One problem related to brake fluid has been reported for the 1997 Ford F-150. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Consumer parked truck Wednesday night, when he got back into truck the next morning it would start once but not move out of gear. It would not come out of park. The engine was barely running and missing. There was a smell of smoke. Turned engine off due to the odd smell. Inspected under hood. There had been a fire that evidently burned out itself. Cruise control quit earlier. The truck could not be driven due to this problem. Afraid to move or attempt to repair anything for fear it may catch on fire again. Consumer called Ford, no recall on that particular model, but they were having a problem with those vehicles, but will not do anything until there was a recall. The most fire damage was seen on the master cylinder, suspected that the brake fluid may have had a hand in the fire along with the sensor. Was missing brake fluid upon inspection.