Ford Cruise Control Recall

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Tonight on CNN they were doing a show about later model Ford vehicles about the cruise control switch causing engine fires. They showed this spanish family home that was completly burned down to nothing and they lost everything. The Father went to put there Expedition in the garage and while they were asleep the Expedition caught fire and set the whole place up in flames.

CNN mentioned that this can happen even if the vehicle is off and key out of the ignition. The switch on later model Ford vehicles is mounted on the brake master cylinder with a wire connected to it. The switch is a hot switch at all times. Inside the switch there a thin film that keeps brake fluid from entering the switch. Since the switch is hot at all times, if the brake were to come into contact with the switch, it causes the whole engine to KABOOOM!!!
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They showed live footage of a fireman cheif working on his 1995 Ford F250 and the switch starting smoking causing a fire.

CNN also gave a list of what vehicles are affected or could be affected with this switch. One of them was 1995-2003 Ford Rangers and mine being a 98, I fall right in the middle. The Grand Marquis models that are/could be affected date back as far as 1992 and as late as 2003. The switch was changed by Ford in 2004 with this other one that IIRC only is active when the cruise control is activated. So for those of you who have later model F150, Superduties, Expeditions, Grand Marquis etc... you might want to pop your hood and see if you have the "nasty switch" Thanks,,,,AR
 
I guess it wouldn't be safe to unplug that switch because then I would have to disengage the cruise with the button on the steering wheel.

Is there any RTV that's brake fluid proof?
 
If you unplug the cruise control switch under the hood, the cruise control doesn't work at all; that switch is normally-closed.

I don't understand why Ford used a brake fluid pressure switch on their large cars and trucks..the smaller cars got a double brake-pedal switch which works fine.

This switch is basically a fail-safe in case the single brake-pedal switch fails--it cuts the power to the cruise control module when it's activated.

You could just about bypass (unplug and short the connection to) the switch and have the same level of failsafeness you'd get with an aftermarket cruise control...
 
I have heard about this cruise contol switch causing fires it's very scarry.
My whole family owns fords except for a beater chevy pickup my dad has other then that it's all fords and i have a 1996 taurus myself.
Did they mention anything about the taurus,mustang or explorer having this evil switch?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Ironduke4:
Did they mention anything about the taurus,mustang or explorer having this evil switch?

No on the Taurus and the Mustang(I looked at the wiring diagram for those cars). I don't know about the Explorer, but I think they use the double-brake pedal switch too.
 
No they didn't say anything about the Taurus or anything like that. Mostly F150's, Expy, Explorers, Grand Marquis and Rangers,,,,,AR
 
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