Engine Compartment Fire
 

My neighbor's 2000 5.4L F150 caught fire under the hood last night while parked in his driveway nosed up to the garage door. I wasn't home at the time so didn't see it 'til this morning; at first I thought the hood had blown off but then realized it had MELTED! He was inside at the time, heard a soft "WHUMP", went outside to find his truck on fire and called 9-1-1. The small windows in the garage door are gone (blown out?), and the garage door and gable all the way to the peak are scorched. His 'Toon parked next to the truck ain't lookin' real good either.

Anyhoo..........Awhile back, seems like there was a problem with Cruise Control switches on master cylinders causing fires; anyone have any info on this and if true, what FoMoCo did about it?

The fire dept. is supposed to tow his truck to where-ever an investigation can be done, but who knows how long that will take or if a valid cause will ever be found. Thank goodness his truck wasn't IN the garage!!!

Steve

I wrote a tutorial of the problem in this thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...d-control.html

Not that it helped the brainless one who started that thread. In all the years I've been on FTE here, I have never come across a worse one...

The issue could be the cruise control issue, and Ford has done all in their power to let people know there is a recall and to bring it in to have the problem fixed.

They even tracked down my dad, who was the third owner of a '92 E-350 and took care of the issue.

Yes, Ford screwed up, but how did this guy go so long without hearing about the issue, or getting it fixed?

He said he bought it used, so I have no idea if the switch was replaced prior to that or he ignored a mail notification. If our fire dept. ever issues a finding I'll post it.

Steve

Yeah, if the switch was at fault, there may be some form of compensation.

Ford will not cover any of it. The cruise control switch recall came out in 2005 and Ford sends notification letters once a quarter to affected vehicle owners. So that means at least 10 letters have been sent. It is also illegal for a car dealer to sell a car with open safety recalls. If the recalled switch is at fault for the fire then IMO the only recourse is through the used car dealer unless the owner got a letter in the mail about the recall. Then it's on him.

Have an uncle just have a random fire on his pristine 2002 F250 CC longbed 4X4 7.3 with 62,000 miles. Truck had recently (past 6 months) had new Interstate batteries installed. Truck is completely stock and pulls a 5th wheel camper. He and my aunt were sitting in their living room a couple of weeks ago and heard a boom. Looked outside thinking it was a neighbor shooting a gun. Noticed a glow. Looked out the side of the house and seen flames coming out from under the hood. He called 911, moved my aunts KIA, and grabbed the water hose. Got the fire put out but it reignited right when the fire dept. arrived. They had to cut the hood latch off as the cable had melted and put the fire out. What they found was the pass side battery only had the plates showing and everything under the hood to the bumper was melted. Fire dept. and insurance adjuster said the culprit was a shorted battery that had exploded and ignited- majority of damage was near that battery. Truck hadn't ran for over a week, and was not plugged in. It was sitting under a carport. They drug the truck out into his field in case it reignited. He told me he about cried. Insurance company gave him $17K for it and he bought a 58K 2005 F250 with a 6.0. That 7.3 pulled his camper all over the country. What a shame but he is lucky it wasn't sitting in a garage!

Torky2 i read your tutorial and it is a very good write up but im wondering why we don't see these fires more often assuming not everyone follows through with the recall? from what i understand it doesn't matter whether you use cruise or not?

im a little worried now my dad has a 98 f150 and im not sure whether he got it done or not

Ford was very thorough on tracking down owners, I was still getting letters for my '92 GMQ up to a year or so ago and I bought it used private party in about '03. Car was scrapped and I quit getting letters.

It is very easy to tell, the harness has a red sticker on it IIRC.

I sincerely doubt that his harness has ANY sticker now!!!

Steve

there is a red sticker if the recall has been done??

FORD has also been meticulous about documenting which vehicles have & have not been brought into dealers for Recall repairs.

Rather than being "worried" or looking for a Recall sticker that may be lost, call FORD dealer & have them run VIN to check for which Recall repairs have been done & if there are any outstanding Recall repairs that should be done.

Don't know if you had the recall done? Disconnect the cruise control switch! It can't catch fire if it's not connected.

My mother used to have a '95 Windstar, when they first started recalling expeditions and f150s for the cruise switch, I went and disconnected the one on her van. A few years later she got a recall notice when they expanded it to the Windstars. It was fixed at the dealer but I didn't want to take any chances.

FORD Recall repairs to prevent 'Engine Compartment Fires' add short protection to hydraulic brake system 'wet' switch. This switch deactivates Cruise Control whenever pushing the brake pedal pressurizes system. Some have leaked internally, shorting out the circuit, setting fluid on fire.

The circuit involved is always hot, whether Cruise Control is On, or not. Whether key is in Run position, or in your pocket.

I'm not sure where you'd just "Disconnect the cruise control switch"? Or if disconnecting "the cruise control switch" at steering column would result in the 'wet' switch in the Recall being "not connected"?

It shorts out when the switch leaks brake fluid on the circuit. If it's not connected, it has no brake fluid to short it out, weather it has power or not. That's why my mom's van never caught fire, the brake fluid was just leaking through the switch onto the ground while I had the pigtail ziptied off to the side where it won't touch anything.

It's not rocket science. If it's badly leaking and you disconnect it, then clean it off or disconnect it at the source.

The point of my disconnecting my mom's cruise switch is that if it ever starts leaking, which it did, the pigtail won't be connected to start a fire.