Three problems related to engine have been reported for the 1996 Ford Econoline. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
On Sunday morning at about 6 am the alarm of our van went off. It woke us up. The engine of the van was on fire. We called the 911 and the fire department came. My husband tried to use the fire extinguisher but he could not open the hood. The fire department put out the fire. The last time I drove the van was about 8:30 pm on Saturday night. It was fine then while it was burning it sounded like it was trying to start. One fireman said that that sound was from the wires burning or something like that. It is a 1996 Ford 1fdee14h6tha90320 Ford e 350 limited regency the mileage was about79362. A sticker on the windshield says built with pride Econoline by loraind ohio assembly uaw 425 2000. We are very thankful for the car alarm. We were not due to wake up until an hour later. We think it is totaled because the whole front side is burned and the windshield broke. All the seats are still in good shape. The police came to the scene but when we went to get the report we found that the police man did not make a report. He didn't even speak to us. Later we learned that shift change happens that time of morning. (a police man who goes to our church told us about the shift change) he didn't know why a report was not taken.
A reoccurring failure of a timing gear at 64,000 miles. First, occurred at 55,000 miles. Repaired at an independent repair shop with dealer's part. Believed NHTSA should look into at this as a defective parts.
Reported to Ford customer service that the oil pan in the vans and trucks are starting to rust out from the inside. Ford will do nothing about the problem. They admitted on the phone (greg tredwell) in vestal, NY that in 96 and 97 they were made out of recycled material and that is why they are rusting out and need to be replaced. Why hasn't there been a recall on this problem?.