FIRE IN THE STEERING COLUMN!

[iforgited]

Help! Today I went outside and started my Ex and smoke came streaming out of the steering column. When I put my foot on the brake the blinkers turned on, but didnt blink they just stayed lit solid. I quick turned off my car cause I didnt want to do more damage then had already occured. I called my Ford Dealer to see if they had ever heard of this and they told me to bring it in right away. So I took it in and wanted to know if my ESP would cover it, the service advisor called the ESP company and they said since it was a fire its not covered. Can any think of anything that might have happened? I really need to know if i should just shell out the money to get it fixed. Thanks for your help.

 

[IAmTodd]

I would think it would be covered because of the cause of the fire. Thats just my opinion though. Hope you get things sorted out. This is the first I've heard of this happening.

 

[Fhantazm]

Man you know what?? Its getting harder and harder these days to get ANY kind of warranty work done. Its like pulling friggin teeth. I hope you can get them to cover it, if not I think i would be looking for a good lawyer. Good luck

 

[blue_97_v8]

hmm..when you find out what it is..tell me..my son's does somthing kinda like that

 

[Crankcase]

It sounds like the ignition switch module is melting down...Ford had a problem with those in F series trucks a few years back....It was a recall.

 

[blue_97_v8]

hmm i was thinkin "multi function switch"??

 

[Rj_TailSpin]

Fire or a Short

An electrical short caused the fire. I would ask for verification on the word fire? It's sounds like they are playing you. If you told them... I have a short in the keyswitch... it might be covered. Don't say fire because it has many different meanings. Take it to another dealer and tell them it is a short... And, don't ask them if it's covered... tell them you expect it to be covered. Poor Workmanship or a defect caused the short which caused the fire. These things should be covered.
Rob

 

[xsport97]

I have had alittle experiance with this problem, I used to have some of the cool blue looking head lights that everyone was getting. Well it turns out that several of the brands of the blue head lights that are out on the market, have the wrong watts on them so you actually are running higher wattage bulbs. To make a long story short, the blue bulbs some how caused my blinker relay in the steering column to melt down, and it smoked alittle bit from the steering column, and caused my lights to go crazy when I tryed to turn them on. My roomate is a tech at our local ford dealership and it turns out there is a bulletin out for many years of explorers saying that some of the blue head lamps will cause a melt down of the blinker relay in the steering column. So if you have aftermarket head lights you may want to have the service tech working on your car look at the blinker relay in the steering column, because it may have melted. I am not sure if the part I am talking about is called the blinker relay, but it is the bottom part of you whole blinker handle in your car, where alot of the light functions of the car plug into.

 

[jimbo74]

was it actually a fire? or just a short where smoke was present.... there is an old saying that there isnt fire without smoke, actually, in reality, smoke can be present before a fire

 

[iforgited]

Well the Ford Dealership called me today, they said that they took the truck apart and nothing is wrong with it, said everything is with in spec, however, the smoke came out of the steering column and you could smell burning plastic.whatever. They did say however that my heated seat had shorted out and they were going to fix that, whatever warranty work. Well all i have to say, is when my car really catches fire, i hope that they will have a new limited waiting for me at the dealership.
---Very Frustrated--- This is the second time in a week that my car has been in. ( Last time Front Right wheel bearing was squealing like hell, guess it ruined the hub or something) The guy at the dealership told me that my car has the longest list of ESP work done that he has ever seen. I think that I might get rid of this truck before the warranty runs out in June! I will mention what you guys told me when i talk to the guy tomorrow about my truck. Thanks for your help.

 

[jasonb]

yeah its probably the multi function switch. mine does this about once every 2 months. small wisp of smoke comes out. i finally took the column apart and the little wires have some burnt spots in them. i got it to do it while apart and its basically just a short. i never replaced it. i'm not worried that will cause a fire. this piece was recalled as well. i had mine replaced way back in 99 but i still get the recall symptoms. oh well.

 

[Billy177]

there was a recall for the multifunction switch on my 99 and the dealer says electrical is not covered under extended warranty. WTF!

 

[youpey]

That happened to me once. I turned the car off and blew into the dimmer switch. Nothing was wrong everything worked fine, so i started it back up and pretended nothing ever happened

 

[iforgited]

UPDATE - Still smokin'

Yeah they said they fixed it but it did it again last night. I am just going to let it keep shorting out and burning up wires. Then when it breaks I will be like well you told me you fixed it. Whatever. Anyone want a Ex with more then $7,000 worth of warranty work done on it? Almost everthing is brand new, cept the tranny. JK I love my Ex, this is minor.

 

[Billy177]

ya my ex has been the shop since last wednesday for warranty work

 

[mhn3773]

car companies need to learn from all of this and start having like a Ford repair center in every city...all makes need this they need to stop having u goto the "dealer" because the dealers are pissed at having to do warrenty work..so if the car companys had there own service stations run and opperated by the company itsself i think customer relations would go up 10 fold

just my .02

sry u having all of these problems..but its good u are keeping a good light on the whole thing =) eventually u will have a brand new 99 ex