Bad Day Yesterday- Truck FIRE!

ASAP said:
I know right!


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My truck is a 90, so a few years older than the Ls. Over the last 5-7 years I've noticed that any time I touch the wiring it seems like the insulation just crumbles off the wire. I've had a few problems caused by that. One was an intermittent stall/no start that ended up being bare wires in the coil wiring. Took me forever to find that. Every mechanic's favorite 5 words: "every once in a while". Another was a tail light fuse blowing randomly that was also bare wires in the harness. My back up lights haven't worked in years for what I suspect is the same reason. I say all this to say that I suspect any Ford truck from that era is likely to start having similar issues in the not to distant future if they aren't having them already. I'm just glad that so far everything has been a fused circuit. I'm hoping it's never a main power supply wire, which I suspect is what yours was. Hoping to rewire the whole truck when I tear it down for rebuild in a few years.....as I've been saying for a decade now.
 
Very sorry to hear about this fire! Keep us posted as to who your have for insurance and how they handle your claim.
Best of luck!
KID
 
oilwell1415 said:
My truck is a 90, so a few years older than the Ls. Over the last 5-7 years I've noticed that any time I touch the wiring it seems like the insulation just crumbles off the wire. I've had a few problems caused by that. One was an intermittent stall/no start that ended up being bare wires in the coil wiring. Took me forever to find that. Every mechanic's favorite 5 words: "every once in a while". Another was a tail light fuse blowing randomly that was also bare wires in the harness. My back up lights haven't worked in years for what I suspect is the same reason. I say all this to say that I suspect any Ford truck from that era is likely to start having similar issues in the not to distant future if they aren't having them already. I'm just glad that so far everything has been a fused circuit. I'm hoping it's never a main power supply wire, which I suspect is what yours was. Hoping to rewire the whole truck when I tear it down for rebuild in a few years.....as I've been saying for a decade now.
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That’s interesting! Haven’t ever noticed that but will definitely take a closer look if I keep it.


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So in an interesting bit of coincidence, I was driving home today and hit a bump, the speedo and odo freaked out, and the transmission wouldn't shift. Switching the key off wouldn't clear the odo.

Thankfully I had my laptop, so put the PxS in test mode and shifted it using the on screen buttons.

When I got home, I opened up the fuse panel to pull the speedo fuse and there was a 30A fuse in it instead of a 15A. Someone at some point decided to "fix" an intermittent electrical problem with a fire hazard.

Guess I need to look for a bare wire somewhere.
 
oilwell1415 said:
My truck is a 90, so a few years older than the Ls. Over the last 5-7 years I've noticed that any time I touch the wiring it seems like the insulation just crumbles off the wire. I've had a few problems caused by that. One was an intermittent stall/no start that ended up being bare wires in the coil wiring. Took me forever to find that. Every mechanic's favorite 5 words: "every once in a while". Another was a tail light fuse blowing randomly that was also bare wires in the harness. My back up lights haven't worked in years for what I suspect is the same reason. I say all this to say that I suspect any Ford truck from that era is likely to start having similar issues in the not to distant future if they aren't having them already. I'm just glad that so far everything has been a fused circuit. I'm hoping it's never a main power supply wire, which I suspect is what yours was. Hoping to rewire the whole truck when I tear it down for rebuild in a few years.....as I've been saying for a decade now.
Click to expand...
You bring up a good point.
FMOS Racing said:
So in an interesting bit of coincidence, I was driving home today and hit a bump, the speedo and odo freaked out, and the transmission wouldn't shift. Switching the key off wouldn't clear the odo.

Thankfully I had my laptop, so put the PxS in test mode and shifted it using the on screen buttons.

When I got home, I opened up the fuse panel to pull the speedo fuse and there was a 30A fuse in it instead of a 15A. Someone at some point decided to "fix" an intermittent electrical problem with a fire hazard.

Guess I need to look for a bare wire somewhere.
Click to expand...
Same thing two weeks ago for me. Mine was still a 15a though. But I was abusing the power point outlets maximum output at the time and felt it was somehow related. I also recently unplugged the RABS.
 
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FMOS Racing said:
So in an interesting bit of coincidence, I was driving home today and hit a bump, the speedo and odo freaked out, and the transmission wouldn't shift. Switching the key off wouldn't clear the odo.

Thankfully I had my laptop, so put the PxS in test mode and shifted it using the on screen buttons.

When I got home, I opened up the fuse panel to pull the speedo fuse and there was a 30A fuse in it instead of a 15A. Someone at some point decided to "fix" an intermittent electrical problem with a fire hazard.

Guess I need to look for a bare wire somewhere.
Click to expand...

Awe man! I’m glad you found it! That’s scary!


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Man I feel your pain! Glad you got it out when you did and you are ok! Still planning on restoring mine.
 
oilwell1415 said:
My truck is a 90 ... I've noticed that any time I touch the wiring it seems like the insulation just crumbles off the wire. ...t I suspect any Ford truck from that era is likely to start having similar issues...
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Not really. Up to ~90 Ford specified PVC (I think) wire insulation, which resulted in this TSB:

(click this text)


After that, XLPE/PEX insulation was specified, which doesn't age. It's called out almost halfway down this page, under WIRE GAUGE, #2:

(click this text)
 
ASAP said:
Was going home from yesterday after work (windows up and AC blasting due it being a hot 95° outside and all of a sudden I start smelling something burning. Stop at a red light and smoke starts coming out of the dash above the fuse box, then a flame. Was stuck in traffic at a red light with cars in front and behind me so I jumped out and started trying to blow the flame out to no avail. Light turned green and hauled ass to the nearest gas station(of course I parked well away from the pumps) and hopped out. Got a case of water and tried to douse it out. No good. Guy comes up with a fire extinguisher and puts it out for me. So here’s the damage in pics below. Not sure where to go from here. Not really interested in replacing dash and wiring so may either part out or sell it.. Have to wait on the insurance company to see what they will do and go from there. Ought to be interesting..

0be3d4c65582d76a080e903b651db890.jpg



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that sucks
 
Still waiting to hear back man. They are slow as molasses!


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Touched base with him today. They are now talking about sending someone out.

Wondering if any of the modded parts on it will make a difference when they make me an offer. If not, I’m thinking about going ahead and pulling what I can get off decently quick such as the surge tank set up, supercharger set up Pimpxshift, etc..


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Yeah if the mods don't add value then don't let them have them!

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