1994 Ford Crown Victoria: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Jan 7, 2018 · Acceleration, Engine · 112,845 miles · OK · fire

After driving 30 miles, I parked the car in the driveway at my home. Approximately 10 minutes later, I was informed that the car was on fire under the engine hood. I attempted to unlatch the hood but was unable to due to the unlatch cable being destroyed by the fire. The fire had melted a big hole in the hood at the left rear corner and had destroyed the windshield in the same area. I was only able to extinguish the fire by using a water hose and squirting the water through the melted hole in the hood hole. I believe that the cruise control had leaked fluid on the engine in the area of the left rear spark plug and had started the fire which had melted all the components in the area on the firewall area. The cruise control was inoperable during my previous drive.

Filed May 2, 2017 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 120,000 miles · IN

Hold latch broke a number of days ago, one day driving 60mph on the highway the hood flew up and smashed my windshield. A few months later my fuel pump caught on fire, I had no idea until I got under the car because it didn't want to start. I'm glad to be alive from the fire, the car could have blown up! My ABS brake light is on as well! Last night I was reading up on some forums and I found out that ford was trying to hide these issue's!!!!! Don't believe me? Look for your self http://bit.ly/2qtidtt thats the url, copy it and paste it in your browser!! I will include it in my pictures as well. They tryed to hide the problem by putting an inline fuse to make it a little bit "safer"!!! My car hasnt been to the dealership in forever and they never got to fix the problem they hid from every one!! Ill show you in the pictures. Please investigate this problem!!! The inline fuse is still hooked up to my speed control deactivation switch, and the original switch is still in car and this is where the problem. My son stumbled across this when he couldn't find the original connector for the original fuel pump that I ordered a few days ago that was hard to find. They changed the original fuel pump to a new one with a different connector. One of their recalls was faulty connectors. The connector on my car was the original and that is what caused my fuel pump to catch fire. The hood latch I didn't know was a recall and it broke a while back, I didn't think nothing of it until my hood flew up and smashed my windshield!! Please tell me I'm not the only one who caught onto this! Please help and investigate!!! My son thinks it all stemmed from the program speed control system and the leaking speed control deactivation switch (scds).

Filed Jul 17, 2010 · Electrical · 128,000 miles · NY · fire

1994 crown victoria erupted into flames when started. First smoke came from the dashboard then flames. The car was parked in my driveway and so the siding on the house melted. The car is a total loss. This happened yesterday july, 16, 2010.

Filed May 20, 2008 · Acceleration · GA · fire

Tl*the contact owned a 1994 ford crown victoria. While parked, the contact's vehicle caught fire underneath the hood. The vehicle was destroyed. Two vehicles parked near the burning vehicle received paint damage, and were repaired by the contact's insurance company. She has reports from her insurance company regarding the fire. She filed a complaint with ford and they sent a letter in response stating that there were no open recalls on her vehicle. They further stated that if a recall should become available, she would be notified. In march of 2008, the contact received a safety recall notice for the federal safety agency campaign id number 07v336000 (vehicle speed control). A police report was filed. The contact has pictures. The current and failure mileages were unavailable. Updated 06/09/2008.

Filed Apr 28, 2008 · Engine · 130,000 miles · NJ · fire

On the date noted, I parked my 1994 ford crown victoria in my driveway shut it off and went inside to perform some errands. While inside I heard a large boom, followed by a car horn sounding intermittently. I ran to the window expecting to see a vehicle crash by my house and saw flames shooting through the hood on the drivers side near the power booster area ,with a large hole where the hood used to be. The flames were shooting about 10-12 feet into the air and ignited the pitch pine and leaves adjacent to the vehicle. I called 911 to report the fire, ran outside and used my garden hose to contain the fire until fire apparatus arrived. The drivers side under hood area was especially gutted as well as the passenger compartment, destroying various personal items along with the vehicle and some small trees belonging to my neighbors. The local fire marshall did an investigation along with taking numerous photos of the damage and stated it was accidental in nature and started, as my description previously states,in the drivers side engine compartment, and given my lack of insurance coverage for this type of incident, I had no reason to want to destroy my only means of earning a my livelihood.

Filed Feb 28, 2008 · Acceleration, Electrical · 82,390 miles · FL · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 1994 ford crown victoria. The contact stated that her vehicle was repaired in august of 2007 for a defective cruise control switch. She received a second recall notice for the cruise control in february of 2008. On february 22, 2008, the contact had the cruise control deactivated. The following day, while driving 40 MPH with the windshield wipers and turn signals activated, she noticed smoke coming from the base of the steering wheel. She took the vehicle back to the dealer on the 25th of february and they installed a lock-set and switch assembly direction. The contact believed that she should receive compensation for travel expenses to and from the dealer as well as for worry of a potential fire. The purchase date and recall numbers were unknown. The current mileage was 82,400 and failure mileage was approximately 82,390. Updated 03-31-08 *bf the consumer stated the vehicle started without the key in the ignition. Updated 03/31/08

Filed Sep 5, 2007 · Acceleration · 128,000 miles · AL · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 1994 ford crown victoria. On may 31, 2007, while the vehicle was parked, the contact noticed smoke rising from under the hood. The smoke turned into flames and engulfed the vehicle. The vehicle was destroyed and a fire report was filed. The contact just recently received the federal safety agency campaign id notice number 07v336000 (vehicle speed control). The purchase date was unavailable. The current and failure mileages were 128,000.

Filed Oct 31, 2005 · Acceleration · 111,000 miles · LA · fire

Dt: the contact stated while parked the vehicle caught on fire under the hood. It was parked for at least an hour and forty minutes. The fire department was called to extinguish the fire and a report was taken. The vehicle was totaled. There has been no investigation as to why this occurred.*ak updated 11/29/2005 - another vehicle was damaged during this fire.

Filed Aug 30, 2005 · Engine · 85,000 miles · CT · fire

1994 crown victoria caught on fire.*mr

Filed Aug 19, 2005 · Acceleration · 77,668 miles · MD · fire

On the evening of august 14, 2005, a neighbor informed my family that our parked 1994 ford crown victoria, VIN number [xxx], had smoke coming from the hood. It may be on fire. I checked the vehicle and observed that there was smoke coming from under the brake fluid reservoir/cylinder area of the engine compartment/driver's side. No visible fire was detected at this time, but there must have been some sort of combustion that had occurred due to the volume of smoke. (note - all coolant hoses were checked and no defects were observed which would create the appearance of smoke through steam) I checked the fuse box and noticed that the fuse allowing power to the brake activation/deactivation switches was blown. I replaced the fuse and the vehicle started to smoke in a thick white cloud from the same area as described above. The next day I brought the vehicle to the dealer. The dealer's examination revealed that the problem was the speed deactivation switch, which the dealer labels as a "kit - brake switch". Rick collins, the service representative told me he was unaware of any problems with ford vehicles, mine in particular that may be catching on fire as a result of this switch. I conducted further research on the internet which LED me to believe that there is or may be a problem that could cause death or serious injury to someone. My vehicle was unattended and turned off when the smoke began and this could have easily been a more serious situation. Further it appears that ford does not properly inform their employees of potential problems with vehicles and then attempts to cover it up by mislabeling the repair by not correctly identifying the repair parts. Updated 07/19/2012 *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

Filed Nov 25, 2003 · Engine · 100,000 miles · IL

While driving the vehicle, the consumer noticed black smoke coming from the engine. The consumer pulled the vehicle over and called a tow truck. The vehicle was towed to the dealership. The mechanic informed the owner that the plastic intake manifold failed. Please add any further details.

Filed Mar 7, 2001 · Electrical · FL · fire

Car parked in front of home. Had not been driven for 1.5 hours prior to fire. Engine compartment caught fire, fire quickly spread to rest of car. Engine, hood, grill totally melted. Vehicle a total loss. *ak referenced in ea02-025