Ford Expedition fire or smoke problems

Filed Oct 26, 2026 · Electrical · OK

I smelled something burning in my vehicle and then after that my air conditioner stopped working and it turned out to be the blower motor that was replaced in December of 2023

Filed Sep 2, 2026 · Acceleration, Brakes · CA · fire

THe component was the speed control deactivation switch Manufacturer Recall Number 05S28 the federal safety agency Recall Number05V017000 Recall Status Recall Incomplete. It is unknown if the part is available for inspection but the vehicle is. The fire occurred while driving and left me stranded on the side of the road with five dogs, 2 hours away from home with no way of getting back. I had to find a hotel that allowed pets which was expensive and have been in said hotel starting August 25 through today, September 2. We are paid until tomorrow and I have exhausted all funds and resources. We will be without food, shelter, or teransportation. Yes the problemhas been confirmed by Santa Monica Lincoln Ford Dealership. The mechanic liason is Art Albrandt and can be reached at [XXX]. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone other than the mechanics at thew Ford Dealership No there was no warning prior to the incident. The vehicle was running just fine. ZThe vehicle caught fire en route to Los Angeles frim San Bernardino County. AAA came and towed the vehicle to a friend's house because it was very late, and towed to the dealership the following morning. I found the nearest pet friendly hotel because I had no way to transport my animals any distance. I waited two days before being told that a part that was needed was discontinuerd, and they would have to find it at a pick a part over the weekend. At this point I had exhaiusted all of my financial resources and had to borrow funds to keep us housed. That following monday I was toild that the problem, specifically the part, that was related to the recall had been fixed however the vehicle still did not run and because it was so old they did not have the equipment to further diagnose it and referred us to a nearby mechanic who could help us. So far we have been referred to 4 mechanics and none are willing to even look at it. I filed a complaint with Ford, case number [XXX]. I explained that the recg INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FO

Filed Aug 3, 2026 · Seat belts · TX

While I, the driver, was parking the vehicle, there was a loud pop noise next to my ear. My seatbelt locked up in place and there was smoke coming from the seatbelt tensioner area of the car. The seatbelt will not move at all now. I just took it into the Ford dealer and they said they are unable to fix it under the recall because it is only in the advanced stages. They recommend that I wait.

Filed Jul 2, 2026 · Acceleration · UT · fire

On XXX my 2000 Ford Expedition caught on fire at around 2am. It had not been driven or turned on since XXX, and was sitting parked that whole time. It was parked in the parking lot of my apartment building, right outside of my unit. I was woken up by a loud pop which I believe was the tire exploding, and the flames were tall enough to see outside my second story bedroom window. My entire apartment building was evacuated by the fire department, and some doors were kicked in by them, including mine. After they put the fire out, the fire inspector looked for two hours to determine a cause and were only able to determine that the fire started under the hood, on the drivers side, close to the dashboard area. The vehicle was completely totaled in the fire, and my other car parked next to it was damaged from the fire as well, and the apartment building had a lot of damage from the fire and heat spreading to it. Multiple residents were displaced for a few days at the advice of the fire department, to let units air out from the carcinogenic fumes. The vehicle has been towed and signed over to AutoMoto Salvage yard. I was researching what could have started this fire and found this article where the federal safety agency investigated over 600 spontaneous Ford vehicle fires including year 2000 Ford Expeditions, caused by cruise control deactivation switches, which are located in the same place under the hood that the fire department determined my fire originated. [XXX] My vehicle was not listed in any recall, but that article states that over 200 vehicles that caught fire were not either. I'm unsure if the salvage yard still has it available for inspection. It has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer. It was inspected by the fire department and police department - insurance did not do their own inspection. There were no warning signs and the vehicle was running like normal. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jun 29, 2026 · Engine · MI · fire

Incident happened 06/26/2026. My wife was driving with our 4 kids down the highway to family event. My wife smelled a funny odor coming from the vents and was going to drive to the next exit and then noticed smoke. At that moment she wasn’t sure where the smoke was coming from. She put the hazards on and started pulling off to the shoulder thinking possibly it was the radiator. She came to a stop and called me (husband) that something was wrong with the vehicle. She was going to leave the kids in the car, get out and check the radiator. That’s when smoke started coming in through the air vents. She didn’t want the kids to breath in the smoke so they exited the vehicle, that’s when she noticed a fire under the engine. At that point a state trooper arrived on scene. He checked on my wife and kids and brought them back to his patrol car. The trooper went back to the vehicle to grab the baby’s diaper bag and wife’s purse. The trooper tried to extinguish the flames but the front of the vehicle was well involved already. Within 10-15 minute from my wife stopping the whole car was burnt to the ground and nothing left of the car. Looking back my wife only had a couple minutes to get to safety, had they lingered before getting out of the vehicle this could have been a tragic fatality incident. Our children do not feel safe riding in a vehicle since the incident happened. The safety of the trooper on scene was at risk helping get everyone to safety. It seems that something on the engine failed with how quickly the fire started. Vehicle can and should be inspected to find out what happened so this does not happen to another family. The vehicle has not been inspected yet. No warning lights ever came on. There was never any symptoms prior to this incident and the vehicle has been serviced by the dealer prior to and since we purchased the vehicle.

Filed Jun 12, 2026 · Electrical, Fuel system · FL · fire

This was a rental vehicle hybrid, while driving on a highway, the vehicle first developed a flat tire. Afterward, while the vehicle was in motion, smoke appeared and the vehicle caught fire spontaneously. There was no collision or impact of any kind. The driver pulled over and all passengers exited safely. The fire spread very rapidly and it's a total loss. The fire department responded and extinguished the fire. The fire appears to have originated in the hybrid battery area. The were no warnings. Safety risk: the fire occurred while vehicle was moving on a public highway with occupants inside, and spread very quickly after stopping. The Highway Patrol attended the scene and a police report was filled, incident documented. I'm reporting this as a serious safety concern.

Filed Jun 10, 2026 · Seat belts · OK

While driving down the highway I suddenly heard a loud bang and what looked like smoke came out from the area by the front passenger seatbelt. The seatbelt had suddenly retracted fully and locked. Thankfully the seat was unoccupied at the time, so nobody was injured by this. When calling the local Ford dealership we were told we needed to bring vehicle in for inspection before parts could be ordered. When we called back to schedule the inspection we were told the recall was paused so we needed to wait to even have the inspection. After contacting Ford corporate we were finally able to bring in for inspection 06/01/2026 to confirm what we already knew about the broken seatbelt retractor. The dealership relayed this info to Ford, and Ford told them not to fix it at this time. When we called the dealership 06/08 they relayed that info to us. We then requested that Ford provide us a loaner vehicle. The dealership called us back 06/09 to let us know that Ford would not be providing a loaner vehicle. Our front passenger seat is occupied about 95% of the time, and that seatbelt is completely unusable. We have not been given any kind of timeline for when it can be repaired, and have no other option but to drive it the way it is. It is illegal and we are forced to put the life of one of our family members at risk because we do not have any extra seats or the money to buy yet another vehicle or pay for a rental as we are still paying for this vehicle that we bought less than a year ago.

Filed May 26, 2026 · Engine · OH · fire

On May 16, 2026, my 2023 Ford Expedition with 6,197 miles caught fire while I was driving home from work. I smelled smoke inside the cabin, and within moments smoke began coming through the air vents. I pulled over and exited the vehicle. When I got out, I saw the engine compartment was on fire and heavy smoke was coming from under the hood. As I moved away from the vehicle, there were multiple loud pops and bangs coming from the engine area. Police and fire crews responded and extinguished the fire, but the vehicle is a total loss. This was a nearly new vehicle with very low mileage. I believe this was caused by a manufacturing defect. Ford previously settled a class‑action lawsuit involving 2021 Expeditions with engine fire issues, which suggests this problem has not been fully resolved. I am reporting this incident because it is a serious safety hazard and could have resulted in injury or death.

Filed May 3, 2026 · Seat belts · TN

Complaint: While driving at normal road speed with no collision or impact, I experienced a sudden loud “pop” from the driver-side seatbelt area. Immediately after, I noticed a burning smell coming from the same location. I initially believed I had a tire blowout and pulled over to inspect the vehicle. When I attempted to unbuckle and then re-extend the seatbelt, I found that the seatbelt was locked and would not retract or extend normally. The restraint system is now inoperable. This incident appears to be an inadvertent deployment of the seatbelt pretensioner without a crash event, resulting in a restraint system malfunction. The failure occurred during normal driving conditions and without any external trigger. This creates a serious safety risk because: * The seatbelt is no longer functional and cannot properly restrain the occupant * The unintended deployment could startle the driver and lead to loss of vehicle control * The presence of a burning smell raises concern for thermal or electrical hazard within the restraint system I am aware of similar complaints involving unintended seatbelt pretensioner deployment in Ford Expedition vehicles of similar model years. This incident should be investigated as a potential defect affecting occupant restraint systems. I’ve contacted ford with no help to resolve the issue Injury: No Crash: No Fire: No (burning odor present, no visible flames) Speed at time of incident: 35 Mileage at time of incident: 170xxx The vehicle’s seatbelt system remains in a failed/locked condition and requires repair.

Filed Apr 19, 2026 · Electrical, Engine · TX · fire

I took my vehicle to the dealership to have all recall work done on Feb. 11th 2026. I was told i am up to date on all my recall work at that time. When I received my vehicle back It would intermittently just shut down for no apparent reason while sitting at stop lights, or just stopped in that fashion. I called and the dealership they said unless they could recreate the issue somewhat easily there was noting they could really do. So while parked in driveway the vehicle again had no power, I used my emergency key to get into vehicle and opened the hood to which I found the battery terminal connections were never tighten. I could take them off by hand. This told me the mechanic at the dealership didn't complete job and tighten my battery connections, Fast forward to April 18th, it was raining, I parked vehicle, still running, went into post office ( I was only gone for 30 seconds)and I came out to white smoke billowing out from under the hood. I opened hood the large flames shooting up. I quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher I had in the car and put 90% of the fire out, it was still burning at the fuse junction box, moments later a police officer showed up with fire extinguisher and was able to put it out. The car would not stop running, so once the fire dept. arrived they had to cut the battery terminals to shut the vehicle down. This was also the first time I drove vehicle in the rain since my recall work was done. The fire dept. and I realized the fuse box cover was not in place. So now this same mechanic that did't tighten battery terminals was also neglectful in not replacing the fuse box cover. I believe this neglect partially if not wholly caused this fire. It is highly probable that water got into the fuse box and shortened everything out which caused the fire. I have a document from the dealership that states they did the recall work for 22S36 - Underhood fires. But this website says this work was not performed. No inspection from anyone has been done