A friend of mine at work has (had?) a '97 F-150 with the 4.2 and manual transmission. He told me that last night, about an hour and a half or so after he got home from work, his brother looked outside and saw that the truck was on fire. The fire was in the drivers' side of the engine compartment, and it was hot enough to melt the metal on the hood, the plastic on the steering column, and to crack the windshield. Flames were coming out from under the front, driverside fender. It was just parked in the driveway when it happened. It drove fine on the way home from work.

Does anyone have suggestions as to what could have triggered the fire?

Thank you

 

I don't know, but it could have been a fire due to wet electronics. I'm not sure for the v-6, but in the triton v-8's, the fuse box is located right on the inside of the driver's side fender; right on top of the wheel well. My dad had an'84 Jag that exploded when the electronics on it got wet. Once the fire gets a hold of the fuel line, that's all she needs to go up in flames.

 

ford has had past problems with the ignition wires shorting out and causing a fire, but it could have been any type of short in the wires. i have had a fuel line leak myself on a chevy and after i parked it , the gas leaked on the manifold and caught fire. i was lucky i had parked it and got out.

 

I remember there was a recall on 97&98 f150s having to do with the gas tank and a possibility of it catching fire.Try looking up the gas tank recall.

 

Ford has a recall on the 97 f150 fuel line. they inspected mine while they were giving me a new engine. I got my recall letter 3 weeks ago