Car fire/explosion at 104th and Grant

[MarkCO]

The fires started from brake master cylinders being overfilled, and the brake fluid leaking into a connector for the cruise control, resulting in the servo never being allowed to power off.

Um, that is a minor concern. The recalled failure stems from a thin plastic baffle in the switch connected to the master cylinder that is hydroscopic. Brakes fluid on one side the the disconnect assembly on the other. When the water in the brake fluid gets to about 1%, there is enough to be absorbed into the polymer, which then degrades the polymer, which then cracks and is ignited by the connector. The "fix" is to put in an in-line fuse which Ford says eliminates the changes of ignition. Actually, it only reduces it some. Most HD Ford trucks get about 1/2% water increase in the brake fluid per year and the degradation takes some time, which is why the fires are most common after about 3 years of use. I was one of the first forensic engineers in the country to prove the failure mode and most forensic engineers and fire investigators use the methodology my team developed to shut down Ford's bogus defenses.

And don't even get me started on Ford Firetruck fires...just embarrassing to the FDs.