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.
1997 Ford Escort electrical complaints
Page 2 of 5: complaints 11 to 40 of 114, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Initial problem was that heater blower would not operate. When brought to the dealer, they determined that there had been an electrical melt-down on a component and stated that we were fortunate that we had not had a fire. They removed and replaced the motor resistor and connector. I am reporting this because when I checked for complaints regarding escorts, there were many others that did have fires due to wiring/electrical problems.
The horn stuck when in use. Consumer had to unhook the horn from the battery. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.
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.
Upon turning the vehicle on it stalled . Tried starting it again and it blew up, burning completely to the back seat of the vehicle. There were no warnings or indications.
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
Wiring harness break in wagon hatch causing all elec. Components to malfunction, lso engine unable to shut off(with key removed from ignition).
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.
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.
Horn sounds intermittently on its own without any one touching the mechanism.*ak *ph
Horn activated on its own and stuck on. Eventually both horns failed. Problem is due to the horn pad switch which is part of the driver air bag. Replacing the horns and air bag costs in excess of $800.
Heater core leaked onto the airbag monitor which caught on fire and short circuited the electrical system.
Horn malfunctioed, ,does not stop,had to pull fuse out.
Consumer states while driving on the interstates highway vehicle caught on fire. She smelled smoke, and looked down, and there were fire coming from under the dash. Dash burned up. She had vehicle towed to a dealership, but he did not diagnose the problem, just said it was the dashboard.
Consumer requesting restitution for a house fire that was caused by a vehicle fire.*mr *ts. Prior to the fire the vehicle also experienced a problem with the alternator and the brakes squeaking.
Problems with wiring harness resulting in vehicle fire. *mr while the consumer proceeded through a stop light the vehicle began to act erratically, the air bag light illuminated and the vehicle stalled out. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it later caught fire awaiting diagnosis and repair. There was a recall related to this failure but the consumer didn't received the noticed prior to the fire (recall # 02v323000). The consumer also requested reimbursement. *scc
The horn activated by itself when the vehicle was parked.
Passenger compartment fuse blown along with tail light, turn signal, brake light and radio not functioning. Found melted wires under dash by the fuse block making the ignition bell ring without key in ignition. Smoke coming from under dash. Service dealer claims it will be in excess of $2000.00 to repair.
The vehicle caught on fire.
The keys became stuck in the ignition while in use. The mechanic was unable to get the keys out of the ignition, which have been stuck in the ignition for the past 2 months.
The plastic light bulb socket for my center high mount stop lamp (chmsl) has repeatedly melted causing the chmsl to not work. I have gone through two (2) sockets and they have both failed in the same manner.
Brought my car in for the wiring recall and I told the dealer that there was spark knocking in the engine when it first starts and under hard acceleration. When I drive into my parents drive way my parents tell me that they know I am there because of the radio interference on the tv screen. I know a lot about electricity and I know that this is caused by noise and or shorts, bad connections what have you. I am very concerned about this because I know that the car has resistor plugs. We have also replaced the computer once and now this recall thing! We also had to replace the rear springs. When its really cold out and go to start the car the starter does not disengage and grinds on the fly wheel. It takes forever for it to warm up and it does not rarely ever warm up when its idling you have to drive it to get any heat. But overall its only left my wife stranded once. That's better than our last vehicle!! But now I wonder if this car is a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. Ford may not be my next choice of vehicle in the future that is if it doesn't kill me first!
While driving home from work on 12/1/2002 vehicle began to smoke near dashboard area. Vehicle stalled and was pushed into nearby parking deck. Vehicle towed to home the next day much to my surprise the entire dashboard area had caught fire. While in deck and entire dashboard and wiring system completely destroyed. Front window also sustained major fire damage. Dt
Heater core is leaking causing fluid to get into air bag sensor and as a result the air bag light flashes off/on, the engine stalls while driving dealer replaced the computer, some electrical wire were replaced because the car began to smoke.*ak
Ford just recently informed me that the defective horn reported just a few weeks out of warranty. Also involves the airbag. Robin marshall of ford headquarters customer relations informed of this safety risk a couple of weeks ago: (313)845-5831. Ford never informed us of the additional airbag safety risk until this time. I reported the horn malfunction (as it was setting in the garage the horn suddenly sounded at around 2 a.m.). Ford refuses to fix the problem without the payment of at least $300 and only recently agreed to even inspect the vehicle at their expense. As a result of this inspection (apparently) we were told of the airbag defect which, remember, has existed for years now.
While traveling on highway and without prior warning applied horn and there was no noise. Also, dual airbags willnot deploy. Dealership is aware of problem.
My late son's (robert d. Lawrence iii) 1997 ford escort caught fire while sitting parked, with the engine turned off, on voters road in slidell, la. Mechanic advised fire started around the air conditioner. Contacted ford dealer and the ford company, but received no information or advice. Both ignored his complaintand stonewalled him.. Robert iii's insurance company (safeway)paid off a total loss to ford and left my late son with over $4,000 still due. Ford motor credit sued him for the balance just before he died on july 16, 2002. The vehicle is sitting in my yard if investigators from the federal safety agency would like to see it in connection with the current investigation into sudden fires in 1997 ford escorts. Ford should, at least, drop their lawsuit. They should have given the boy another car when that one caught fire.
While being parked over night vehicle caught on fire internally. Owner saw windshield black, and dashboard melted. Cause of fire was unknown at this time. Please describe details.
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