Just watched CNN yesterday afternoon and they had a story about a lady who died in a house fire in Iowa. They belived it started with her 1996 F150. This is the first I have heard about the deactivation switch causing fires. I have a 92 with cruise, with low miles on it. It really got me thinking, because my truck sits alot and I wouldnt like to come home sometime and see it burned up. How far back did FORD put those switches in and are they new ones the updated part.


Brian Michael
92 F150 S/C 4x4

 

CNN 2005 Report on FORD fires



Ford has already recalled more than 1 million vehicles in two separate recalls to replace the switch.

The first recall was in May 1999, affecting 279,000 Crown Victorias, Grand Marquises and Town Cars for model years 1992 and 1993.

The second, issued in January 2005, affected 792,000 vehicles, including model year 2001 F-Series SuperCrews and 2000 Expeditions, Navigators and F-150 pickups.

But a Ford document obtained by CNN shows the same or similar switch was installed in a total of 16 million vehicles, far beyond what was recalled. Those vehicles include:

· Mark VII/VIII from 1994-1998
· Taurus/Sable and Taurus SHO 2.3 L 1993-1995
· Econoline 1992-2003
· F-Series 1993-2003 <-------------------
· Windstar 1994-2003
· Explorer without IVD 1995-2003
· Explorer Sport/Sport Trac 2002-2003
· Expedition 1997-2003
· Ranger 1995-2003

In March, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an expanded investigation into more than 3.7 million of the vehicles.

 

The new switch cost me U$18 at the dealer and took 10 minutes to install. Worth the peace of mind.

Fritz

 

It should have been free since you have a 2000 and is part of the january recall I would try and get your money back.

 

Yes it was. But I did not feel like driving 45 minutes through city traffic to get to the dealer from work, wait three hours and then drive back. Then spend another hour fixing what the moron techs at the dealer screwed up. I'd rather drive to the zoo and park the truck with a toolbox in the monkey cage. Better techs in the cage.
I will however try and get the money back by sending in my receipt with the recall notice.

Fritz

 

all car manufacturors buy their cruise deactivation switches from the same company. in 00-02 there were casting flaws in the plastic housing which allowed brake fluid to leak into the switch which then when current flowed through it sparked the fire....ford is not at fault for this... so ford is sueing the company who manufactures them and they are replacing them with new models that dont have the casting flaw...

thankyou for your time

 

So this problem affects only the trucks/cars that have cruise control?

 

so, i have been worried about this too. i don't really want a 20K truck to burn to the axles for a $20 switch. i went by the stealership yesterday afternoon, and they wouldn't even sell me a switch at my expense. said it wouldn't work on an '03. i also read that the switch on the '03s had been rewired so that it was only powered when the ignition was on. this is not the case, at least on mine. it does however have only a 5 amp fuse on the circuit (#15) that controls it. i have read elsewhere that one fix was to replace the fuse with a 2 amp that will blow should the circuit short. i don't know what to do about it. for the time being, i have unplugged by cruise and have the connector zip tied out of the way.

-matt

 

Only the recalled vehicles with cruise control are affected.

A simple casting flaw? The new switch is nothing like the old in design or material (I purchased & installed the new switch myself). It is much more than a simple casting flaw. Yes, FORD is at fault for this for (1) the initial design defect and more importantly (2) waiting so long to initiate recalls of a known, defective part.

 

Ford did not know of the defect when it built them. They used an off-the-shelf part. The initial recall from the early 90s was a defective batch from the supplier, Texas Instruments. Apparently TI has let us down again.

Ford does not yet know exactly which vehicles are affected. Some of the switches fail, others don't. (Case in point, I have a '98 Explorer with the same exact switch that is fine) They have seen an increased number of failures in the currently recalled vehicles. Furthermore, the current batch of recalled vehicles use a 20A fuse on that circuit. It appears that, so far, the 20A fuse does not blow in time to prevent the internal arcing of the switch and, subsequently, ignition of the brake fluid that has leaked into the contacts. So far (and this is merely speculation based on messages read on these forums) it appears that on vehicles with a 15A fuse, the short causes the fuse to blow first, eliminating the brake lights, cruise control, and brake-shift interlock, and rendering the vehicle immobile until the fuse is replaced and the switch is either disconnected or replaced.

'03 MY non-supercharged vehicles have a switched power source for the switch. The change was a part of the evolution of the product, not a specific fix for this specific problem. The change was in place before the problem with the switches was recognized.

-Joe

 

My cruise control would work intermittently on my 2000 Explorer. I pulled the connector off the cruise deactivation switch and jumped it, and now it always works perfect. The wiring to the switch is HOT all the time.

I checked my wifes 1997 Explorer and it was NOT hot to the switch all the time. I pulled the connector off and jumped it anyway. I never had a problem with the Cruise on the 1997.
E.D.

 

Bad idea.

Now, if your brake lights happen to pop the fuse, you lose the ability to deactivate the cruise with the brake pedal, which means that when your wife gets to the freeway off-ramp and taps the brakes and the cruise fails to disengage, she's got to have the presence of mind to either press the off button on the steering wheel while trying to steer a 4500 lb vehicle around a sharp curve, or turn the ignition off. If you never had a problem with the cruise on the '97, then why the heck did you bypass the safety device? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me....

As for the '00, just replace the switch. It may or may not be one of the 'defective batch' involved in the F-150 recall, but the replacement kit is $15 and takes all of 10 minutes to install.

-Joe

 

what arte the recalled vehicles? i just bought a 2003 f-150, supercab, 5.4, 4x4. am i at risk?

 

I just checked my schematics (1999) and verified by doing voltage checks on my truck - Power for the infamous Deactivation Switch and for the brake lights is supplied through fuse #13, so if that fuse is blown, the cruise control ain't gonna work anyway on the '99 F-150. I can't comment on other years/trucks since I don't have those schematics.

My schematics show a connection from the "Speed Control Servo" through the "Clutch Pedal Position Switch" (or jumper, in the case of an auto tranny), next through the "Brake Pedal Position Switch". When the brake pedal position switch is in the normal "relaxed" position - i.e., the brakes are not depressed - this connection goes to chassis ground. When the brakes are depressed, this connection goes to +12 VDC through fuse #15. Tomorrow I intend to determine whether this circuit must see the ground in order to allow the cruise control to engage. I should be able to remove the clutch pedal switch jumper and see if the cruise will still work. My reason for doing this? If simply breaking this ground connection kills the cruise, then I'm confident that I can, with a reasonable safety margin, jumper around the cruise deactivation switch and not worry about this fire issue.

On the other hand, if the circuit must "see" the +12VDC (that is supplied through fuse #15 when the brake pedal is depressed) to kill the cruise function, then I'm not as confident about shorting around the bad switch.

Either way I'll report back with my findings.

Keith

 

From my earlier post . . .

This morning I verified that simply breaking this ground connection kills the cruise control. The system does not have to "see" the +12VDC.

Personally, at least on the '99 F150, I think it's reasonably safe to bypass the cruise deactivation switch. I don't want to take any chances with my truck causing my home to burn down.

Keith