Tl*the contact owns a 1998 ford explorer sport. The contact stated that the tail lights failed and the fuses would continuously blow out. An independent mechanic installed new fuses in the vehicle and made the necessary repairs, but the fuses blew out again the same day. The vehicle was taken back to the mechanic. While at the repair shop, the vehicle caught fire due to the master cylinder. The mechanic was able to extinguish the fire, but the vehicle was partially destroyed and would need to be rebuilt. The manufacturer stated that there were three open recalls, one of which could result in a fire. The federal safety agency campaign id numbers 06v286000, 03v281000, and 98v060000 were referenced. The current and failure mileages were less than 132,000.
1998 Ford Explorer Sport: fire, smoke or burning smell
13 of the 121 complaints about the 1998 Ford Explorer Sport describe fire, smoke or burning smell.
- owner complaints
- 13
- of this car's complaints
- 11%
- typical mileage
- 132,000
- recalls
- 0
Fire, smoke or burning smell by model year
What owners say
Tl*the contact owns a 1998 ford explorer sport. The vehicle caught fire while parked. The police and fire departments were notified. The entire front end of the vehicle was engulfed in flames and damaged. The vehicle was towed to an impound. The dealer stated that the vehicle was not on fire when they disconnected the cruise control. There was no power running through the vehicle. The vehicle has not yet been diagnosed. A police report was filed. The failure and current mileages were 158,000.
On the way home from work, pulled into driveway and noticed the engine was on fire, contacted the local fire department who responded and extinguish the fire... The vehicle was destroyed.
1998 ford explorer caught fire and burned in garage.
My 1998 ford explorer caught fire in my garage after being parked for 3 hours causing extensive damage to the house.
98 ford explorer sport engine caught fire 10 minutes after vehicle was parked at residence- engine completely burned leaving vehicle totaled.
I arrived back from taking my son to the park at approximately 6:00pm, watched tv and then fired up the grill around 7:45pm. I came back in the house and heard a loud noise. I yelled upstairs to my husband and asked if he had heard the noise, he yelled back and said, call 911 your truck is on fire. He immediately began to fight the fire with two fire extinguishers and the water hose. We were scared as the fire department had not yet arrived and we were worried it was going to blow up as it was only approximately 7 feet from the house. The fire department showed us the area in which the fire started which was under the hood on the driver's side, however, deemed it indeterminable. I was in shock that this occurred as I only had one payment left to payoff the loan. I researched and found out that the same vehicles that were being recalled by ford for a faulty cruise control switch was also used on my 1998, however, had not been recalled. After much research, I have found there are several other vehicles that are the same year as mine were catching on fire for no apparent reason without warning. There have been recalls, however, not on my particular vehicle. Ford sent me a form letter that was addressed to my husband with our address, however, the letter states dear ms. X. (a true indication of their concern for my issue) I am angered that there have been so many vehicles that have burst into flames without warning, burned down cars and homes and lives lost and ford believes they have no responsibility. Could they have not issued a consumer alert for all vehicles and at least afforded the consumer the opportunity to make a decision to pay $20 to replace this part? I will be paying to have a thorough investigation done to prove to ford that they are in fact responsible and will take this as far as I have to. Someone needs to investigate the number of complaints and do something to inform the public of this hazard and potentially save someone's life.
I am the primary driver of my niece's 1998 ford explorer sport. One afternoon I drove the 1998 ford explorer sport to the supermarket, and pharmacy. The 1998 ford explorer sport was running fine, all the gauges were in the middle, no smoke, no smells, no problems. . After arriving home I parked the ford 1998 explorer sport in my driveway, approximately 2 feet from the garage door, and approximately 4 feet from the entrance to my house. The vehicle was parked, shut off and sitting in the driveway with no problems. During the next hour, I begin to hang christmas decorations on my front door, and I was in & out of the house. The 1998 ford explorer sport was still fine in the driveway. Approximately 1 hour after I finished my decorating, I began to smell something like rubber burning. I checked my stove, and electrical outlets, and everything appeared to be fine. I figure the burning smell was coming from my neighbor's house. They had workers there drilling and making repairs. So I then continue to do my chores. Approximately 15 minutes later I went to look out my front door, and I saw dark smoke pouring out the hood of the 1998 ford explorer sport. I panicked, closed the door, grabbed the phone, ran out to the backyard, and call 911. I was to afraid to go out the front door, and also afraid to stay in the house, thinking the house and garage would also catch fire. Thank god, the fire department arrived swiftly, and extinguished the fire. The fire was contained to the vehicle only, the firemen at the scene examine the 1998 ford explorer sport, and determined the fire originated under the hood, the cause appeared to be electrical.
Ford explorer sport 2 door caught fire while parked in the garage. It was not turned on it just caught fire on it's own.
After vehicle was parked for six hours the owner was awakened by some neighbors and informed that vehicle was on fire. Which was coming out of the fender well and consumed the entire vehicle. The fire department was called to the sceneand determined that cruise control was cause of the fire.
I have a 1998 ford explorer sports that caught on fire while the engine was off and parked in my garage. I parked the car at around 7:00 pm and around after 10:00 pm heard a loud explotion in the garage. My family was already in bed and I was watching tv. When I open the access door to the garage the front part of the explorer was in flames. We called 911 and the fire department came and put out the fire, but the car is ruined. My second car is damaged and my garage is also damaged. No one was hurt because we got out of the house on time.
1998 ford explorer caught fire at 4:30 am,under the hood engulfed in flames called fire dept they came and put fire out. The whole entire motor, and front of truck ruined,not drivable. I filed a claim with ford the day after fire,they stated that they were liable because there were no recalls on 1998 explorers.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 1998 Ford Explorer Sport fire or smoke
Is fire, smoke or burning smell a common problem on the 1998 Ford Explorer Sport?
13 of 121 owner complaints about the 1998 Ford Explorer Sport (11%) mention fire, smoke or burning smell. The model year with the most reports is 1998.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1998 Ford Explorer Sport?
There are 0 recalls and 1 service bulletin for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 1998 Ford Explorer Sport
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