OT--The largest recall in automotive history.....

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: OT--The largest recall in automotive history.....
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William L Vanderburg on Tuesday, August 07, 2012 - 08:39 pm:

Is Ford related.....

Do you know what it is?

I do, and am curious exactly how it would happen.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Paul Nicholson on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 12:28 am:

Yep, it was the cruise control brake pressure switch. The switch would sense brake pressure when the brakes were applied and cancel the cruise. The remedy always seemed kinda cheap in my opinion. They came up with a harness with two fuses in it, to plug into the switch. On the harness, it says that if the fuse blows, to replace the switch and discard the harness. HMMMMM, why not just replace the defective switches in the first place. OH well, what do we know??????LOL


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Schedler, Sacramento on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 12:49 am:

Paul, The brake switch is supposed to disconnect the cruise. I don't follow??


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Garrison on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 12:59 am:

I think Paul is saying it would completely disconect (shut-off) the cruise. In order to make it work the driver would have to turn the cruise back on and reset it instead of just pushing the cruise button. Am I right Paul?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 02:07 am:

I don't know when this was, but the Frods I've owned with CC have a brake (hyd) pressure switch and a second switch on the pedal.

rdr


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Paul Nicholson on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 10:09 am:

Yes, Ricks is right. (wait, did I just say that??? LOL) I guess to be correct, I should call it a brake pressure sensor instead of a simple switch. (me-bad) The recall was actually done in two stages. The first thing was to simply disconnect the switch until the fuse harness was available. This left an inop cruise control. Some of the people never did return to get the harness. Last week I worked on a 95 Grand Marquise that had an inop cruise and sure enough, it was unplugged. I called Ford to get the harness and they blew me off, so I went to the boneyard and picked up a used one. I guess as a "modern day" Mechanic, that is why I love working on my T. Now if I could just find where Ol' Henry hid the diagnostic connector!!!!;)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 10:20 am:

I once heard that 55,000 Mercurys were recalled because they found traces of tuna in them... :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Hatch on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 01:34 pm:

That switch would start a fire, even if the vehicle was not running. One of the recalls I got said not to park the truck inside over night till you took it to the dealer. Dan


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ken Kopsky, Lytle TX on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 01:49 pm:

The cruise control wasn't the largest unless you count both events that were years apart.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 01:50 pm:

That one pertains to the Windstars, among other Fords, Dan. The switch, mounted on the end of the Master Cylinder, would leak onto a wiring harness, and start a fire. Obviously, it would have to leak a fair amount before it became hazardous. I never took my two Windstars in for the switch replacement, because they were not from the manufacturer of the defective ones.

Not only can they leak, but these switches are a problem, because they use Normally Closed instead of Normally Open contacts, which can easily cause an intermittent open circuit.

When I bought my 2004 Mercury Monterey (Freestar) in 2009, the ABS fail light would come on after a few miles, and the CC couldn't be engaged. Although the recall did not apply to the 2004, I spent $40 and replaced that switch. That cured the faults.

Somewhere in the back of my alleged mind is memory of CC failing to disengage on our '86 Mercury Sable. That's when I first found the switch on the pedal, and fixed it with spray lube.

rdr


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By A. J. "Art" Bell on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 04:37 pm:

If I recall, the cruise control switch was actuated by fluid against
a flexible membrane that could leak brake fluid into the chamber
where the switch contacts were located.
I just disconnected the power connector on my 1997 F150 until I
got the call to come in for the fix.
They had me in and out in 15 minutes, with the paper work taking
longer than the fix. Never even got out of the reception bay.
I seem to remember that they did not replace the switch, but only
added a fusible link or wire to the harness.
Still have the truck, no flames or smoke as yet!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By HARRY A DAW on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 05:20 pm:

I liked your comment Dick!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By keith g barrier on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 07:14 pm:

I replaced many of those switches, they would short and start a fire. The first one I found before the recall was by accident while doing another repair, I would see a puff of smoke every couple minutes, still did'nt find it for a little while till I got directly over it. KB


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 07:23 pm:

Thanks, Harry. The thread has been so serious that I thought no one had noticed....


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