One problem related to battery cable has been reported for the 1997 Ford F-250. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
After several inches of rain my 1997 Ford f250 light duty began trying to start while parked in the driveway. The only way to stop it was to disconnect the battery cable. The battery cable was red hot and smoking. Luckily my neighbor noticed or it would have caught fire. This is the second occurrence of this problem for this vehicle. Both followed heavy rains. The first occurrence included spontaneous starting, interior lights coming on, left side window failure, speedometer failure, and continued operation of fan, windows and radio with ignition off. Researching this issue has made me aware that this is a common problem due to water leaking through the windshield and seeping into the generic electronic module and fuse box causing multiple symptoms including the ones stated above.