1997 Ford F Series (light) Problems

FRONT DRIVERS SIDE SPARK PLUG BLEW OUT OF ENGINE AND DESTROYED COIL PACK RIPPING THE THREADS OUT OF THE HEAD. *TR

V6 4.2L ENGINE: GASKET FAILURE CAUSING WATER/FLUID FILL UP THE CYLINDER WHICH CAUSES THE ROD TO BLOW.*AK

THE TRUCK STARTED HAVING ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS, WHICH WOULD COME AND GO. THESE PROBLEMS BECAME MORE SEVERE AND NUMEROUS AS TIME WENT BY. AT FIRST IT WAS JUST THE WARNING LIGHTS COMING ON AND THEN THINGS LIKE THE RADIO COMING ON IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND NO ONE HAD THE KEY EVEN IN. IT WOULD ALSO SHIFT INTO 4-WHEEL FOR NO REASON. THESE WOULD ONLY HAPPEN ONCE IN A WHILE. THEN ONE DAY WHEN I WENT TO GO TO WORK I OPENED THE DOOR AND EVERYTHING CAME ON JUST OPENING THE DOOR. I GOT IN AND PUT THE KEY IN AND TRIED TO START THE TRUCK BUT THERE WAS NOTHING. I THEN NOTICED THE SMELL OF ELECTRICAL ITEMS BURNING AND IMMEDIATELY TOOK OUT THE KEY. I CALLED THE LOCAL FORD DEALER AND ASK IF THEY KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON. THEY IMMEDIATELY REPLIED THAT THESE TRUCKS HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE WINDSHIELD LEAKING ON THE GEM MODULE AND FUSE BOX. WHEN I TOOK THE TRUCK IN TO HAVE IT LOOKED AT THEY SAID THE STARTER, SOLENOID, AND FUSE HAD ALL BURNED UP. THE FUSE BOX ALSO HAD BURNED AT SEVERAL FUSE LOCATIONS AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. WHEN THE NEW PARTS CAME THE MECHANIC NOTICED THAT THEY NOW HAD PLASTIC COVERS ON THEM TO HELP PREVENT MOISTURE FROM GETTING TO THEM. NOW ALL THIS STUFF BURNED UP IN MY TRUCK WHILE SITTING IN MY GARAGE AT NIGHT WITHOUT IT EVEN HAVING THE KEY IN THE IGNITION. I'M CONCERNED THAT THIS COULD HAVE BURNED MY HOUSE DOWN WITH ME AND MY FAMILY IN SLEEPING. NOW IF THE DEALERSHIP KNEW THIS WAS A PROBLEM HOW COME THIS WAS NOT A RECALL ITEM. IT COST ME JUST UNDER A GRAND TO FIX NOT TO MENTION MY WIFE WON'T LET ME PARK IT IN THE GARAGE ANYMORE BECAUSE SHE'S AFRAID OF A FIRE.

OWN A 1997 FORD F150 THAT CAUGHT FIRE AS A RESULT OF A DEFECTIVE CRUISE CONTROL SWITCH

OUR MECHANIC NOTICED THAT ONE OF THE STRAPS AT THE REAR OF THE GAS TANK WAS MISSING, AND WHEN FILLING UP OUR 1997 FORD F150, THE TANK WAS GETTING CLOSE TO BEING FILLED, GAS STARTED SPEWING OUT OF THE FILL TUBE. WE LOOKED UNDER THE TRUCK AND NOTICED THAT THE FILL TUBE HAD SHIFTED DUE TO THE REAR STRAP BEING BROKEN. *TR

1997 FORD F-150 . THE GAS TANK STRAPS HAVE BEGUN TO ROT AND HAVE CHAFFED THE GAS TANK TO THE POINT THERE ARE SOME GAS VAPORS ESCAPING. NOT A FULL BLOWN LEAK AT THIS POINT. I WILL BEGIN THE PROCESS OF REPAIRING TO AVOID FIRE/EXPLOSION. *TR

DOOR HAS CRACKED DRIVERS SIDE BOTTOM CORNER OF WIDOW MOLDING

THE FRONT BRAKES ON MY 1997 FORD F150 LOCK UP. WHILE DRIVING THE BRAKES GRADUALLY OVERHEAT FROM A FAILURE OF THE CALIPERS TO RETURN TO THEIR NON-BRAKING POSITION. I HAVE REPLACED THE RUBBER BRAKE LINES, REPLACED THE DISK BRAKE PADS. TURNED THE ROTORS, LUBRICATED THE SLIDING PORTIONS OF THE CALIPERS WITH HIGH-TEMPERATURE GREASE AND TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO MY NEAREST FORD DEALERSHIP TO HAVE THE BRAKES COMPUTER CHECKED AND REPAIRED. NEVER-THE-LESS, THE BRAKES CONTINUE TO LOCK UP DURING NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS. THIS PRESENTS AN EXTREME SAFETY RISK. WHEN DRIVING TO A SAFE LOCATION TO ALLOW THE BRAKES TO COOL DOWN, THE VEHICLE LOSES MOST OF IT'S BRAKING ABILITY AND I HAVE SUFFERED TIRE FAILURE DUE TO THE EXCESSIVE HEAT BUILD UP IN THE BRAKES WHICH TRANSFERS IT'S HEAT INTO THE WHEEL CAUSING TIRE FAILURE. ALSO, THE ENGINE HAS TO WORK IN AN UNSAFE TEMPERATURE AREA IN ORDER TO DRIVE TO SUCH A SAFE LOCATION. THIS AFFECTS THE GAS MILEAGE, ENGINE RELIABILITY AND ENDURANCE, WHILE PRESENTING, YET, ANOTHER POSSIBLE SAFETY HAZARD. THE VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH ANTI-LOCK BRAKES AND CRUISE CONTROL. THIS ADVERSELY AFFECTS THESE SAFETY APPOINTMENTS, ALSO. I HAVE CONTINUALLY ASKED IF THERE IS A SAFETY RECALL NOTICE RELATING TO THIS PROBLEM OR A SERVICE BULLETIN WHICH MIGHT PROVIDED A SOLUTION FOR THIS PROBLEM FROM THE SERVICE MANAGER AT MY NEAREST DEALERSHIP, ANDALUSIA FORD-LINCOLN-MERCURY, INC. AND I AM TOLD THERE ARE NO RECALLS OR BULLETINS DEALING WITH THIS PROBLEM. THEY HAVE GIVEN ME FALSE INFORMATION IN THE PAST. THEREFORE, I HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT THEIR HONESTY WITH THESE ISSUES, ESPECIALLY DEALING WITH SHOP BULLETINS WHICH ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC AT LARGE. I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I AM THE ONLY OWNER OF ONE OF THESE VEHICLE WHO HAS INCURRED THIS PROBLEM. FOR THAT REASON I AM LODGING A COMPLAINT TO YOUR DEPARTMENT. SINCERELY, RON THOMPSON *TR

I RECENTLY EXPERIENCED A PROBLEM WITH MY 1997 F150 4X4 EXTENDED CAB PICKUP. THE MIDDLE, RIGHT REAR LEAF SPRING BROKE AND WAS EJECTED WITH GREAT FORCE FROM UNDER THE TRUCK. I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER, AND I REMEMBER RECEIVING A RECALL NOTICE FROM FORD IN AUGUST 1998 DETAILING THIS PROBLEM. I TOOK MY TRUCK TO MY LOCAL FORD DEALER, EARNHARDT FORD, ON OCTOBER 10, 1998, AND THE DEALER INSTALLED CLIPS ON THE FRONT PORTION OF BOTH SPRINGS. I RETRIEVED THE EJECTED PIECE OF THE BROKEN SPRING FROM THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, AND I NOTICED THAT THE BREAK WAS RUSTY. THE TRUCK HAS BEEN IN ARIZONA OR NEVADA SINCE NEW, SO TO ME THIS INDICATES THAT THE SPRING PROBABLY HAD BEEN BROKEN FOR SOME TIME. ALSO JUST PRIOR TO THE SPRING EJECTING, I HAD BEEN INVOLVED A VERY MINOR REAR END COLLISION (THE CAR THAT HIT ME ONLY BROKE MY HITCH COVER). I THEORIZE THAT SOMEHOW THE FORCE OF THE CAR HITTING THE BACK OF MY TRUCK MUST HAVE REPOSITIONED THE BROKEN SPRING IN SUCH A WAY THAT PLACED STRESS ON THE FRONT RETAINING CLIP SHEARING IT AND ALLOWING THE SPRING TO BE EJECTED. I USE MY TRUCK FOR COMMUTING WHICH IS HARDLY SEVERE DUTY USE. LEAF SPRINGS SHOULD NOT FAIL AFTER ONLY 87K MILES, AND IF THEY DO BREAK, THEY SHOULDNT EJECT. FORTUNATELY, I WAS IN THE RIGHT-HAND LANE AND THE SPRING EJECTED INTO A VACANT DIRT LOT SO NO ONE WAS HURT AND NO PROPERTY WAS DAMAGED. I HAD BOTH REAR LEAF SPRINGS REPLACED AT GAUDIN FORD, IN LAS VEGAS ON APRIL 25, 2003. I ASKED THE DEALER IF FORD WOULD COVER THE COST OF THE REPAIR. THEIR ANSWER WAS NO. I BELIEVE THAT FORD SHOULD STEP UP AND COVER THE COST OF MY REPAIR. THIS WAS NOT AN INEXPENSIVE FIX. WHAT HAPPEN TO ME IS EXACTLY WHAT FORD WARNED AGAINST THEIR AUGUST 1998 RECALL LETTER. REAR LEAF SPRINGS SHOULD NOT FAIL AFTER ONLY 87K MILES OF NORMAL USE, AND FACT THAT THE MIDDLE SPRING WAS EJECTED SHOWS THERE IS STILL A SAFETY ISSUE. I STILL HAVE THE PART OF BROKEN SPRING THAT I RETRIEVED FROM THE LOT.

MY 1997 FORD F-150 TRUCK WAS PARKED IN THE DRIVE WAY IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE.THE KEYS WERE NOT IN THE VEHICLE, AND NO LIGHTS WERE ON. I STEPED OUT THE FRONT DOOR OF MY HOUSE, AND SMELLED SOMETHING BURNING. I LOOKED OVER AT MY TRUCK, AND SAW FLAMES IN THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL WELL, AND SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE HOOD SIDE AND BACK EDGES. I GOT THE FIRE EXTENGUISHER FROM THE HOUSE, SHOT UP IN THE WHEEL WELL, THEN OPENED THE HOOD AND PUT OUT THE REST OF THE FIRE. THE FIRE SEEMED TO START IN THE BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER AREA, AND I BELIEVE AS A RESULT OF A DEFECT IN THE CRUISE CONTROL DEACTIVATION SWITCH. THE MASTER CYLINDER IS DESTROYED,AN EVAPORATIVE EMMISSION CONTROL VALVE AND SOLENOID ARE DESTROYED, AND SOME WIRING HARNESSES HAVE BEEN BURNT.THE REAR ANTI LOCK BRAKE CONTROL VALVE IS DAMAGED. THE LEFT COWL COVER AND HOOD SEAL MELTED, AS DID THE LEFT INNER WHEEL WELL.I HAVE NOT REPAIRED THE TRUCK AT THIS TIME.