Ford "Vehicle Speed Control" recall

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scottydl

scottydl

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I got a recall notice in the mail the other day, for my 1994 Ford F53 chassis motorhome.  Apparently there is a possible defect in the "Vehicle Speed Control" (I'm thinking cruise control) shutoff switch that can leak brake fluid and cause a risk for fire.  Here's the complete text from NHTSA's recall site:

Make: FORD  Model: F53
Model Year: 1994
Manufacturer: FORD MOTOR COMPANY Mfr's Report Date: OCT 09, 2009

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 09V399000
EA08021
NHTSA Action Number: EA08021
Component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

Potential Number of Units Affected: 4500000

Summary:
FORD IS RECALLING MODEL YEARS 1995-2003 WINDSTAR, 2000-2003 EXCURSION DIESEL, 1993-1997 AND 1999-2003 F-250 SD THROUGH F-550 SD DIESEL, 1992-2003 E-150 THROUGH E-550, 1995-2002 EXPLORER, 1997 AND 2002 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER, 1995-1997 AND 2001-2003 RANGER, AND 1994 F53 VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE TEXAS INSTRUMENTS SPEED CONTROL DEACTIVATION SWITCH (SCDS). THE SCDS MAY LEAK INTERNALLY AND THEN OVERHEAT, SMOKE, OR BURN.

Consequence:
A VEHICLE FIRE COULD OCCUR WITH OR WITHOUT THE ENGINE RUNNING.

Remedy:
FORD WILL NOTIFY OWNERS THAT DEALERS WILL INSTALL A FUSED WIRING HARNESS IN LINE WITH THE SCDS. ON 1999-2003 WINDSTAR VEHICLES WITH A LEAKING SCDS, DEALERS WILL ALSO INSPECT THE ABS CONTROL MODULE CONNECTOR AND REPAIR AS NECESSARY. REPAIRS WILL BE COMPLETED FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 27, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT FORD AT 1-888-222-2751.

Notes:
FORD'S RECALL CAMPAIGN NUMBER IS 09S09. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .
Click to expand...

1994 is the only model year of F53 that is mentioned, but there is a wide range of years on various F-series trucks which I'm thinking would include Class C motorhomes of that era.  Make sure you check and see if yours falls in the range, in case you don't get a letter.  I was quite surprised to say the least that the letter actually found me, considering my motorhome has lived its life (across all owners) in Oregon, California, New York, and now Illinois!
 
Great Scot!
Have a '96/'97 Winnie/Ford--this will be the THIRD fix on that thing. Think I'll just disconnect it and forget it----which was the recommedation while we waited for arrival of "fix" #2.
 
After 8 months, I finally took my RV in today to get this taken care of at my local Ford dealership.  It only took them about 20 minutes, and my copy of the invoice says that they replaced a leaking switch, and cleaned/greased connections.  Glad I got it done!
 
I'm still not even sure what that switch is that they replaced.  I thought it was related to cruise control, but I mentioned that to them over the phone once and the service rep sounded confused.  Either way, it's done!
 
We have a 1998 HR Endeavor on a Ford chasis. We also had gotten the recall concerning the speed switch possible fire problem. You can thank Ford engineering for this problem and also for letting it continue for many years/models. If I understood the Ford Service advisor correctly the problem was in the steering stalk and was a "short/ground" electrical problem. It was a small wire carrying a low current and was not fused. If shorted, it continued to "leak" until it burnt itself clear or heated to the point of ignition. Ford used this same harnes in many models for many years. Ford's "fix" was to install a new little wiring harness with a low current fuse in-line. If the fuse blew it meant you had a problem and you now had the pleasure of a multi-hundred dollar repair/replacement instesad of an official recall. The Ford fix took about 5 minutes and I now hope that we never have a further problem or we either lose the "cruise' function or spend hundreds of dollars to replace the entire harness. Thank you Ford for your better idea/fix! Good luck to the rest of you.
 
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