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Feds Wind Up Ford Engine Fire Probe with Massive Recall

Ford Stalled for Years While Trucks Burned

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 3, 2006

Flaming Fords • 1.6 Million Ford Windstars Investigated for Fire Hazard • NHTSA Issues Second Fire Warning for Ford Cars, Trucks, and SUVs • Report: Millions of Fire-Prone Fords Still on the Roads • Ford: Parts Now Available to Fix Faulty Cruise Control • Ford Trucks Burn in Virginia, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina • Feds Probe Ford Windstar for Fire Hazard • Ford Truck Suspected in North Texas House Fire • Ford Cruise Control Fire Strikes Florida Car Dealership • Ford Hopes to Wind Down Recall of Fire-Prone Vehicles • Ford Expedition Suspected in Fatal Ohio Home Fire • Ford Fires Continue Despite Long-Delayed Federal Warning • Feds Warn Some Ford Trucks and Cars Can Erupt in Flames • Ford Fire Lawsuits Spread • Ford Recalls 57,000 More Trucks, SUVS for Fire Hazard • Ford Fires Strike in Minnesota, California • Ford Plans Another Recall to Fix Fire Hazard • Ford Fire Hazard Recall Creeps Along • Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute Continue Ford Fire Tradition • Ford Fires Kill Pets and Spread Despair as Year Ends • Ford Lacks Parts for Fire Recall Repair • New F150 Erupts in Flames as Ford Truck Fires Rage On • Red Hot Texas Car-B-Que • Kerry Vows Action to Get Flaming Fords Off the Road • Flaming Ford Scandal Disgraces Ford, Feds • Ford Tries Again to Fix Fire Problem with Massive Recall • One Ford the Recall Missed • Ford Stops Sales of Big Super Duty, Recalls 2008 Trucks • Ford Recalls 155,000 More Trucks to Fix Fire Hazard • Feds Probe Fires in Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute • Feds Wind Up Ford Engine Fire Probe with Massive Recall • Ford Truck Fires Mount as Recall Rolls Slowly • Ford Trucks Burn As Recall Fiddles • Ford Truck Fire Fix Delayed by Parts Shortage • Ford Recalls 4 Million Trucks to Fix Fire Risk • Nader Demands NHTSA Warn Ford Truck Owners • Wrongful Death Suit Charges House Fire Started in F-150 • Feds Look Deeper for Ford Fire Causes • Recall Leaves Many Questions Unanswered • Houston Lawyers Sue Ford • Ford Recalls Some Fire-Prone Models • Feds Probe Ford F-150 Engine Fires • Ford Recall Was Biggest Ever --- • Bronco • Crown Victoria • Dump truck • Expedition • Explorer • F-150 • Other F-Series Trucks • Focus • Mustang • Ranger Pickup • Taurus • Windstar

Federal investigators have concluded that the cruise control switch found in 6.7 million Ford vehicles might cause a potentially devastating fire that could spread throughout the engine compartment and set the vehicle ablaze.

If left undetected the fire "can spread, normally to the plastic master cylinder reservoir eventually engulfing the engine compartment in flames," according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA reports that its investigators have now concluded that the switch overheated in vehicles where the switch was placed in an upright position or at an angle and where there was excessive vacuum pressure in the brake system.

A NHTSA spokesman described the probe and "one of the most exhaustive investigations that we've ever done" and said the agency does not expect any additional recalls.

Meanwhile, Ford Motor Corp. is recalling an additional 1.2 million vehicles because of the faulty cruise control switch known as a speed control deactivation switch or SCDS.

The most recent Ford recall increases the number of Ford vehicles involved with cruise control switches that might catch fire to 6.7 million.

"The brake systems in these recalled vehicles generate a vacuum that can potentially cause the SCDS (speed control deactivation switch) to fail and in certain installation orientations, catch fire," according to a memorandum prepared by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Office of Defect Investigations.

The newest recall includes the 1994-2002 F-250, F-350, F-450 and F-550 F-Super Duty trucks, 2000-2002 Excursion SUVs, 1994-1996 Econoline vans and 1996-2002 E-450 vans, and 1998 Explorers and Mountaineers.

In the 28-page memorandum detailing the cruise control switch investigation, NHTSA said its regulators are closing their probe because "with the three recalls Ford has announced, all of the models that built with the Texas Instrument SCDS and that exhibit the factors that can cause the switch to fail resulting in a fire while the ignition is in the off position will be candidates for a free remedy.

In September Ford recalled 3.8 million pickups and SUVs from the 1994-2002 model years, including the top-selling F-150 pickup, because of the concerns over engine fires. The recall was the fifth-largest auto industry recall in U.S. history.

In January 2005, Ford recalled nearly 800,000 pickups and SUVs from the 2000 model year because of similar issues.

Roughly 20 million of the switches are used in vehicles but investigators did not detect similar problems in non-Ford vehicles.

Ford has identified about 250 incidents of fire or smoke tied to the cruise control switch. The company said there have been no allegations of serious injuries or fatalities. ConsumerAffairs.com has received more than 270 reports of fires in Ford vehicles -- at least 30 of them involving Ford trucks catching fire for no apparent reason in 2006 alone.

NHTSA refers to the fires as "key off fires in parked subject vehicles." During the two-year investigation into the cause of the fires NHTSA received 1,472 complaints connected including 65 reports of fires.

NHTSA also reports there are no confirmed deaths or injuries but people have sued Ford because of deaths attributed to "key off fires" in at least three states, Iowa, Georgia and Arkansas.

The truck fires destroyed lives, houses and trucks while Ford appeared to resist a recall to repair the faulty switches until confronted with overwhelming evidence by federal regulators. Even with the recall, most consumers whose trucks caught fire will never receive compensation matching their losses.

Linda of Newman, Georgia, lost her 2003 F-150 to fire January 31. "It is destroyed. I am waiting for my insurance claim adjuster to contact me," she wrote.

"My truck was only two and a half years old and I still owe $14,500 for it," she told ConsumerAffairs.com. "It is a melted mess sitting in my driveway."

Steve's Ford truck sat in his Hilton Head, South Carolina, driveway on a cold January morning. "At 3 a.m. in 33-degree weather our 1998 Ford Explorer exploded in flames causing my 1994 Buick Century to go up in flames as well," he wrote ConsumerAffairs.com.

"The fire investigator ruled the fire a result of 'unknown causes' although he states that the fire started in the engine of the Explorer and no arson or foul play was involved," Steve wrote.

Mary of Liberty Hill, Texas, is lucky. Her 1997 Ford F-150 caught fire but the blaze was put out before the fire could consume her house.

"On Saturday, January 14, 2006, the 1997 Ford F-150 parked in the driveway caught fire. No one in the house was aware of the fire, and a passing bicyclist came running in the house shouting that a truck was on fire in the driveway," Mary wrote.

Luckily the fire was extinguished with a garden hose but the flames damaged a three-week old car also in the driveway. "The fire also melted the vinyl siding on the house, which is only 4 years old," Mary told ConsumerAffairs.com.

Announcing the most recent recall of 1.2 million vehicles, Ford said about 40 percent of the vehicles under the previous recalls have been fixed.

Owners of the newly recalled vehicles will receive notices in the mail in a week and dealers will install a fused wiring harness. Customers can contact Ford at 1-888-222-2751.

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