NHTSA Complaint #10874281 — 2001 FORD F-350 SD

AFTER THE FACT HEADS UP REGARDING POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC POWER LOSS. AT ABOUT 10 YEARS AND 100,000 MILES THE VEHICLE STARTED BLOWING THE #19 5AMP FUSE, DASHBOARD LIGHTS GO OUT BUT THE DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCE IS A LOSS OF POWER, CAN'T CLEAR TRAFFIC IN A LEFT TURN OR GO UP HILL, HAVE TO BACK DOWN. KNOWN PROBLEM ONLINE, SOME PEOPLE JUST REPLACE THE FUSE WITH A 10AMP, THE CAUSE IS A WIRE IN THE STEERING COLUMN WAS THROUGH IT'S INSULATION AND SHORTS. MINE HAPPENED MORE FREQUENTLY ALWAYS AFTER TURNING LEFT. FORD SERVICE IGNORED THE ONLINE INFO AND TOLD ME I NEEDED A NEW $700 FUEL PUMP. THAT DID NOT HELP AND I DEMANDED THEY OPEN THE STEERING COLUMN AND FIX THE WIRE, NO PROBLEMS SINCE, I AM ASSUMING THIS HAS NEVER BEEN REPORTED SINCE I HAD TO GOOGLE FOR THE ANSWER. I WAS LUCKY AN NEVER GOT HIT BY ANY ONCOMING OR FOLLOWING TRAFFIC, PARTICULARLY THRILLING TO BACK DOWN A NARROW STEEP STREET WITH LIMITED VISIBILITY.