Hi:

I have a Ford E350 Van that's affected by this recall:

....recall on 1994-2002 Ford F-150, Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator and Ford Bronco vehicles to correct a systems interaction that could cause the speed control deactivation switch to overheat and lead to an underhood fire

Apparently, to correct it, they install a fuse in the cruise control system. Does anyone have a wiring diagram of where this fuse goes? The dealer wants the truck for a day to do this. I'm self-employed and use the truck every day for my work, I really hate to lose the truck for a day if I could install the fuse myself. Thanks!

 

It takes about three minutes for them to put it on and most will let you watch while they do it.
Go to a different Ford dealer.
They put it on both my F150 and F53 Class "A" RV MH.

It goes inline with the pressure switch on the brake system.

 

i got the notice about that, i went there they said they disconnected my cruise control and to come back when they get the part. when i left the dealer i turned on cruise control and it works. so they really didnt do anything, so they keep calling me to come back so they can reconnect it. i dont know what they going to connect if they didnt disconnect anything the first time

 

Do yourself a great favor:

Replace the entire switch, the new pigtail should come with a built in fuse.

Take my word for it.... you will not regret it.

 

They did mine in a few minutes, it's just a pigtail that plugs in between the factory linkage, they go out, unplug it, plug this between, tie it all up and off you go. The whole thing is unnecessary and stupid in my opinion, your brake pedal has the speedometer interrupt switch, why put one on the master cylinder, and what idiot wires this stuff hot at all times, when the engine isn't runnin, it's not needed!

 

maples,

It is wired hot at all times --- most probably because the Ford engineers reasoned that the function is still needed if someone turned off the ignition key (to stop the car).

It still needed power to signal to the cruise unit that brakes are "on" because it is a "on" means "brake on" circuit.

They could have engineered it so that power off means brake on --- but that would mean that if the power to the circuit failed, cruise control / computer would think the brakes are on when they are not.

In any case, a very small number had seals that fail --- and when the seals failed in your model, they can cause a fire.

The later model of the deact switch had a much more flawed seal... and many more fires before Ford figured it out and redesigned the entire seal / switch.

 

Almost all the Fords are done this way, yet they picked a few to repair, it's not a seal failure, it's a short causing it to overheat and burn out.

 

I installed a second smaller fuse in line with the one of the recall they put in my truck and changed the power source to be off with the key off.
I am going to do the same thing to my RV as it only has the recall done right now.





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Every Ford made in the last 10+ years with this issue has been recalled.

The fault especially affects those with the switch mounted pointed down.

It is a seal -- here is the lowdown:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/au...es/27FORD.html


The key:

The rubber seal was designed to stop pressure from the brake cylinder side.

However, there is actually a vacuum pressure applied to the seal.

Over time, the seal would leak, and break down until the brake fluid short out the switch, causing a fire.

 

My 1972 CJ-5 Jeep brake lights were wired this way, a pressure switch in the fluid operated the brake lights, none ever burned up, pretty odd Ford's are.
BTW they did not recall all at first, just the trucks, yet almost all vehicles have this, the really oddity was only the trucks were burning up.

 

Believe it or not, different cars generated different amounts of vacuum in the switch,

The vacuum had to pull brake fluid, causing it to corrode, then short, then the fire starts.

Many of the trucks had a switch that pointed down rather than sideways or up, making the problem worse.

 

i have a 2003 ford ranger 3.0 manual transmission. of course there is no cruise control so i am not affected by SCDS recall. correct??

 

You are affected, if you got the recall letter.

I got the letter last year for my '92 E350, cause it never got in for the replacement, and still has not got in for the recall.

Does it need to be done? That's your choice. The dealer would like you to come in and get the repair, as the dealer makes out really well with the 3 minute recall problem.