. We hadn’t driven the truck in almost three weeks. I was in the house when I heard a loud BOOM and ran outside to discover flames shooting from the engine compartment. Julius was in the pasture working on one of our fences and came racing to the house. His first thought was the propane tank had exploded on the TT.

We quickly got a garden hose to spray water on and around the truck to prevent flames from spreading. I then ran to the house to call 911 for assistance. The flames had subsided somewhat by the time the fire truck arrived (we are 5 miles from the nearest town) and they completed the job of dousing the hot spots after we got the cab doors open and raised the hood.

After carefully inspecting the engine compartment, the fireman stated his belief that the fire’s cause was electrical in nature and appeared to have started in the vicinity of the master cylinder (surprise, surprise). The left front tire had also burned and was flat. It had probably exploded, which was the noise that first got our attention.

We are just thankful that we were home when the fire occurred and were able to take quick action to prevent collateral damage. The saddest aspect of the fire is the fact that we had just traded for this truck in Jan. of this year. It was in near mint condition and looked as if it had never been out of the garage. We put almost 11K miles on it pulling our A/S to the east coast and back earlier this year and it performed beautifully.

When this thread first appeared in June, 2005, we had a much older (1988) F250 that wasn’t affected by the recall and I failed to see/read/heed the recent posts earlier this month.

I plan to provide copies of the recall notice and of this thread to our claims adjuster and to our local fire department, among others.

2cowpokes · 08-25-2006, 01:15 PM

This is what our F250 looked like in Feb. 2006 during a lunch stop at a Texas rest area.

driftwood · 08-25-2006, 04:04 PM

What a shame. Looks like you lost a real nice truck.

I wish you the best, in that you will be completely indemnified by your underwriter. It will be their position to pursue Ford with their subrogation rights.

... for the information of others ... each dealer will have a very limited supply of the in-line fusible link, (30/40/?) therefore I recommend that you make an early appointment and get it done as soon as possible. Have your service writer check with parts before you go.

Jim & Susan · 08-25-2006, 05:20 PM

We own 2 F150's and thanks to this thread I decided to check the Ford site to see if they had been recalled for this same defect. THEY HAVE! Apparently, at some time in year 2000, they were recalled by Ford for the exact same issue. I think maybe if you've owned anything Ford built on a truck chassis since at least 1997, best to have it checked. Our two F150's are '97 and '98 models.

Good news is that we were in and out of the dealership within one hour, with both trucks repaired. Be careful out there.

Jim

clancy_boy · 08-25-2006, 07:42 PM

That was a very graphic example of why all of us should take this recall seriously.

I too am a Ford owner and searched the Ford site for a recall on mine. It's an F250 7.3 desiel which , according to Ford, is not included.

I had a 1991 Toyota SR5 4X4 Extracab in mint condition when I received a recall notice in 1999. Head gasket pre-mature failure. I keep excellent records on maintenance, and do most all of my servicing that I can do myself. I called the dealer and they said "we are aware of the recall but are booked up for now - could I wait a week?". SURE, NO PROBLEM - put me down for next week. There were no signs of problems, no oil consumption, no swollen radiator hoses, no lost coolant??????? THE NEXT DAY - VERY NEXT DAY - on my way home I saw the oil pressure drop to zero, temperature go sky high and the dash engine indicators go crazy about 300 yards from my driveway. I quickly pished in the clutch and coasted the rest of the way home. Fluids poured out from everywhere. They completely rebuilt the engine for free.

85MH325 · 08-25-2006, 08:27 PM

My Excursion is included. I got my recall notice last week, and have an appointment with Ford tomorrow AM to get it fixed.

Roger

C Johnson · 08-26-2006, 04:29 AM

Whoa ! I guess I better get it done sooner than later. Couldn't imagine my black F-250 goin up in smoke ! yikes !

I got my letter about 2 weeks ago.

rseagle · 08-26-2006, 05:18 AM

I had my warranty work on my '97 F-150 done at my local Ford dealer in April. I was just shy of 100K miles with no problems. Great truck! They called me and told me that my inspection was due next month (May) and their required safety check revealed a need for new ball joints, Pittman Arm and Camber kit. All to the tune of $1500 before I could pass the VA State inspection. I told them I would wait so I could save up the money to pay for it all. In May, I took it to another shop and it passed inspection without all this work. Be careful with dealers, their service department will rip you off any time they get a chance, like when you come by for warranty work!

Jim & Susan · 08-26-2006, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rseagle

I had my warranty work on my '97 F-150 done at my local Ford dealer in April. I was just shy of 100K miles with no problems. Great truck! They called me and told me that my inspection was due next month (May) and their required safety check revealed a need for new ball joints, Pittman Arm and Camber kit. All to the tune of $1500 before I could pass the VA State inspection. I told them I would wait so I could save up the money to pay for it all. In May, I took it to another shop and it passed inspection without all this work. Be careful with dealers, their service department will rip you off any time they get a chance, like when you come by for warranty work!

Yes, Yes and Yes! My '97 F150 has about 140k miles on it and has been a great truck. #2 child is now using it at college while I drive the '98 F150. I don't want to take this thread in completely different direction, but I NEVER use the Ford dealer for service. I simply can't afford it. I do most of the service myself. When I took both of mine in last week, I specifically told them to search for ONLY the recall information and to do nothing else. Dealers are (normally) the most expensive way to get anything done, in my experieince. Besides, who wants to take the word of an organization run by car salesmen?

ROBERTSUNRUS · 08-26-2006, 10:30 PM

Hi, I work at a Ford dealer and I have to disagree with a lot of you. I have been working at car dealers since 1968. I will admit there are bad apples at some Ford dealers, not all. And may we assume that there are no bad apples at your place of employment? As for the Pinto, yes they did catch fire after a good solid rear end hit. Was it the only car that caught fire when rear ended? No. Ralph Nader even stated that the AMC Gremlin had a worse record of catching fire when rear ended. Was the Gremlin recalled? No. Why, because AMC only had 4 percent of the market at that time and Pintos were made by the thousands.

Ford recalls for deactivation switch. Some will catch fire, most won't. Mine did not and I did not disconnect it. You can disconnect it yourself if you want and if your afraid of your local Ford dealer, buy the parts and do it yourself. My daughter could do that job. Yes a Ford [or any other dealer] is going to try to sell you what they feel you need. Are you not strong enough to say no? The advisor can only recommend what they feel you need; I haven't seen any broken arms in all the years I spent at Ford, GMC, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Lincoln, and Mercury dealers.

Warped rotors. Most common cause of warped rotors is caused by overheated brakes. [No-one ever admitts this] Next in line is incorrectly torqued wheels. Some vehicles [by design] do warp easier than others. My wife's 1995 Thunderbird is one of those vehicles. I have machined the rotors several times, as have many other Thunderbird owners have, and replaced the rotors once. My 1996 Explorer and 2000 Navigator never warped the rotors.

One final note: Ford and all the other manufactures will send you several recall notices, but some people just refuse to get it done for whatever reason. From Ford if the recall notice has an "S" in the recall number, the "S" stands for Saftey and for sure should be done. After several notices, and they know where your live, so don't give that excuse, the liability falls on you the registered owner.

Bob

By the way, I personally performed hundreds of the Pinto recalls in the late 70's and early 80's

driftwood · 08-27-2006, 05:31 AM

Start your own thread if you want to bash the dealerships ...

This safety recall, as others, is important and doesn't need to be cluttered with whimpering about other experiences.

That's my comment, and I'm sticking to it!

(Self-appointed - Interim Moderator)

Jim & Susan · 08-27-2006, 08:11 PM

Norm, one of the reasons I keep making posts to this thread is to keep it on the main page so that others will see it (to the other moderators, if this is considered "bumping", then moderate me).

If I'm not mistaken, Ford is the most popular light truck in use in America. That includes the members of this forum. The members need to know about this most recent safty recall.

Jim (Rookie Moderator)

Jim & Susan · 08-27-2006, 08:29 PM

Bob, you and I agree on most everything in your post. Here are the vehicles I own:
'97 F150 (purchased new) 140,000 miles
'98 F150 (purchased last year, used) 140,000 miles
'98 Winstar (purchased new) 170,000 miles
'03 Focus (purchased used) 40,000 miles
'96 E250 work van (provided by my employer) 150,000 miles

You could say that I'm a Ford guy. My basic point was that dealers charge too much for the services they provide. That is also true for GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen, etc, etc. They all charge too much. An oil change is worth about $15.00. That's what it costs me to do it in my driveway. Economies of scale and all of that, Ford should be able to do it cheaper than I can in my driveway, they can't. The end result is that I can do most of the work on my vehicles MUCH cheaper than a dealer. I have yet to ever use a dealer for any type of non-warranty service. And probably won't ever.

For whatever reason, I NEVER recieved the safty recall notice concerning the cruise control on the '97 F150. I have received several other notices on this and other Ford vehicles that we do/have owned, but not this one for some reason. I might also add that Ford sales literature is a regular feature in my mailbox. As a lifelong Ford "fan", and owner, if I didn't get this one, then other probably didn't either, whatever the reason.

I'm not paranoid enough to suspect some Grande Conspiracy here, just a mistake for soem reason on the part of FoMoCo, that's all.

Jim

ROBERTSUNRUS · 08-27-2006, 11:17 PM

Hi, Me again. From my experiences as a dealer mechanic / shopforeman and a MAC Tools distributor for eight years, I will say the Dealer usually charges more, usually uses better parts, and usually does a better job than the independents do. But not always. And you and I know that you expect to pay more at the dealer than let's say at Manny, Moe, and Jacks place. Same with Airstream versus Camping World Etc.

Bob

2airishuman · 08-28-2006, 01:12 AM

hi recall watchers...

first i don't see much ford bashing in this thread.
there are some posts near the beginning but these are over a year old...

and there are always a couple of ge'em guys
who will poke at the ford issues,
and that goes the other way too.
as a first time owner of any american brand...
it is commical to see the ford/ge'em feuds...

ford did invent the truck!

after reading here awhile or meeting people,
it's easier to tell who is doing this jabbing and why.

so don't take it personally robertsunrus or driftwood.

most of the folks posting in this thread...
own fords...
that makes these recalls personally relevant.
i've had a couple of minor tsb issues on mine but i still like it, alot.

there was a piece in the nwtimes today on the complexity of this issue.
it was short but interesting.
usually news paper pieces just bash corporate giants like ford...
this piece didn't.

it took ford and the nhtsa a long time to figure this one out.
the process included putting switches that were known to be defective,
BACK into vehicles...
and trying to induce a fire...
eventually some ignited.
but still they couldn't sort out why...

turns out that brake lines can sometimes develop a vacuum...
pedal pressure applied when parked can do this...
longer lines will sometimes lead to more vacuum.
so some models are more likely experience negative pressures in the brake lines.

anyway the vacuum collapses the rubber/plastic seal
in a way it was never expected or engineered to withstand.
so the barrier between brake fluid and the 'always on' electronics
can fail/crack/leak and then brake fluid can ignite.

the 'vacuum effect' inside a sealed hydralic brake system
was an unknown concept, never imagined or experienced...

if the brake systems were more poorly made and leaky....
this may not have happened.

nhtsa was hesitant to direct ford to issue a recall
that would span all these years and millions of vehicles...
until they understood the sequence of event leading to failure...

ford followed to the letter,
the government rules as written.
their own engineers/investigators were clueless too.

now ford and the governement understand why and what causes spontaneous ignition..

this is the 2nd largest recall in auto history...

and will change how some things are designed/engineered by all auto makers...

so ultimately good will come from this...

meanwhile take your vehicle in and have it serviced!

i could also reveal that cee'bee'es rigged up falsely an audi to accelerate,
when the brakes were touched, for the 60 minutes piece back in 89?
but i won't...

cheers
2air'

2airishuman · 08-28-2006, 01:23 AM

now for the forbidden political message...

while it may be true that companies employ bean counters...
it is simplistic to think that they are always used to calculate 'worse case' scenarios...

sometimes they just count beans...

i'm not sure any cover up happened in this issue, this time.

being a libertarian, i don't want the government to protect me from corporate american...

with fewer government agencies and oversite,
the free market will and can protect me....
and much quicker too.

i'd rather have underwriters laboratories...(UL) approve and test safety issues that the gov safety administration...
i'd rather have the good housekeeping seal of approval than uncle sams...

i'd rather have martha stewart testing my water than martha washington...

i'd rather have private watch-dog agencies/companies....
watchin' my dogs,
than a bunch of elected dogs...

and so on.

cheers
2air'

ROBERTSUNRUS · 08-28-2006, 11:17 PM

Hi, 2air. I was doing good until you mentioned Martha Stewart and water; I don't like either, [Martha and drinking water] but that's a long unrelated story.

How about this message from Ford and Only in California; Seems that the new Ford Fusion [I can't spell tonight] PATS system gets interferrence from shopping cart security systems in the parking lots of the famous $.99 and $1.00 stores.

Bob

2airishuman · 08-29-2006, 12:22 AM

hi bob

i don't care much for martha either,
but now that she's done time...
we have something in common

i'm not too shocked about the security system interference...
but dollar stores? come on now at least make is sears!
at the dollar stores it might be all of the ankle tracking colars...

cheers
2air'