They just added my 2003 to the cruise control fire recall this past Wednesday, I found out tonight and have disconnected the battery until I can talk to my service department tomorrow morning.

The point I think we're missing is that all the manufacturers have problems, but what pisses me off as a Ford FAN, is the fact that so many issues on so many vehicles seems to get swept under the rug, like we won't do anything about it. I think its time we do, or quit b*tching and buy something else. I just don't think Ford has been fair in how they have dealt with the consumer.

Check these sites out. The first one has horror story after horror story. The second one has some good contact info if you do have problems.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/f150_fires.htm

http://www.vehicle-injuries.com/ford-fire-recall.htm

 

All you have to do is unplug the the 2 wire plug on the end of the master cylinder. This will disable the cruise control. It is that pressure switch that can short out if the diaphram leaks brake fluid to the terminals. That's what the dealer did to mine back when until the harnesses were available.

 

My service writer just told me the same thing, and he said he has a drawer full of the fuse links and he would do it in the service drive while I waited on Monday. Scary stuff, thanks for the advice.

 

Scary thing is , my '02 ranger has the same switch and harness as the '98 explorer that is under recall, makes you wonder if ford can only spend a little at a time on the recall.
The same switch on the town cars used to pump fluid through the wires into the fuse panel under the dasdh and then cause problems, but I never heard of them catching on fire, just causing a few short circuits that blew fuses and the ladies would get right huffy about the fluid dripping on their shoes.
Personally I believe the fires from cruise switches leaking are not an electrical fire, but Flamable fluid leaking on the exhaust manifold. Only time will tell , since the fuse will not prevent the drip. I hope I am wrong and the recal fixes it, but it's funny that no fires on the ones that pumped fluid into the fuse panel. I actually had a town car once that the lady was raising hell about radio inop. and every fuse in the box had only the metal part left. The brake fluid actually dissolved the plastic part of the fuses. When told what had happened she then demanded dealer or ford reimburse for several sets of shoes that the left foot only discolored. Why not notice puddle in floor and have checked out. If something drips on my leg I am looking at the dog, cat or whatever with kick butt attitude but she waited until the all important radio was inop. This is why I work on them and not be a service advisor, some people need a sign to wear. It will go well with the noises only they can hear.

 

My wife's 2000 Explorer is not on the recall list, but on the watch list. What a bunch of cr*p.......

 

lol at being on the "watch list"...

IE "Watch it, cuz it might catch on fire"



I have pretty much "let it go" in regards to the original issue in this post....but yea, I'm looking elsewhere next year when it's time for a new truck.

 

I would not let it go. The customer deserves better from ford. It is a mutual concern for all customers. It seems strange to me that they will assist one customer and not the next, especially if the one being ignored has a history of having the vehicle maintained at the dealer network.
When you buy an import, the salespeople stress that to maintain the warranty and extend the life of the p[roduct that you only have it serviced at the dealer. The buyer follows this religiously, however the typical domestic vehicle owner has the belief that any joe six-pack can repair their ford, chevy, chrysler product. Todays vehicles are more sophisticated and some ares cannot be repaired by the corner fix it all shop. When they attempt to, it often makes it harder for us to properly diagnose it. We get them all the time that came from autozone, independant shops and codes were cleared, keep alive memory reset and still acting up, so bring to us. All clues to the real concern have now been lost, so where do you start? Even worse is the tinkerer who tries to unplug different items and see if this helps, now we have a bunch of codes to chase and many of them are false codes set because the big dummy unplugged a sensor to see what effect it would have. Worse still are the ones that call get routed to us and I have such and such code, what do I replace? The first thing to replace is the person working on it. They are obviouslt unqualified to interpret the codes they are reading.
mnovak, please pursue this matter as an item that needs to be addressed. Unless someone can convince you that you were at fault and not the product, you have every right to have this issue addressed by Ford.

 

DrFord:

Question for you, what percentage of the folks in your industry would you guess have the same responcible attitude and how far up the ladder do you think that positive attitude goes.

As a true ford fan, and I've been buying new ones since my 80 something 5.0 Tbird and have had less then great success from the dealerships from coast to coast. It seems to the layman that the dealer repair shops don't really care, and just want to get us out the door until the warentee clock runs out. I know thats not totally fair, but it sure feels that way.

I sure wish you were in charge of my dealership in AZ!

AZ Billy

 

I am in charge of no one except myself and pride in workmanship seems to be dying off in all markets. The younger techs coming in can see that if you gouge the customer and overcharge for unneeded repairs you get a fatter paycheck, so eventually they turn to this in order to make a living.
As far as only wanting warranty work , we would be crazy. Ford has cut labor time allowances to the level of being unreal. We just had a ssm that ford will no longer pay for fuses or labor if cigar lighter or powerpoint fuse is blown due to what is plugged into it. I fully understand that they feel this is not a warranty issue due to the nature of it, but what is the proper implementation of this rule in the real world. Am I to go to the parking lot to get vehicle, pullit in, replace fuse , find no problem with vehicle wiring , and tell the owner they will have to pay. Surely the customer will be pissed off at that, surely I do not need to work for free and buy a fuse for the customer, surely the dealer will not pay for it since that might mean his wife can't have the gardener work an extra hour or 2 on her latest home improvement.
At one time,pre '97, ford paid well on warranty repairs,tsbs,recalls, but then they let the bean counters get into the picture. If we shave 0.2 hrs off of this labor op and multiply by the average # of this repair in one month, we can keep $xxx,xxx,.00 and add to bottom line for our stockholders and get bigger bonuses for executivesThe dealer can make it up by competing with express lube and the only winner there was the dealer and the tech who works quick service. He now takes home a fat check instead of minimum wage he qualifies for and the trained and certified techs are left with only the low-paying warranty work. fords response to that is that technician pay is a dealer issue.
If we go to the trouble to file a drr<dealer requests review > of a labor op the response is that it will be looked into <not happening> or has been checked and is accurate.

 

I'm thinking harness availability may have something to do with what is recalled. Also, F-150's are the only ones that have caught fire I think.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles man...you seem like a really respectable technician.

As for me following it up, I don't really know where to go from here. I have no desire to go in and meet face to face with any sales rep.

 

Not true. Their lists have lists...

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/f150_fires.htm

http://www.vehicle-injuries.com/ford-fire-recall.htm

 

My point is that you are the exception, not the norm. Sounds like the system is flawed, and FORD's sales prove it. I'm a prime buyer, have bought nothing but FORDS's and am thinking of looking at Toyota's trucks. They lost 100 years worth of momentum to save money, hope it's working for them.

Keep up the good work man...

 

The problem for ford is its not working. The inmates are running the asylum at hq.
Maybe the reason that imports took over is that they were still run by car people, not accoutants and such. The founder of honda had a philosiphy that if you bought one of his products , you would always be able to buy replacement parts at a reasonable cost. I had a lincoln customer that restored one of the early '60s honda sports cars<yes they made them> and honda had a machinists carve a new balncer assembly from the original blueprints in archive. The part arrived from the machine shop wrapped in the blueprint paper. All for a mere 280.00 including shipping. That may seem high but you would need to research the early hondas to understand that few were built, a handful shipped to U.S. and this is a very rare piece. Google honda rare cars or something along those lines and you will find some very strange, but workable vehicles.
Henry Ford himself was a true car person. All he cared for was farming and machinery. If you google ford gaa engines there are 2 engines that will come up. One is a european design from the late sixties, basically the same as the capri engine. The other is an engine Henry designed in the '30's. It is an all aluminum v-8 dual overhead cam engine that was used during the war in tanks. The details of this engine prove that no engineer at fmc today can hold a candle to the old man. If Ford had used this technology with modern electronics it would be unbelievable, but instead we have people that design things that look good on paper, if it does not work, the techs will fix it with recalls and tsb's. There are quite a few techs that still take pride in their work and if there is ever someone with the pockets and vision to assemble a full crew of them, you would have an awesome dealership. Unfortunately, it is like many other facets of life, we have not approached the tipping point yet. If you are not a megadealer in sales , ford will shut you down. The driving force is sales of the product, not service after the sale. Witness to this is the forced closings of some 700 dealers in the last year.
I don't mean to insult anyone but most car salesmen could not get a job with McDonalds. They ask you which sandwich would you like(model), with mayo(white interior)or tomato(red interior)? Then they introduce you to the f&i man who sees if you can make it a combo<ford credit financing and extended warranty> . They do not bother to show you how the features of the new vehicle work, most likely they do not know themselves. However they have convinced the payroll people that by calling you mister and helping you pick out your sandwich they should be paid $50,000.00 _ 150,000.00 per year. It goes to the root of the concern. The dealer himself got sold on how great this guy was instead of what he could actually produce.
To be considered for a ford franchise these days requires minority status and mucho $$$. If you have a good resume as a sales person, are a minority staus person , and have backers with deep pockets you can get one, if it is located far enough from another existing dealership< we would not want you to compete by having lower prices, better service, in the same area>. Perhaps if they changed the criteria to someone who breathes and loves cars/machinery has enough sense to treat people<employes and customers> right it would turn the tide. As stated earlier we are not at the tipping point yet. common sense is not common anymore.
The statement about common sense leaves one last diatride for me this evening, the reason henry said you can have any color you want as long as you want black was not stubborness. Black is the fastest drying color, so the line can move faster.This is not a concern these days due to additives and such in the paint , however when he spoke it lacquer was the only durable paint available and common sense was the only alternative.

 

Dr Ford;

Funny, my comute-mobile is a Civic! Any part hand made by a lathe would be big bucks, imagine if Boyde or Foose charged you for a single piece!

Did 2 or 3 threads in my 5.4 head look good on paper? Did any one sit around a board table and say "yea JP, that'll hold, I stake my job on it." What would it have cost to but another turn and a half in the threads?

You're right, I new more about my F150 than my "sales person". I even knew what to pay for it and which dealer had the exact one I wanted.

At my job, if we don't serve customer service, we'll die. I think FORD is on the tipping point. Don't we hear they're thinking of joining forces with on of the other big three? Oh I'm sorry, Toyota was one of the big three last year.

My ole man worked for JWT, THE Ford advertising agency in the 60's. It was one of thier only clients in the early days. I remember the "any color as long as it was black" story. I heard that it was also due to the fact that he knew if he kept the menu (like Micky-d's) to a minimum, he could keep his costs down and therefor allow the masses to afford his mass produced brain child.

If the FORD execs would read our emails and get a grass roots feeling as to what we're thinking, they COULD turn the company around. But until they listen to employees like you, and customers like me, I'm afraid they are heading towards an early grave.

I'm proud to know you. I may buy a new Toyota diesel in 2009, but I'll always keep my old FORDs.

Good luck to you, you're one of the few.....

AZ Billy