2001 Ford Excursion: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Jun 17, 2018 · Acceleration · 70,000 miles · NC

Cruise control cutout switch mounted on master cylinder is full of brake fluid including the electrical connector. The VIN number doesn't link to a recall. Perhaps the previous owner had switch replaced under recall or perhaps this VIN wasn't in the original recall. In any event a fire hazard is present.

Filed Jan 4, 2010 · Engine · 127,000 miles · TX

Ford - spark plug blow out: yesterday my 2001 excursion with a 5.4 triton v8 engine blew a spark plug right out of the engine. It blew out with such force, the boot and cap/ coil snapped in two (the screw is still on tight). The treads of the old plug have no (none, zero) signs of damage, so how does a spark plug that is screwed in just blow out. Our local mechanic states "this is common on many ford triton engines. The head heats up and expands, since there are minimal threads holding the plug in place, during the combustion cycle, the plug just blows completely out." I thought he was giving me a load of non-sense, thus simply preparing me for the sure to be huge up-coming bill. However, once I researched this on-line, it only took just a few minutes to discover many, many people have experienced the same thing, on several different year, make and model vehicles involving ford's triton engines. I have always been a ford guy. I dealt with the cruise control issue and such but this one takes the cake. During these harsh economic times ford needs to step up and do the right thing or they will never see me, any of my relatives or friends at any of their dealerships again! We will go elsewhere and let ford learn a thing or two about a very valuable lesson regarding simple economics called "supply and demand" or lack thereof for any of ford's products (cars, trucks, t-shirts, logo stickers, etc). Ford owners experiencing this same issue need to stand up, be heard and more importantly to have this problem fixed by those responsible for creating the issue - ford!

Filed Jan 5, 2008 · Acceleration, Electrical · FL

We have the exact part that is in recall for several other vehicles that ford produces and is causing fire under the hood. When we took our excursion to a ford dealer they deactivated the speed control deactivation switch. This was done because we also have some oil leak in our cam shaft position sensor which was recalled and the two problem can cause a fire. Even though this is the exact part that is recalled in other vehicles they are not recalling it in the larger trucks. So now I have no cruise control feature because of the deactivation. Speed control deactivation switch, ford just deactivated it since my vehicle is not on the list. Same part, same #,

Filed May 24, 2006 · Acceleration · 100,000 miles · FL · fire

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 40 MPH the smell of smoke was present but no other indicators. The vehicle was moved off the road where a fire was noticed coming from under the hood. The fire was immediately extinguished. The fire department responded and filed a report. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was determined the cruise control switch caused the fire and needed to be replaced.

Filed Dec 29, 2005 · Engine · 88,874 miles · SC

Driving on level interstate highway with cruise control set at 70 MPH. Heard small explosion similar to tire blowout. Immediately pulled over to side of road and checked engine. Found that the #3 spark plug had blown out of the cylinder head. Had vehicle towed home. No repairs made at this time due to holidays.

Filed Sep 16, 2005 · Acceleration · 93,000 miles · TX · fire · 1 injury

Concerning my 2001 ford excursion - VIN number [xxx], (not part of recent recalls by ford!). After short trip, (25 miles) drove to late evening of the 16th of july. Parked my 2001 ford excursion directly in front of home in center of the circular drive approx 4 ft from front door. Turned off vehicle & went inside house to bed. After about 50 mins, (12:15 am july 17th) startled by loud sound outside. I opened the front door of home and saw excursion ablaze on driveway where I had parked it. I woke up family, (wife and 3 young children) sent them next door, called 911. Quickly ran outside drove my cadillac away from the excursion. Flames leapt 16 to 20 feet in air. Neighbor and I grabbed water hoses and able to contain till the fire dept arrived 15 minutes later. My family traumatized! Thank goodness was not parked in the driveway. The fire also caused extensive damage to my driveway. There is now a large black area of melted material fused into the cement. Outside of home looks okay..not sure if any internal structures damaged from heat of fire or smoke. Also damaged and destroyed surrounding plants and shrubs. This was a real struggle to keep fire contained. Some smoke inhalation and continued cough since incident. Nationwide insurance said cause of the fire was the cruise control switch!!. An independent forensic fire investigator from advanced investigative concepts, (aic-fire ) investigated cause of fire examining evidence on july 19, 2005. Determined origin and cause. From their report they stated that, "the fire originated at the brake master cylinder located in the rear driver's side portion of the engine compartment. The fire was caused by a defective cruise control deactivation switch." I am very concerned this could happen to somebody else especially given that I have not seen anything released by ford concerning a recall for the excursion. Please diligently pursue ford to recall the excursions to get this rectified. *nm *nm information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5

Filed Sep 7, 2005 · Electrical · TX · fire

A passerby knocked on our front door letting us know our 2001 ford excursion parked in the driveway was smoking. We called the fire department and while waiting for them, disconnected the battery cables to shut off any power to the vehicle. The fire department investigators determined that the fire was caused by the same cruise control switch that has been causing problems with other makes of ford trucks and SUV's. Although we have been told by fire investigators and ford parts managers that the module is the same design/part used in all of the other vehicles that have caught on fire, ford is not assuming any responsibility for repairs and has not included our model in its recalls.

Filed Sep 7, 2001 · Acceleration, Suspension · TX

At 70 MPH the vehicle loses control when it hits and uneven road. The vehicle bounces a lot and there is excessive vibration at 65mph. The cruise control surges when set at approximately 70mph.

Filed Dec 7, 2000 · Acceleration · NY

Failure of cruise control to cancel from the steering wheel or from the brake. The cruise control was activated at approximately 65-70 MPH. After applying the foot brake the vehicle failed to disengage the cruise control. I was fortunate enough to be able to reduce the speed even as the RPM continued to stay at 2000rpm, although it took a much greater distance than normal. I brought the vehicle to a stop and the engine continued to rev at 2000rpm. The cancel button on the steering wheel would not disengage the engine RPM at 2000, and neither would the brake pedal. I pulled to the right side of the road and and placed the transmission in park, and the engine continued to rev at 2000rpm. I applied more fuel and was able to rev the engine between 2000 and 3000rpm only. The cancel button on the steering wheel continued to be inoperable. Finally, at one point, I released my foot from the brake pedal and the RPM then dropped to the normal idle range. I then opened the hood and inspected the engine compartment but was unable to see anything significant to have caused this to have occurred. I consider myself quite lucky to have been in the particular driving situation where I had ample room to bring the vehicle to a stop without having been involved in an accident or to have involved others in an accident. My suspicions are that the code that monitors the switches was somehow confused. I have taken the vehicle to covert ford where it has been since 11/14/2000. Yesterday, I am told, a fmc technical rep has looked over the vehicle. To date no one else , I am told, has been able to replicate the problem. This is the second time reporting this problem. The initial report was identified by the federal safety agency as "odi-735-005" but the report does not appear on your databases.

Filed Oct 24, 2000 · Acceleration · TX

The cruise control was activated at aproximately 65-70mph. After applying the foot brake the vehicle failed to disengage the cruise control. I was fortunate enough to be able to reduce the speed even as the RPM continued to stay at 2000 RPM, although it took a much greater distance than normal. I brought the vehicle to a stop and the engine continued to rev at 2000 RPM. The cancel button on the steering wheel would not disengage and neither would the brake. I pulled to the side of the road and placed the transmission in park, and the engine continued to rev at 2000 RPM. I applied more fuel and was able to rev the engine between 2000 and 3000 RPM only. The cancel button on the steering wheel continued to be inoperable. Finally at one point I released my foot from the brake pedal and the RPM then dropped to the normal idle range. I then opened the hood and inspected the engine compartment but was unable to see anything significant to have caused this to have occurred. I consider myself quite lucky to have been in the particular driving situation where I had ample room to bring the vehicle to a stop without having been involved in an accident or to have involved others in an accident. Having worked with computers for most of my life I suspect that the code was somehow fouled up that may or may not be involved in monitoring the status of the cancel switches...just a hunch. Have there been any other reports of such an incident on ford excursion or ford f250 from which this model is derived?