Millions of vehicles have fire risk part(Ford-when engine NOT Running)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/16/ford.vehicles/index.html

Early this year, Laura Hernandez nudged her husband, Nestor Oyola, as he slept in their Kissimmee home and asked him to put the Ford Expedition he had bought her the day before into the garage.

<snip>

At 5 the next morning, half an hour after her husband had driven his SUV to work, Hernandez was awakened by barking from Chakuil, their Chihuahua mix.

"He saved our lives," said Hernandez, who smelled smoke and roused her 15-year-old daughter, Rotsenmary.

They had time to grab only the dog and their pet birds before flames spread from the garage and engulfed the house.

<snip>

A fire investigator, hired by their auto insurance company, said the blaze was caused by a cruise-control deactivation switch in the SUV -- a type of switch that Ford installed in millions of its vehicles from 1992 until 2003.

[sendero]

1. A couple weeks ago...

... a F150 was parked across the street. It belonged to a workman fixing the AC of the house across the street.

I noticed smoke coming out of the hood near the windshield on the driver's side. I looked around for the guy and couldn't find him - when I looked at the truck again the smoke was gone. I went back into the house.

About 10 minutes later I walk back outside and there is a ton of smoke coming out and the guy is trying to open his hood. I ran into the house and got the fire extinguisher.

He got the hood open and I blasted it and put it out. It was a pretty good sized fire by then, without putting it out it probably would have burned the whole vehicle down. It looked like it started near the master cylinder - and I was thinking "what could cause a fire there"?

Well now I guess I know :(

[Warpy]

2. Well, saved by poverty AGAIN

My 4 chipmunk Ranger doesn't have AC or a cruise control or much of anything else and in 2 years, it'll be old enough to vote.

It doesn't catch on fire, either.

[Dudley_DUright]

3. Also have a Ranger w/o any bells or whistles

and now glad of it.

[Hardrada]

4. I should have kept my "74 Superbeetle

It was safe everywhere except possibly on the highway.

[NNN0LHI]

5. My Yugo was a great car too. It even had a rear window defroster to...

...keep my hands from freezing when I was pushing it down the highway. Yea, what a car. They just don't make em like they used to.

Don

[KittyWampus]

6. Oh, But 35 Toyotas Hybrids Have Had Complaints Of Stalling....

[On the Road]

7. I Thought (per Jon Stewart)

This would be about the Pontiac "Actually-on-Fire-Bird".

[RebelOne]

8. What a relief. I was worried for a moment that the switch

was in my Taurus. But they were only in the 1993-95 models. Mine is a 1999.