Consumer Complaint Detail

FORD / EXPLORER / 1997

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
Yes Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 006099056 Incident Date: Dec, 12 2006
Consumer's City: NORFOLK Consumer's State: VA
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Ford Motor Company
Model Name: EXPLORER Model Year: 1997
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Vehicle speed control:cruise control
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: Yes Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1FMDU35P4VU Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Mar, 18 2007 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Apr, 14 1997
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 8 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: While driving my 1997 ford explorer on i-64 e at approximately 60 mph, smoke started to pour into the car from under the dashboard. i pulled over as fast as possible and was met by a virginia dot truck who noticed me suddenly cross two lanes to get to the breakdown lane. he grabbed his fire extinguisher and put the fire out within seconds of my stopping. the fire department was not called because it was put out so quickly. after having it towed to a shop, i was informed that it appears to have started in the cruise control switch and burned through the master cylinder. the fire was extinguished within 15-30 seconds from the time i stopped but the mechanic said that the car does not have any brakes as a result of the fire. i consider myself lucky to have been able to stop at all. my car was not and still has not been recalled. after contacting ford they have declined to help us with any repairs. had i known about the switchfire problems earlier, i would have called the fire department to do a formal investigation of the cause. the car has not been fixed as of yet.