F53 – RECALL Ford fires and the cruise control recall

ALERT – If you own a Ford vehicle (including F53 chassis) manufactured between 1994 and 2004 – Take you VIN number to any Ford dealer and have them run the VIN number for you.  They can tell you if the Recall applies, and if its been complied with.  It could save you from a total destruction of your ford vehicle.

It was 6:30 a.m and as I looked out the window,  I seen smoke coming from my neighbors F150 pickup.    I go out to see whats going on and the other neighbor is raising the hood and there are flames under the hood and inside the drivers compartment.

The truck had been parked in the drive for a few days,  why would it all the sudden burst into flames?

There is a switch mounted on the front of the brake master cylinder that has un-fused 12 volts on it all the time. The switch shorts out internally, the un-fused wire gets hot, melts, and starts the fire.  This is what we seen that early morning.  Can you imagine this happening to your motor home, while its sitting in storage?

Ford has issued a massive recall for almost every Ford product produced between 1994 and 2004 that has cruise control.  Write your VIN # down and stop by any Ford dealer to see if your Ford product is part of this recall.

Not all Fords with cruise control need the recall. However,  if yours does,  its a easy recall to comply with and can be done in the parking lot in about 60 seconds. They install a small wire harness at the brake switch.  The harness has two fuses in it so if the switch short, it blows the fuse instead of burning your motorhome to the ground.

You can read details of the Recall here EA99-006

My 1999 Southwind wasn’t part of the recall, but my 2001 Mirada was.

Its been 8 years since the recall and I never heard of it.  I bought my Mirada used in 2014, so figured I’d better check to see what the recall was and if my F53 was part of it.  I wrote the VIN number down and stopped by my Ford dealer one day at lunch time.

Although my local Ford dealer isn’t set up to work on motor homes, they were kind enough to do the recall in the parking lot.  It took the Service manager longer to fill out the warranty paperwork than it did for the technician to install the recall wire harness, part number XW7Z-9F924-BA.  They unplug the connector from the brake switch on the front of the master cylinder and plug it into a special wire harness that’s part of the recall.  The other end of the harness then plugs into the switch.  The special harness has a couple fuses in it.  That way if the switch shorts out,  it blows the fuse instead of starting a fire.

If the recall has been complied with, the wire harness will be real obvious,  it will have a blue tag on it that tells you not to replace the fuse.

IMPORTANT REMINDER – If you have a Ford vehicle manufactured between 1994 and 2004 – stop by your local Ford dealer and have them run the VIN number for you.  It could save you from a total destruction of your ford vehicle.