1996 FORD BRONCO Complaints

DT: THE VEHICLE CAUGHT ON FIRE, THE FIRE MARSHAL SAID IT STARTED IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT, THE INSURANCE AGENCY CAME TO PICK UP THE VEHICLE. ALSO, THE HOUSE CAUGHT ON FIRE. *AK THE FIRE STARTED UNDER THE HOOD ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE. *SC *JB

FIRE IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT CAUSED BY CRUISE CONTROL BRAKE SWITCH. MY FIRST INDICATION OF A PROBLEM WAS THAT MY CRUISE CONTROL DID NOT WORK. I WENT TO MY GARAGE AND FOUND THAT A FUSE HAD BLOWN. WHEN I REPLACED THE FUSE, THE SWITCH ASSEMBLY, LOCATED DIRECTLY ABOVE THE BRAKE FLUID TANK, IMMEDIATELY IGNIGHTED, WHICH DESTROYED THE SWITCH AND MELTED PART OF THE BRAKE FLUID. WE PUT OUT THE FIRE WITH AN EXTINGUISHER, BOUGHT AND INSTALLED A REPLACEMENT SWITCH, AND IT NOW SEEMS TO BE WORKING OK. I HAD FIGURED IT WAS AN ISOLATED INCIDENT, UNTIL I LEARNED IT HAS HAPPENED TO HUNDREDS OF OTHER PEOPLE AND THAT A "PARTIAL" RECALL HAS BEEN CONDUCTED BY FORD, BUT THE RECALL DID NOT INCLUDE MY VEHICLE. NOW I'M AFRAID I MAY HAVE ANOTHER FIRE. I BECAME AWARE OF THIS BY WATCHING A CNN NEWS STORY ON THE PROBLEM.

WHILE CLEANING MY 96 BRONCO I NOTICED SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HOOD. AFTER OPENING IT, I SAW THE CRUISE CONTROL BOX TO BE SMOKING HEAVILY. I POURED WATER ON IT AND COOLED DOWN THE SUPERHEATED DEVICE. EXCEPT FOR THE CRUISE CONTROL NOT WORKING, I DID NOT ENCOUNTER ANY OTHER PROBLEMS. LATELY I'VE BEEN READING ABOUT INVESTIGATIONS INTO POTENTIAL SYSTEMATIC DEFECTS OF THE CRUISE CONTROL OF FORD TRUCKS AND EXTENSIVE RECALLS DUE TO THAT PROBLEM. THE SYMPTOMS DESCRIBED ARE MATCHING WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CAR - I SEEM TO JUST HAVE BEEN LUCKY TO BE PRESENT. I REPORTED THE INCIDENT TO MY CAR DEALER AND TO FORD BUT BOTH DENIED A CLAIM BECAUSE THERE WAS NO RECALL ON MY KIND OF VEHICLE. THERE HAVE BEEN RECALLS ON FORD F150 TRUCKS BUT I COULD NOT FIND ANY REGARDING THE BRONCO MODEL WHICH IS SURPRISING SINCE BOTH CARS ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME EXCEPT FOR THE FLAT BED.

CRUISE CONTROL AND BRAKE LIGHTS QUIT WORKING. REPLACED FUSE AND IT BLEW AND STILL NO BRAKE LIGHTS OR CRUISE. THE PROBLEM IS THE BRAKE PRESSURE SWITCH THAT CONTROLS THE CRUISE GOES BAD AND CAUSES FUSE TO BLOW AND CRUISE DOES NOT WORK AND BRAKE LIGHTS WILL NOT WORK. AFTER FINDING THE PROBLEM I REPLACED THE SWITCH WITH A NEW ONE FROM MOSES FORD. WITHIN TWO WEEKS FUSE BLOWN AGAIN AND SWITCH WAS BAD AGAIN. WHEN SWITCH GOES BAD IT ALLOWS BRAKE FLUID THROUGH SWITCH AND ONTO THE WIRING LEACHING UP HARNESS AND TO A LARGER HARNESS AND THE FLUID CAUSED A SHORT WHICH MELTED HARNESS. I FORTUNATELY SAW IT HAD MELTED AND HAVE LEFT HARNESS UNPLUGGED SINCE. NOW BECAUSE OF THE TWO DEFECTIVE SWITCHES IT RUINED CRUISE SERVO AND HARNESS. I WAS TOTALLY UNAWARE OF BRAKE LIGHTS BEING OUT UNTIL MY WIFE FOLLOWED ME HOME ONE NIGHT I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST CRUISE PROBLEM. FAILURE IS NOT CORRECTED AS THE DESIGN OF THE SWITCH IS POOR AND EACH ONE RESULTS IN SAME PROBLEM AND NOW MELTED HARNESS NEEDS REPLACED, WHICH ENTAILS REPLACING THE ENTIRE UNDERHOOD WIRING HARNESS AT A COST OF $400 PLUS LABOR. THERE IS A RECALL PENDING ON F150 FROM 1995-1999 BUT BRONCO IS NOT LISTED WHEN IN FACT THE BRONCO USES THE SAME HARNESS AND SWITCH AS THE F150. SAW THE ARTICLE ONLINE HEREHTTP://ABCNEWS.GO.COM/BUSINESS/WIRESTORY?ID=608161*AK

WHILE PARKED FOR TWENTY HOURS CRUISE CONTROL SWITCH IGNITIED BY ITSELF. AS A RESULT, VEHICLE CAUGHT ON FIRE. THE OWNER WAS ABLE TO SAVE THE VEHICLE.*AK

IN REGAURD TO INVESTIGATION EA 05-005 HEADED UP BY BRUCE YORK; I HAVE A 1996 FORD BRONCO THAT THE SPEED CONTROL DEACTIVATION SWITCH ALSO SHORTED OUT. IT DID NOT RESULT IN A FIRE BUT THE CRUISE CONTROL DOESN'T WORK. THE WIRES ARE BURNT RIGHT NEXT TO THE SWITCH AND THE SWITCH IS FULL OF FLUID. I CURRENTLY DRIVE IT AS IS WITH THE WIRES PULLED AWAY BUT EVERY THING IS STILL IN THE TRUCK IF ANY INVESTIGATORS WANT TO SEE IT. I SEE NO MENTION OF THE BRONCO IN THE INVESTIGATION BUT THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME. I WAS FORTUNATE. NO FIRE

THE TRUCK HAD BEEN PARKED FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT. THE SPEED CONTROL SWITCH ON THE BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER OVERHEATED AND CHARRED THE AREA. REPLACED SWITCH AND CONTROL MODULE. *AK

1996 FORD BRONCO, BURNED TO THE GROUND / A TOTAL LOSS. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. I WAS HAVING NO PROBLEMS WITH THE VEHICLE THAT I KNEW OF. I HAD A FUEL PUMP PUT IN 4 MONTHS PRIOR FROM MY MECHANIC. THE FIRE STARTED UP FRONT IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT, AND MOVED TOWARDS THE REAR. EVERYTHING WAS IN SOME FORM OF MELTED AND OR JUST ASHES. *AK

AT APPROXIMATELY 2AM ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2004, I RECEIVED A CALL FROM MY NEIGHBOR INFORMING ME THAT MY 1996 FORD BRONCO WAS ON FIRE. WHEN I RAN OUTSIDE, THERE WERE FLAMES "SHOOTING" SEVERAL FEET INTO THE AIR. THE SOURCE OF THE FIRE WAS THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE, IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THE FRONT TIRES HAD BLOWN FROM THE HEAT AND THE FIRE HAD MELTED THE DASH AND WAS INTO THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. THE FIRE DEPT WAS CALLED AND WERE ABLE TO EXTINGUISH THE BLAZE WITHIN A FEW MINUTES OF THEIR ARRIVAL. HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE WAS A TOTAL LOSS (I HAVE DIGITAL PICTURES). THE FIRE SEEMS TO HAVE STARTED ON THE DRIVERS SIDE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT SINCE THAT WAS THE AREA WHERE THE FIRE WAS THE HOTTEST. (THE LEAD WHEEL WEIGHTS ACTUALLY MELTED) SINCE THEN I HAVE HEARD QUITE A FEW STORIES OF SIMILAR OCCURRENCES WITH WITH FORD BRONCOS, EXPLORERS, AND F150 PICK UPS OF MODEL YEARS RANGING FROM 1996 THROUGH 2002. ONE OF THE COMMON ELEMENTS IN A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF THESE EVENTS, ACCORDING TO A RECENT ARTICLE IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER, IS THAT THE CRUISE CONTROL ON THE VEHICLES THAT BURNT HAD FAILED. THAT WAS TRUE WITH MY VEHICLE. THE CRUISE CONTROL HAD NOT WORKED FOR THE LAST 6 MONTHS OR SO. MY VEHICLE HAD BEEN PARKED FOR APPROXIMATELY 18 HOURS PRIOR TO THIS EVENT.*AK

THE CONSUMER COULD NOT GET VEHICLE OUT OF PARK ONE MORNING AND HAD TO REPLACE A FUSE. JUST AFTER VEHICLE STARTED SMOKE CAME FROM UNDER HOOD. THE CONSUMER OPENED THE HOOD, AND SAW A FIRE AT THE MASTER CYLINDER. THE CONSUMER PUT THE FIRE OUT WITH A BOTTLE OF WATER. *AK THE MASTER CYLINDER PRESSURE SWITCH AND CONNECTOR WAS REPLACED. *SC