Dt: the contact stated the heater core ruptured, which caused water to get into the electrical system, and vehicle caught on fire. The vehicle has not been inspected to determine the cause of the problem. *ak upodated11/29/05.
1997 Ford Escort: fire, smoke or burning smell
47 of the 543 complaints about the 1997 Ford Escort describe fire, smoke or burning smell.
- owner complaints
- 47
- of this car's complaints
- 9%
- typical mileage
- 82,000
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 17 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below
Fire, smoke or burning smell by model year
What owners say
Dt: the vehicle had an electrical short and burned up all of the wiring. *ak when the consumers wife started the vehicle she notice smoke coming from the steering column.
While parked on dealer 's property for repairs the vehicle caught on fire. The cause was an electrical malfunction. Consumer stated she only owned the vehicle for three weeks, and dealer claimed no responsibility.
While driving at 60 MPH both frontal air bags deployed inadvertently. Consumer drove vehicle to dealer. While talking to a manufacturer's representative via phone vehicle caught on fire less then 15 minutes while parked. The fire appeared to have started under the hood on the passenger's side. The local fire department arrived to extinguish the fire. The cause of the fire was determined to be electrical.
While driving at 15 MPH consumer turned the heather on to warm up the vehicle and suddenly vehicle caught on fire. Flames and heavy smoke came from under the dashboard.
After parking the vehicle for a few seconds vehicle caught on fire from under the hood near the firewall. Local fire department arrived to extinguish the fire. Dealer was not notified.
Car stalled try to restart car caught on fire, now total loss.
When the vehicle was parked, the consumer noticed smoke was coming from the vehicle, whic eventually caught on fire. The consumer called the fire department to extinguish the fire. There were no injuries. The fire department informed the consumer that the fire was electrical, and started under the dashboard. *ak *sc
Last thursday my husbands 1997 ford escort caught fire, and we think it was because of a faulty air bag sensor. It had been previously recalled, and we took it to the local ford dealer and had the problem corrected. But everything that happened fell in exactly with what the recall letter said would happen if we didn't get it fixed. We would like this matter further investigated because we feel that the ford dealership only installed another faulty air bag sensor into our car instead of fixing it like they were supposed to. Neither my husband or I were injuried when the car caught fire, but that was only by the grace of god. If we can prevent this from happening to someone else then we should.
Consumer stated when vehicle was purchased 3 months ago air bag light was on and later went off. On december 22, 2003, the airbag light came on upon starting , and then air bags deployed, and smoke began to come out of the dash. Vehicle caught on fire and was totaled. The fire department stated fire was due to a short in a wire.
Prior to having recall# 02v323000 performed for the air bag monitor, while driving on the interstate flames started coming from underneath the dashboard. The fire burned the entire dashboard and it's components.
Vehicle's air bags deployed and dashboard caught on fire while parked in a local garage.*mr the air bag light was coming on and off the remained on. Consumer allowed the vehicle to cool after smelling smoke. A trooper recommended having the vehicle towed. The vehicle was at a local garage locked up when the fire occurred. The windshield shattered due to the hot temperature. The fire dept. Found the vehicle was under recall for defective air bags.
Service bulletins that may apply
- Rough idle, low power and / or stall at idle, a malfunction indicator lamp illuminated and diagnostic...
- Remote keyless entry (RKE) - service tips
- Subject on a wire harness terminal repair kit available for repairing electrical wiring harnesses
- Ford motor company has released a new electrical grease ( F8AZ - 19G208-AA ) to reduce the possibility of...
- Some vehicles may exhibit a customer concern of steady or intermittent miss with dtcs P0300 and P0304
- Some vehicles may exhibit concerns created by water ingestion into the integrated relay control module (IRCM)
- Difficulties removing key from ignition on some vehicles
- Information on replacing the wiring harness on some vehicles
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 1997 Ford Escort fire or smoke
Is fire, smoke or burning smell a common problem on the 1997 Ford Escort?
47 of 543 owner complaints about the 1997 Ford Escort (9%) mention fire, smoke or burning smell. The model year with the most reports is 1997.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1997 Ford Escort?
There are 0 recalls and 17 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 1997 Ford Escort
Airbag light 33Coil spring 30Stalling 22No deployment 14Ball joint 13Brake failure 12Check engine light 11Grinding brakes 9Sudden acceleration 9Headlights 8Loss of power 6Transmission failure 6
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