I met some folks today in Frisco, TX who lost their house to their 2005 F-150 catching fire in their drive way.

I know we've all heard this before, but it seemed distant because it didn't happen to anyone we knew, or had met. This couple told me today they and their kids were damn-lucky to get out of the house unharmed.

The truck was parked at 6:30 PM, and caught fire circa 11:30 PM. The fire went into the attic, and spread across the house from there. Their teenage daughter woke them up saying she smelled smoke, and just then it became clear that the house was on fire.

Fortunately, the truck was outside the garage, but because it was parked nose-in, the fire burned into the overhang, and got into the attic. Had it been in the garage, their youngest daughter may not have made it out. Her room was above the garage.

This man, like me, said he has owned five F-150's, and prior to that event, would have told anyone that the F-150 was by far the best truck on the road... As of now, he said he'd never buy another one. I can' say that I blame him. They drive a Dodge Ram now, never to return to Ford (According to his wife). They went on to tell me they met a guy who's F-150 caught fire on him at highway speed. Fire started entering the passenger compartment through the air vents, and he barely got the truck stopped, and out of the cab before it was engulfed in flames. Imagine how effed up that would be.

You never think it'll happen to you, but meeting this man and his wife guarantees I will take my F-150 to the dealership TOMORROW to get that freaking cruise control switch looked at. I park mine in the garage, so had that (fire) happened at our house, our chances would be even lower (single story home) at getting oout safely- they were spared becuse they had a 2-story home. Fire took half the house, smoke and water took the rest. They were out buying all new stuff for their home.

For my family, I guess the only saving grace is our bedrooms are on the other side of the house. Once fire gets in the attic, you can pretty much cancel Christmas if you aren't already on your way out.

One thing's for sure, we're gonna have a few more smoke detectors installed in this house, ASAP.

My truck is nearly a year old, and only has 4,400 miles on it, and has never been past Irving, TX (West) or Northwest Highway (East), so she's still a baby. Never been far enough, fast enough to need the cruise control... Not in the 2006 S'Crew (to date) anyway...

I thought that damn cruise control switch fire crap was for pre- 2004's only... This man had a 2005...

Damn beancounter's gonna get someone killed...

I wonder if he could sue Ford? Normally, I don't advocate lawsuits, but, this is Bullsh*t. It's 2006, not 1916. This kinda crap shouldn't be happening. To lose your house, and possibly your family over a cruise control switch?!

 

'04+ trucks use a completely different arrangement for disengaging the cruise control, and the harsh fact is there's a lot of stuff on any modern vehicle that can cause a fire.

I'd like to see an official determination that the cruise control somehow caused the fire in that particular case.

Take it in; won't matter, there's nothing your dealer can do.

 

hmm, wow a couple of months ago, my neighbors f150 caught on fire in the middle of the night. Lucky for them it was 4 am and I was still up ,I ran out of the house and started hosing it down, only becasue, it was parked on my side of the sidewalk, they heard the noise, and ran out and started hosing it aswell, crazy ****

 

So if it had been a few feet over on thier side then you wouldn;t have?

 

Yeah, I've seen a new Z-28 (Or Trans Am, I forget) on fire (1994), but that was rare. This F-150 fire thing has been on teh maps for 2 years or more... To "redesign" it, and the problem still exists, is crazy.

This was on the news about a year ago.. Ford blames Texas Instruments, and Texas Instruments blamed Ford; stating they told Ford they (Ford) were running too much juice through that switch... They said something along the lines of Ford didn't listen. Ford denied that...

Was that 60 minutes? Damn... I forget where I saw/read that, but I remember the article stating TI manufactured that switch for Ford.

 

The real shame is that Ford went through this with the same style brake pressure switch in the early-mid '90s on Town Cars, Crown Vics and Grand Marquis, as on these pre '04 burn victim F150s.

IMO, the "proper" amount of voltage to have on that particular circuit is 0...fused or not.

 

I drive OTR for a living. Is see around 1 car a week burn to the ground. Everything from Acura to Volvo. Tell the Family with the Dodge they burn too.

 

I thought that the problem with the switch was a faulty membrane seal that could leak and create a dead short. The short would in turn overheat the wires and be the source of ignition.

I also thought that the 04+ did not even use this switch as all cruise functions were controlled via the PCM. The PCM engages the throttle control servo to maintain the speed, when the brakes are used the servo is returned to the idle position.

Also, vehicle fires could start anywhere. Rats and mice are known to cause fires. Is the truck bone stock or has he added aftermarket equipment that could have caused the fire? There are too many variables at this point to identify the culprit. I think that someone has watched too much 20-20 and jumped to an incorrect conclusion.

 

Well, I don't know them, just met them today. I'm just relaying what they told me. I didn't feel a need to cross-examine them since it's well known that parked (Pre-2004) F-150's have caught fire as a result of that cruise control switch.

They seem to believe it was the cruise control. I would assume the fire investigator probably cited it as the cause. I have no idea...

All I know is, I have a recall notice on my 2006, and she's heading to the shop tomorrow.

 

Out of my own curiosity I looked at the NHTSA web site for recalls on 2005 F-150s. The only one that could cause a fire is for an aftermarket fuel filter that could leak.

I suspect that due to the problems with the prior generation of trucks, someone assumed that the fire was due to the cruise control switch. They probably do not realize that the entire cruise control system is different on the current generation of trucks.

 

A recall for what?

As others have stated, the cruise control is now controlled by the PCM (the computer) so there are no realys in the system for a source of a short.

I'm not saying the truck didn't catch on fire, but whoever would judge that as the source was very uninformed.

 

If I were to guess, Hersh's truck needs the instrument cluster reprogrammed for the ABS light not illuminating when there's a fault in the system.

 

Yeah, all I got was an orange "Recall" post card from my local dealer, and on the back it has O6C1162 and some other numbers...

 

Called them...

You were right: They said my instrument cluster needed to be recalibrated, and it was no big deal. Told me they could do it so quickly, I could wait on the vehicle...

This is reassuring (as I continue to park my Dollar-fifty in my garage) that that pesky little fire thing, doesn't (necessarily) apply to my truck... I don't mind losing the truck- that's what gap insurance is for... I would be pissed about losing my house and having my family and my pets jeopardized because of this...

Amazing that a parked car can just spontaneously combust like that... I saw it happen to a Dodge Caravan, but it had recently been driven... It was on fire in the school's parking lot, unattended, and class hadn't even begun.

 

Anything electrical can short and creat a fire. The potential is there given certain events and circumstances. Just do not believe this is a Ford problem with the 04 and up.