NHTSA Complaint #10203346 — 2002 FORD EXPEDITION

MY 2002 EXPEDITION WAS RECALLED IN 2005 TO REPLACE THE CRUISE CONTROL WIRING HARNESS. A FUSED WIRING HARNESS WAS INSTALLED TO PROTECT THE LIVE CRUISE CONTROL CIRCUIT FROM INITIATING A FIRE IF THE BRAKE SENSING SWITCH MEMBRANE LEAKED BRAKE FLUID. YESTERDAY, 17 SEP 07, MY CRUISE CONTROL MALFUNCTIONED. THE BRAKE SENSING SWITCH AT THE MASTER BRAKE CYLINDER AND THE CRUISE CONTROL WIRING HARNESS COMING OUT OF THE SWITCH WERE SOAKED WITH BRAKE FLUID. BRAKE FLUID WAS ALL OVER THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. I DISCONNECTED THE WIRING HARNESS THE AREA OF THE SWITCH INTO WHICH THE WIRING HARNESS WAS PLUGGED WAS FULL OF BRAKE FLUID. BRAKE APPLICATION CAUSED BRAKE FLUID TO LEAK OUT OF THE SWITCH. THE SWITCH MEMBRANE WAS INDEED BROKEN. I ASSUMED (WRONGLY) THAT THE NEW FUSED CRUISE CONTROL BUNDLE HAD PROBABLY SPARED ME A FIRE. I TOOK MY CAR TO FORD TODAY. THEY CALLED CORPORATE REGARDING PAYMENT ISSUES. I WAS INFORMED THAT FORD WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIR BILL. THIS SPECIFIC COMPLAINT IS NOT ABOUT THE BILL PER SE, BUT ABOUT MY CONCERN FOR SAFETY. AS IT TURNED OUT, THE NEW FUSED HARNESS DID NOT BLOW THE FUSE--FORD DID NOT REPLACE THE HARNESS. I AM NOW CONCERNED THAT THE "HOT" FUSED WIRING HARNESS WAS ATTACHED TO THE BRAKE SENSOR WHILE IT WAS COMPLETELY IMMERSED IN BRAKE FLUID. THERE IS STILL A SIGNIFICANT RISK OF FIRE. I HAVE KEPT THE OLD BRAKE SWITCH, BUT AS PREVIOUSLY STATED, THE FUSED WIRING HARNESS WAS NOT REPLACED SINCE THE FUSE WAS NOT BLOWN (THE FUSE CANNOT BE REPLACED--THE ENTIRE BUNDLE MUST BE REPLACED PER A INFORMATION LABEL ATTACHED TO THE WIRING HARNESS) AND IS STILL ON THE CAR. SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUES ARE: IS THERE STILL A RISK OF FIRE WHEN THE BRAKE SWITCH BRAKES/LEAKS AND, WHAT IS THE SAFETY IMPLICATION WITH REGARDS TO BRAKING GIVEN AN INCREASED RISK OF FAILURE AND SUBSEQUENT LEAKAGE OF THE BRAKE FLUID AT THE SWITCH? *TR