Ford Anti-Lock Brake Design Flaw?

Well known problem. Ford has had a recall on many of the vehicles from the early 90's and up with the ABS system you have just for that reason.

Apparently the bean counters felt the the factory spending another $10 on putting a relay in line with that part of the ABS control circuit was to much. And the safety Nazis backed it up by saying the relay could fail and cause the ABS to malfunction and bring about lawsuits.

I have a friend and a family member that work at the local Ford dealer ship. This was their under the table explanation of the problem a few years ago when I got a recall notices on my vehicles. The recall notices I got have a more friendlier and smoothed over explanation though.

The real bad part is since the recalls were put into effect some years ago most insurance companies wont pay up on a claim because of it. They will use the you were notified or should have already known about the recall excuse to not pay. Both my friend and family member told me that as well. It seems several people had their vehicles burn up and they all got stiffed by their insurance company under that reasoning. Apparently some full coverage insurance companies have fine print saying your not covered in situations that were avoidable by following factory recall notices.

Luckily, I took it to a Ford dealer in June for the recall. The recall, however, is carefully worded to limit the admission of a problem to the ABS connector. Apparently, Ford admitted that the connector (or a seal on the connector) could be installed incorrectly. I couldn't tell from the paperwork that the dealership replaced anything. They merely gave the truck back to me with a receipt that said problem with the ABS and they left the motor, but not the ABS module, unplugged.

I'd ask Ford's safety Nazi's to justify erring on the side of the ABS being unavailable--in the unlikley event a driver turns the key off while driving--vs. the vehicle spontaneously combusting while being driven...or, while parked and unattended in a residential garage, a public parking garage, etc. One the one hand, you've got a moving vehicle with regular brakes. On the other hand, you've got potential house fires, parking garage/hi-rise evacuations, flaming vehicles on the public roads, etc.

If it's possible to turn the key off while the vehicle is moving, that could be prevented with a better design. If it happens, the driver is without power assisted brakes, anyway, and would have to press the pedal HARD to get the brakes to lock up, anyway. I'm not seeing the good reason here.

Because it saved $10 while building your $30K vehicle! Thats why.

Is this different from the cruise control switch on the front of the brake master cylinder?

I got a notice from Ford and took it in and they did nothing, but check the, "fixed" box on the report. That was not ABS, which I have, too. Does it self ignite, too?

it is different, but I understand the effect is similar...it makes Ford roducts unusually handy to have around when camping...or, when a lady needs her cigarette lit and you don't have matches...

Yes, there are plenty of places under the hood to get power, even if the key is off.

Like the battery!

lynlynch - get that cruise control relay replaced, if you haven't already - those things can short & catch fire in a heartbeat - they don't need time to
pre-heat" like the ABS modules...

The Dealer should have the relay in a retro-fit kit - you can even do it yourself....but please have this replaced if you got the recall notice

Although I do not agree with the fact the ABS receives power with the ignition off. But similar to the engine, body, and airbag systems, the ABS system has a computer that receives power at all times. Computers should have a constant power source for KAM (keep alive memory). The information stored in the KAM is valuable for internal and external diagnostics and I am sure more.

At one point in time we have all been victim of poor engineering. I have bought a few pieces a crap (cars and more) in my lifetime. I am sorry that your vehicle caught on fire, but it could have been much worse due to lack of engineering forethought. For example, you could have been victim to one of the Explorer Wilderness tire blowouts at an unfortunate time.