Ford recall (F150, auto, speed control, SUV)

[ArkansasTraveler]

Letter from Frank M. Ligon Ford Motor Company..

Ford Motor Company has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exist in certain 1994-2002 F-250/350/450/550, 1994 -1996 E-150/250/350, 1996-2002 E-450*, 2000-2002 Excursion, and 1998 Explorer and Mountaineer vehicles equipped with Speed Control.
Call your dealer without delay and request a service date for RECALL 05S28.

List UNDERHOOD FIRE from a defect in the wiring of the "speed control deactivation switch".

[Steel Man]

FORD = Fix Or Repair Daily

Then later on:

FORD = Found On Road Dead

Just thought I would add a little humor.

Signed,
A FORD guy (hey...I have even owned 3 Pintos in my lifetime!) LOL

[ArkansasTraveler]

Originally Posted by Steel Man

FORD = Fix Or Repair Daily-Then later on:
FORD = Found On Road Dead -Just thought I would add a little humor.
Signed,
A FORD guy (hey...I have even owned 3 Pintos in my lifetime!) LOL

Then over on http://www.wheelchairjunkie.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=016717 (broken link)
we have this post
Being a Ford enthusiest, ALL their vehicles have this switch.
What kind of idiot puts a live electrical switch in a flamable liquid, and wire it hot at all times. Sealed or not, common sense tells you that seals wear out, and not to do it.

For those who aren't in full understanding, there is a secondary kill switch for the cruise control circut that *****s into the bottom of the master cylinder, it's a back up for the one inside on the pedal. Instead of being switched on by the ignition switch, some idiot designer has this one hot at all times, meaning it can cause a fire at any instance, some have caused house fires from being in the garage.
The first "fix" was on the trucks only, they simply replaced the switch with a newer one, fires still occured because it's a live circuit in flamable liguid, duh. This next is a fusible link added in the wiring, supposed to short out in case of problems.
I have a friend who distrust his so much, he unplugged it from the switch on the master cylinder and put in a jumper wire, cancelling it out, cruise works fine since the switch at the pedal will still kill the cruise. Not suggesting anyone to do this, but it works, and no fear of fire.

This has been going on for 8 years, they just refused to accept it and are just now adding more vehicles to the list!

[pelletmon]

Hi,I live in Foley Al. 2 weeks ago,my wife's 2002 ford expedition caught fire and burned up in my front yard There was no other damage to property and no one got hurt, but my wife and 11 year old daughter are pretty shaken up about it.The car is a total loss.My insurance co. hauled the ford fritter to a place in Mobile.The insurance investigater asked me if I complied with the cruise control recall.I told him I took the car to the dealership as soon as I got the recall letter.They got under the hood,disconnected something and told me that the replacement part was on backorder and to bring the car back in about a month. In the meantime the cruise control wouldn't work but the car was safe.That was about 2 years ago. I forgot to bring the car back. Around town we never use cruise so we didn't think about it much. 3 days ago the insurance co. closed the investigation saying the cause of the fire was inconclusive but they suspect it had something to do with the ABS system. I'm still waiting to see how much they are willing to pay and if my monthly payments are going to be affected in a bad way. Everyone I talk to says "don't take a check from them,get a lawyer and go after ford". I'm not an opportunist and i've never sued anyone.I would however like to put some pressure on ford motor co. to fix this problem so it does not happen to anyone els.Does anyone know someone with a similar story. I'd like to know what thay did and how it turned out. thanks.

[doll lady]

Good golly pelletmon I sure am glad your wife and the kiddies were safe.

From my many years in the insurance industry, I hate to say it but the claims adjuster's job is to reduce the liability of the insurance company. Thank goodness I no longer work in that field but when I did I was an executive and was a part of the everyday policy making. I sometimes feel ashamed I was involved in that but I had to feed the family. I still have active licenses in every type of insurance and must still attend classes to keep those licenses up.

What the insurance agent doesn't tell you when you sign up for insurance is ... if something happens to this vehicle, you get what we (the insurance company) consider is the worth of the vehicle minus your deductible....they have a whole library of book values which include Yellow Book Values, Blue Book Values, Nada, etc.....and you get the lowest value they can find in their vast library. And of course you get points assigned against you so when renewal comes up, you will most likely get a big rate increase....and if you try to change insurance carriers this will be on your record and no other company will want to take you at decent rates.

If you still owe a lot on the vehicle, you are in big trouble because a lot of the times what the person gets from the insurance company is nowhere near what the person owes on the vehicle. In the last few years insurance companies started selling an add on coverage which pays the difference of what the value of the car is and what the loan is on the vehicle so this deficit is wiped out. Just another way to get you to pay more money. Being the insurance oriented person I am, I always buy that coverage when I buy an expensive auto because I know how insurance companies operate.

Unfortunately, Ford will maintain their position. And your case doesn't look too good since you forgot to take the vehicle back in upon recall. And, most insurance companies will take the position that if anyone is going to sue Ford it will be them so they can recover what they had to give you...so in effect,when you signed up with them you gave them the right to sue for recovery or to do subrogation.

I have followed this Ford recall for a while because I knew it was affecting the insurance industry. This has happened to many many people. And Ford has denied all of the claims....from what I have read, Ford's popular answer now when a fire occurs is that the damage is too extensive to determine what the cause was so turn it into your insurance company. What a hoot!

Sure people can turn the case over to lawyers but will the average person on the street win against the giant Ford corporation....NO they won't but the person will have to pay huge attorney bills and would that be worth it. At some time there will be a class action and you can join, but I can almost bet if there is a win, you might get a buck or two....the lawyers will become super millionaires though.

I am so sorry this happened to you. Maybe I am wrong in my asssessment ... I hope I am.

[doll lady]

I forgot I was going to include this site of comments from people who have experienced various fire problems with Ford engines.

Consumer complaints about Ford engine fires

[Alanboy395]

thank god my mom traded in her 98 explorer for a buick suv. personally i don't have much confidence in american cars (especially ford) why i bought an infiniti/nissan.