The contact owns a 1997 Ford Explorer. The contact was driving approximately 45 mph when he was informed that a fire had erupted from under the vehicle. The contact was able to move the vehicle off the roadway and exit the vehicle just as it burst into flames. The police arrived to assist and a police report was available. The fire was extinguished and the vehicle was towed to an undisclosed location. The manufacturer was contacted and advised the contact to take pictures of the failure and damages. The contact was also informed that the vehicle was under recall under NHTSA campaign id number: 98V060000 (fuel system, gasoline:delivery:hoses, lines/piping, and fittings), which could possibly have been the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was approximately 234,000.

- Wythville, VA, USA

Stuck accelerator on 1997 Ford Explorer with 58,000 miles. While driving on interstate 287/78 in NJ I tried to turn off the cruise control but instead the car accelerated uncontrollably to over 85 mph. I gained control by turning the engine on and off until reaching a safe place to stop. An njdot truck helped me and later that day I emailed what happened to Ford's customer assistance. I wanted them to have a dealer examine my Explorer to see if this was caused by a material defect of normal wear and tear, in which case I would repair it. They refused to help so I wrote a letter to dearborn and received a response saying the matter was closed (case # 1510510480). My wife said (and I believe her) that if she were driving it would have resulted in a crash. I noted that there was a recall on the 2002 escape that sounds like the same problem. I just want to prevent potential loss of life due to this, in my opinion, faulty design or manufacturer glitch. Njdot documented the case since I sent them a "thank you" and they responded. The vehicle put me and others on the highway in a life-threatening situation (viz a viz Toyota) but Ford is unwilling to consider the case. They want to treat this as an "out of warranty" condition but I believe it is potentially a product liability that if not corrected will cost lives and damage.

- Milltown, NJ, USA

I bought a 1997 Ford Explorer on February 23, 2008. On October 3, 2008 I used my Explorer to jump another vehicle. I had the negative cable grounded to a bracket right next to the battery (the most obvious place to ground to). While trying to jump the other vehicle fuel started leaking from the fuel lines that are attached to that bracket. The fuel lines were melted because of jumping on that bracket and there was fuel running over the jumper cables and down the side of the engine. I could have been seriously injured but most likely killed if the jumper cables sparked. I was looking on the internet to see how much it would cost to have the fuel lines replaced and I stumbled across a recall stating that on my specific Explorer " the engine fuel lines can be damaged if the vehicle is jump started and the ground cable is attached to the fuel line bracket that is located near the battery. Since the bracket is not grounded, the stainless steel fuel line braid could act as a ground potentially overheating the ptfe inner liner of the fuel line resulting in damage to the fuel line. Consequence: The fuel lines can leak, and in the presence of an ignition source, a fire could potentially result. Remedy: Dealers will install a warning label on the fuel line bracket advising owners not to use it for a jump start ground." I went and checked to see if there was any kind of warning and there was, but it was not on the fuel line bracket like the recall said the dealership should do, it was on the fuel lines and tucked up behind that bracket where it was in no way visible unless you knew it was there. So now im going to have to pay $608.05 for fuel lines because faulkner-ciacco Ford dealership did not service my Explorer correctly. I called Ford Motor Company asking if they would pay for it and they said that they cant do anything about it. I believe Ford, or the dealer should have to pay since the warning label was not correctly placed on my vehicle. The Ford recall # is 98S09.

- Charlottesville, VA, USA

The contact owns a 1997 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that there was a recall on his vehicle (number 98S09) regarding the warning label that was to be installed on the fuel bracket; however, his was installed on the fuel line itself. The failure and current mileages were less than 102,266.

- Charlottesville, VA, USA

The front suspension bar links are broken, the fog lights of the exterior does not work.

- Chicago, IL, USA

Ford did not apply NHTSA recall 98V060 properly to my 1997 Ford Explorer VIN [xxx]. the do not ground warning was applied to the incorrect bracket. When I attempted to jump start the vehicle, I used the fuel line bracket since there was no warning label. The braided fuel line covers overheated and melted the fuel line resulting in a significant leakage of fuel when the engine was running. The vehicle had to be towed. Ford claims the recall was done properly. I have photographs which show it was not done properly. I believe that this poses a serious risk to the 300, 000+ vehicles that had this recall done. Summary 1.the warning label was not attached to the correct bracket when the vehicle was serviced per the recall 2.there is no label in the engine compartment indicating that the revised alternator bolt is a jump start ground location 3.FordS position is that the repairs were done properly. My contention is that they were not done properly. 4.this situation poses an imminent danger to drivers, passengers and bystanders. 5.there are still significant numbers of these vehicles on the road. 6.Ford should provide a label indicating that the alternator bolt is a ground location and they should check vehicles that were subject to this recall to ensure that the labels were properly applied. Updated 07/30/2012 information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Southampton, PA, USA

Ongoning problem with fuel system vapor leakage. Vehicle been in/out dealer shop on four occasions. Vehicle have been inspected / repaired, but vapor leakeges still exist. Needs help in this matter.

- Battiest, OK, USA

While parked the vehicle caught on fire under the hood, cause unknown. Fire report indicates fuel related.

- Harper Ferry, WV, USA