NOT A Better Burn - F-150 Problems, Part II

[Biff_CT2]

Wow! That sucks! Car fires are hot and nasty. Good thing you saved the saw. Do you have comp coverage on the truck?

Thanks for the condolences guys... and the jokes, they really help.

Ya, they burn really hot and nasty. I've seen them on fire and seen the results later, but I never saw one start and saw how fast they can engulf the vehicle. Check out the pics after maybe a 10-minute burn:

The hood is just vaporized, and check out the stress fractures in the metal from when the water hit it. Wish I had the presence of mind to shoot a video with my phone, but I just stood there gawking, hugging my saw.


Comp insurance? Yup... only I doubt they'll give me much, certainly not enough to pay for a replacement. We've been there with an older vehicle that got creamed before. By the time they deduct all the rust and everything, figure in the mileage (170K), it'll probably be, "OK. The truck had a value of $257 before the fire.... $200 deductible... here's your check for $57."

At least I got OK with the saw intact. Funny thing, I was planning on taking all my saws apart, cleaning them well, and storing them in the truck box for the big move. The fire stayed confined to the engine compartment, but I wouldn't have known that ahead of time. Probably would have asphyxiated myself trying to save all seven of them.

Worst case scenareio was this happening while the throttle was still sticking, going up the Northway at 75 MPH, thing catches fire, hit the brakes against that racing motor, brakes fade, and I'll cooking myself at highway speed, unable to get out. :ahhh:

Bet that would make the front page.


I'll tell you, too... that smoke was pretty bad. Caught one good lungful of the stuff while I was rescuing the saw. If I didn't have quite enough respect for what firefighters go through, I sure do now. Had a headache all night long from it. Those guys, who knows what they might accidentally breathe in? And for the record, the FD guys were kind and helpful, but the cop on the scene was a major dickwad, as if I torched the thing on purpose. No sooner were the flames out and the guy starts yelling at me to get the thing out of there. Didn't even want to wait for me to make an insurance call.

Had you taken the thing in to see if the 'cruise control circuit setting the brake fluid on fire in the master cylinder' recall work needed to be done?

There is info here: http://www.f150forum.com/f6/truck-caught-fire-recall-05s28-q-51334/
Suing Ford over these sort of incidents is a cottage industry for certain law firms...

For what it's worth, it looks like the hood melted in the vicinity of where the brake fluid reservoir is located.

 

[firefighterjake]

On the positive side BK . . . you can rebuild it and put in a supercharger with a blower sticking out of the hood . . . and you don't have to do any cutting on the hood.

2012 has got to be a better year for you . . . it's gotta.

 

[Battenkiller]

Had you taken the thing in to see if the 'cruise control circuit setting the brake fluid on fire in the master cylinder' recall work needed to be done?

There is info here: http://www.f150forum.com/f6/truck-caught-fire-recall-05s28-q-51334/
Suing Ford over these sort of incidents is a cottage industry for certain law firms...

For what it's worth, it looks like the hood melted in the vicinity of where the brake fluid reservoir is located.

I just got the used truck back in the spring. Ford sent me one recall notice about the straps holding up the gas tank failing and allowing it to fall and cause a fire (seems these things were designed to be portable crematories), but I looked at the straps and they were totally sound so I wasn't rushing out to get them done. I wasnt using the cruise control at the time, but maybe I should go take a quick peek at the MC and see if it is more fried there than the rest of the engine compartment. Might help if the insurance company tries to offer me salvage value to settle my claim. Let them go after Ford after they pay me.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Comp insurance? Yup... only I doubt they'll give me much, certainly not enough to pay for a replacement. We've been there with an older vehicle that got creamed before. By the time they deduct all the rust and everything, figure in the mileage (170K), it'll probably be, "OK. The truck had a value of $257 before the fire.... $200 deductible... here's your check for $57."

Not to pour gas on a fire here, but as long as you have a respectable, reputable insurance company you should be fine. You can always appeal the value of the truck if you think they undervalued it.

From all my experiences dealing with Farm Bureau insurance they have ALWAYS overvalued things. My wife's car that was insured with State Farm was also overvalued when it go totalled.

 

[mayhem]

On the positive side BK . . . you can rebuild it and put in a supercharger with a blower sticking out of the hood . . . and you don't have to do any cutting on the hood.

Dammit! Beat me to it.

 

[Biff_CT2]

Had you taken the thing in to see if the 'cruise control circuit setting the brake fluid on fire in the master cylinder' recall work needed to be done?

There is info here: http://www.f150forum.com/f6/truck-caught-fire-recall-05s28-q-51334/
Suing Ford over these sort of incidents is a cottage industry for certain law firms...

For what it's worth, it looks like the hood melted in the vicinity of where the brake fluid reservoir is located.

I just got the used truck back in the spring. Ford sent me one recall notice about the straps holding up the gas tank failing and allowing it to fall and cause a fire (seems these things were designed to be portable crematories), but I looked at the straps and they were totally sound so I wasn't rushing out to get them done. I wasnt using the cruise control at the time, but maybe I should go take a quick peek at the MC and see if it is more fried there than the rest of the engine compartment. Might help if the insurance company tries to offer me salvage value to settle my claim. Let them go after Ford after they pay me.

Re. Cruise control recall on Ford vehicles
My understanding of the recall notice is that the danger condition exists regardless as to whether the cruise control is engaged or not. The issue is that, by virtue of the feature being on the vehicle, a circuit in the vicintiy of the brake fluid is constantly energized. Being energized, the circuit generates heat, and that heat elevates the temperature of the brake fluid - making it easier to burn or actually igniting the stuff.

So the defect can cause the vehicle to ignite regardless as to whether the cruise control is engaged.

It's crap like this that makes me glad I drive a Honda...

 

[oilstinks]

I got a honda too but we all thought toyotas were great cars and look where that went. Honda might be next. We had a guy wreck his truck and turned it on its side and catch on fire. It melted the glass to the pavement before we got it out. I was terrified the tank was gonna go even though i was back and had all my turn out gear on.

 

[Battenkiller]

Re. Cruise control recall on Ford vehicles
My understanding of the recall notice is that the danger condition exists regardless as to whether the cruise control is engaged or not. The issue is that, by virtue of the feature being on the vehicle, a circuit in the vicintiy of the brake fluid is constantly energized. Being energized, the circuit generates heat, and that heat elevates the temperature of the brake fluid - making it easier to burn or actually igniting the stuff.

So the defect can cause the vehicle to ignite regardless as to whether the cruise control is engaged.

Good to know. That may have been the cause of the fire. I alerted the insurance company about this problem and the fact that Ford never sent me a recall notice after I purchased the truck. I agreed to let them purchase the remains of the truck at salvage value and they agreed to give me a fair settlement on the truck. They may have an engineer look at the fire site and come after Ford if the fire began there. Now everybody's happy. Well... except maybe for Ford.

 

[wooddope]

Hmmmm...The smell of gas at the end of part I has me wondering....

 

[Battenkiller]

Hmmmm...The smell of gas at the end of part I has me wondering....

I write a great cliff hanger, don't I? :cheese:

 

[MasterMech]

I got a honda too but we all thought toyotas were great cars and look where that went. Honda might be next. We had a guy wreck his truck and turned it on its side and catch on fire. It melted the glass to the pavement before we got it out. I was terrified the tank was gonna go even though i was back and had all my turn out gear on.

Check out the problems with the last generation of Civics....

 

[Biff_CT2]

I got a honda too but we all thought toyotas were great cars and look where that went. Honda might be next. We had a guy wreck his truck and turned it on its side and catch on fire. It melted the glass to the pavement before we got it out. I was terrified the tank was gonna go even though i was back and had all my turn out gear on.

Check out the problems with the last generation of Civics....

Understood.

Incidently, I've had recall work done on both my Hondas - one of which involved a mod to the the automatic transmission which chronically fail on the model due to design issues.

Which is why I rent a truck to haul firewood instead of using the trailer hitch on the vehicle...

 

[Biff_CT2]

Hmmmm...The smell of gas at the end of part I has me wondering....

Agreed, that piece doesn't fit.

However, I still think it's worth talking to Ford about the incident. Just by virtue of the fact that there is a known issue with the model catching fire, and his has burned, puts the burden on Ford to explain the two are unconnected - not for him to explain that they are connected.

Ford may just write him a check to avoid the cost of assessing the wreck and having the report available for public consumption...

 

[Flatbedford]

As I understand it, the truck had been sitting unused for some time. It had some kind of sticking throttle issue as BK mentioned in part I. Something in the fuel system got stuck or broke most likely due to neglect. If he got his money from the insurance company and nobody is injured or dead, I'd say be done with it. An older, neglected truck caught on fire. Why would Ford care?

 

[Battenkiller]

Hmmmm...The smell of gas at the end of part I has me wondering....

Agreed, that piece doesn't fit.

However, I still think it's worth talking to Ford about the incident. Just by virtue of the fact that there is a known issue with the model catching fire, and his has burned, puts the burden on Ford to explain the two are unconnected - not for him to explain that they are connected.

Ford may just write him a check to avoid the cost of assessing the wreck and having the report available for public consumption...

It's out of my hands now. I put the key in the ignition two nights ago, signed and mailed the title to the insurance company, and that's the last time I'll see that truck again. Check's in the mail (supposedly) and I'll be shopping for another one (although I'm pretty leery about getting another Ford).

I think Allstate should dig into this one a bit. Not just for this claim, but for any future fires. I'm pretty pissed that I never got a service bulletin or recall notice for this problem. This whole thing could have gone horribly wrong if it happened while I was cruising at highway speed. Took only a few minutes after I got out to have flames shooting into the passenger compartment, and that was just sitting there, and after three fire extinguishers got emptied into it. Also, I thought a firewall was supposed to offer just a shade more protection against fire.

 

[JeffRey30747]

put the VIN in at
http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/RecallsPage
and you can see if there are any open recalls on the vehicle

 

[Flatbedford]

BK, Didn't you recently buy this truck used? Who did you buy it from? What year was it? If you didn't buy it from Ford, how would they know you even own it to tell you about problems?

 

[Battenkiller]

As I understand it, the truck had been sitting unused for some time. It had some kind of sticking throttle issue as BK mentioned in part I. Something in the fuel system got stuck or broke most likely due to neglect. If he got his money from the insurance company and nobody is injured or dead, I'd say be done with it. An older, neglected truck caught on fire. Why would Ford care?

No, the truck was not neglected at all. Just hadn't been started in several weeks and I had to jump start it. The throttle plate was stuck wide open, but I cleaned it up and it ran fine. As was mentioned above, the plate only controls the air anyway, so that particular problem was not fuel related.

Ford wouldn't care if the truck was brand new unless someone threatened them with a class action suit. Ford is a corporation, so it has no personal feelings. Corporations are not people... or are they? %-P

 

[Battenkiller]

BK, Didn't you recently buy this truck used? Who did you buy it from? What year was it? If you didn't buy it from Ford, how would they know you even own it to tell you about problems?

Truck was a '99, bought back in April and used every day until I got sick in June. Then I only used it occasionally. Ford knew enough to send me a recall notice about the gas tank straps back in September, addressed to me. It has to be connected to DMV and the VIN I'd assume. After all, even with a new vehicle there has to be a way to contact second owners about safety issues. Not everybody keeps a truck for the full loan duration, and many are sold through private sales.

 

[Battenkiller]

put the VIN in at
http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/RecallsPage
and you can see if there are any open recalls on the vehicle

Thanks. Looked it up and saw only the recall notice I received, regarding the gas tank straps (this was definitely not the cause of the blaze). Where would I find out about the reputed cruise control problem? This is the first I heard of it here.

 

[Flatbedford]

I stand somewhat corrected.

 

[Biff_CT2]

put the VIN in at
http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/RecallsPage
and you can see if there are any open recalls on the vehicle

Thanks. Looked it up and saw only the recall notice I received, regarding the gas tank straps (this was definitely not the cause of the blaze). Where would I find out about the reputed cruise control problem? This is the first I heard of it here.

Strange.

I've emailed you the a report that does an analysis of Ford F150 vehicle fires associated with the cruise control circuit problem. There is also a link to the NHTSA campaign to deal with the issue. My understanding Ford dealt with the problem on your vehicle with recall 05-S28Q.

Look at Figure 8 in the report (attached)...

I'd be curious to compare the images in the report with your wreck.