WOW...that really sucks.

 

Jcerra sorry for your loss, hope the insurance company is kind to you. Um... great pics?

And thanks for the trip down memory lane.

 

That would rip my guts out, as well as my wife's. I'm sorry for your loss, and I hope the insurance company steps up.

 

When I noticed that the truck was on fire, the lower front end was in flames. you can see the white extension cord on the ground in front of the truck with no connector. Also, the circuit breaker popped. Apparently it didn't pop soon enough. The block heater-original- was changed out about 3 years ago and replaced with a Ford part.

 

What really sucks is that the truck was my dad's who past away in 2003 and I wanted to keep the truck forever. just had a lot of work done on it too. was running great. so sad

 

thanks. I just love that truck, it was my dad's who past away in 2003.

 

Man that really is too bad. I'm so sorry to hear this especially as it was a special truck.

 

Something I have noticed with my block heater cord is that the male prongs tend to get a little grungy due to being exposed like they are to the elements. When I unplug my cord in the morning and notice a little warmth, I take a piece of sand paper and clean the prongs. Next morning, my cord plug is cool.

 

I replaced the cord on my block heater, and the OEM Ford 'clip' used to retain the cord was a steel clip that was digging into the red rubber connector at the heater. The replacement cord had a plasti-chrome bezel that screwed down onto the block heater. A far better design with no chance of shorting. I bought the cord at the IH dealer for about $30.

IMO, the OEM design is a short waiting to happen, as the rubber was rotted and the steel clip was uncomfortably close to the wires/connectors in the heater cord.

 

Looking for an opinion guys...as part of a volunteer emergency response team, coming back from a call late at night, I mistakenly plugged in a block heater on a 2003 F-350 diesel. We have lots of trucks that need to be plugged in to charge batteries, and I was tired just wasn't thinking. It was a hot August night, in the low 90's. The truck had only been driven a few miles before I plugged it in. The plug was difficult to insert, so I think it has corroded (second mistake). No one person owns this truck, so it's not cared for like yours would be. It had been driven away with it still plugged in several times over the years. No one knew of any damage that caused. So an hour later, the truck was destroyed by fire. After I got past the emotions of my mistake, logically I couldn't see how a 1,000 watt heater in the water jacket of an engine could cause a fire, no matter how hot the evening or engine was. The GFI circuit breaker didn't trip on the 75' AC cord. Oddly, the cord has a melted area some 30' from the truck, which shows it was delivering very high current for some time. Any suggestions as to what likely happened?

 

Fire forensics might tell you something about where the fire started. Does your department have someone with those skills? I know, this happened a long time ago, but......

We can go from there.

Pop

 

Do you know if the truck had the recall done for the brake switch on the master cylinder? Those have cause fires from shorting out. My friends work truck burned exactly the same way.

The common point for issues with the block heater is usually a corroded plug (which creates heat) or broken wires right behind the plug (especially if its driven away without unplugging). The flat cord causes the wire to break easier then round cord.

Either way, it could have happened to anyone, but you got the short stick on this go around. Sorry.

 

Did the 2003s have a wiring change that caused the cruise disconnect switch to be "live" with the key off?

My 2000 (Gen-1 wiring configuration) has no power across that switch when parked, though I believe the early gassers are different in this respect.

Pop

 

I have a 2000 with a diesel, just like yours. I received several recall notices directly from Ford about this brake switch. Ford stated that there was constant hot 12V power available to the Texas Instruments membrane switch in the bottom of the master cylinder, whether the key was on or off, and whether the truck had cruise control or not.

It seems doubtful that your truck is wired any differently than mine, so I'm curious to know what switch you are talking about, and how you tested or arrived at the conclusion that yours is different than all the other same year and engined trucks that were recalled?

 

I, too, have received a coup;e of notices from Ford.

When the switch first became an issue, they stated that it didn't apply to early SuperDuty diesels, only the gassers.

I looked at my wiring diagrams back then, just to be sure, and it seems that the power comes from the switched arm of the Powertrain Control Module power relay, as shown in the attached PDF below. Look for Brake Pressure Switch at the bottom of the sheet.

I have never actually verified that MY switch has power applied only when the PCM is active, so I'm not absolutely sure. I suspect they don't want a fire to start while one is driving down the road, either, so maybe that's why they changed their stance on this.

Do you know whether yours actually has power when sitting parked overnight?

If it does not, it's unlikely yours will spontaneously catch fire in the middle of the night, at least for THAT reason.

If anything, I'll buy the kit on Amazon and do it myself. Mine does not return to a dealership, ever!

But I'm not in a big rush..........

Pop