general problems of the 2008 Ford F-150 - part 2

2008 Ford f150 lariat truck spontaneously caught on fire while parked. Smoke was seen coming from under the hood, then the entire truck was engulfed in flames. Despite the fire department's efforts, the truck burned to the ground. This truck was under a year old, and had never needed repairs of any kind.

I drove my new 2008 Ford F-150 (4177 miles) to my son's house, when I got into the truck to leave I started the engine and suddenly realized I had a runaway engine, the sequence in which it happened: I sat down in the drivers seat, put the key in the ignition, put my foot on the brake, turned the key to the start position then the moment the engine started the motor ran away. Luckily I had kept my foot on the brake and had the prescience of mind to go from reverse to neutral and shut the engine off. The restart was about the same, the next start it turned over ok. I think this may have happened a few weeks ago but by the time I shifted into drive the vehicle was running normal . Not only was it extremely frightening to me it also could have resulted in a fatal situation. Stationary skid marks were left on the pavement from the rear tires.

My 2008 Ford F-150 is a piece of?!@#$%. Air conditioner compressor was replaced at 24,000 mi and today it's making the same noise (squealing when compressor kicks in) at 27000 miles. Starter made a zip noise previously when it was cold and had to be replaced before this last failure of the air conditioner. They had to take the dash out to replace the air conditioner parts and now it's making the heater noise again and Ford knows about this problem as we've seen on this very website, but no recall. The brake pedal and the gas pedal are too close together because it causes me to accidentally hit the accelerator when braking. The F-150 emblem came unglued on the tailgate.

Took delivery of 2008 Ford F-150 lariat crew cab 4x4 on 4/23/08. Yesterday 4/29/08 I was preparing to pull into a parking lot from a two lane highway and the truck spontaneously accelerated at full throttle with my foot firmly on the brake. I had the sensation that I was hit from behind because I was advancing without applying the accelerator. With the brakes fully applied I continued to advance into the parking lot and I immediately shifted into park in attempt to stop the vehicle. The vehicle came to a stop and the engine was racing at full throttle in park, I then turned the ignition off and the engine stopped. From the time I experienced the sensation of being hit from behind until the vehicle came to rest, I estimate the distance of travel at 50 feet. There were two passengers in the truck with me that witnessed the event and concurred that the truck had accelerated spontaneously. I brought the truck to the dealer, explained the experience and after checking it out informed me that no problem could be found. I am extremely concerned that this could happen again and the potential consequences could be catastrophic.

Triton 5. 4l v-8 engine was replaced after only 1,218 miles.