NHTSA Complaint #10948698 — 2002 FORD F-150

TRUCK WAS PURCHASED AS USED IN OCT, 2016, SO WE HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF PREVIOUS DRIVER'S HABITS OR PROBLEMS. EVERYTHING SEEMED TO WORK FINE. PRIMARY DRIVER IS 5 FEET TALL AND MOVED THE STEERING WHEEL DOWN TO MAKE A MORE COMFORTABLE DRIVING POSITION. LATE DEC, 2016, EARLY JAN, 2017 WHILE PARKED, WE DISCOVERED THE BRAKE LIGHTS AND ONE TURN SIGNAL LIGHT NO LONGER WORKED..THE HIGH MOUNT BRAKE LIGHT WAS A BAD BULB, BUT WHEN A CHECK OF FUSES AND BULBS FOR THE OTHER LIGHTS WERE FOUND TO BE OK, WE DECIDED THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH WAS BAD. WRONG ! MORE RESEARCH POINTED THE PROBLEM TO THE MULTI FUNCTION/COMBINATION SWITCH OR ITS CONNECTIONS, ACTUAL PROBLEM WAS THE CONNECTIONS ON THE MFS. NUMEROUS REFERRALS TO THIS PROBLEM FOR MANY FORD YEAR MODELS ARE POSTED ON THE INTERNET AS WELL AS SEVERAL VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE.COM. INSPECTION REVEALED THAT SEVERAL WIRES GOING TO THE MFS HAD PULLED OUT OF THE CONNECTOR WHEN THE STEERING WHEEL WAS LOWERED. CONNECTOR WAS DAMAGED BY THIS ACTION. WIRE CABLE GOING TO THE MFS IS FIXED SOLID TO THE STEERING COLUMN, AND THERE IS NOT ENOUGH SLACK IN THE WIRES TO ALLOW THE STEERING WHEEL TO BE LOWERED ALL THE WAY WITHOUT CAUSING THE PULLED WIRES AND DAMAGED CONNECTOR. PROBLEM WAS REPAIRED BY AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP AT OWNERS EXPENSE SINCE THE TRUCK WAS HAZARDOUS, UNSAFE, AND ILLEGAL TO DRIVE WITH NO BRAKE LIGHTS AND PARTIAL TURN SIGNALS. DRIVING WITHOUT THESE LIGHTS, ESPECIALLY IN NE OHIO IN THE WINTER SNOW STORMS - I DON'T THINK SO !! COST OF REPAIRS:SEE FORWARDED INVOICE. IT APPEARS THE PROBLEM WAS BUILT INTO THE TRUCK FROM THE BEGINNING AND FORD SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIRS AS WELL AS RECALLING ALL VEHICLES WITH THIS PROBLEM. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE REPLACEMENT FORD CABLE PART XL1Z-14A320-AA COMES WITH LONGER LEADS TO AVOID THE PROBLEM, SO FORD IS CERTAINLY AWARE OF THIS FAILURE BUT HAS DONE NOTHING ABOUT IT !!