Engine Fire

deano · Post by **deano** » Sat Aug 24, 13 12:12 pm

Took the Charger up to my parent's yesterday for a couple of hours. Started up to leave, reversed round in the drive, engine stalled - then buckets of smoke!

Luckily my dad has a full sized extinguisher - the small one I keep in the car lasted about 10 seconds - otherwise we would be looking at nothing but a gutted shell.

I'm with RH Insurance, they are getting an assessor from Banwells to call me after the bank holiday to view the car, but they do not have any recommended garages to give an estimate.

Can anyone advise the best route to get an accurate estimate for the labour/paintwork elements of the work. Car is 10 mins from J13 of the M1.

Thanks

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Sat Aug 24, 13 12:24 pm

Terrible news, I feel for you.
Ivor is located quite close to you.

I would think that JPC or Ashley could give you some guidance.........................check out the Traders section.

I think youwere lucky that there was a big fire extinguisher at hand...

Did a fuel line split or did the air filter get saturated?

Jon Connolly · Post by **Jon Connolly** » Sat Aug 24, 13 12:29 pm

Derek is your man for Charger fires ... he`ll point you in the right direction.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Sat Aug 24, 13 12:32 pm

Naughty naugty Jon

Trying to be positive, You could turn this around and maybe get the engine bay body coloured again; I think that always looks better and adds value.......

deano · Post by **deano** » Sat Aug 24, 13 12:32 pm

Everything is a bit crispy or melted under there, so it's difficult to tell what's what, but I presume fuel line leak - but as to why it went up in flames I don't know!

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Sat Aug 24, 13 1:25 pm

Probably bad ignition timing causing a backfire coupled with too much raw fuel around.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Sat Aug 24, 13 4:03 pm

Jon Connolly wrote:Derek is your man for Charger fires ... he`ll point you in the right direction.

Thanks John

Give me a call if you want to. 07724752512

V8 Sam · Post by **V8 Sam** » Sat Aug 24, 13 4:04 pm

Or dripping on hot headers/exhaust maybe ?!

What I was worried about with my leak.

Sorry to hear this mate, as long as the insurance is all good just think
Of it as a minor hiccup, engine bay repaired and new shiny parts it will look better then ever.

Like you said, could of been the whole car.

Bozwell · Post by **Bozwell** » Sat Aug 24, 13 4:33 pm

V8 Sam wrote:Or dripping on hot headers/exhaust maybe ?!

i doubt it, it takes a spark to ignite petrol as it has quite a high flash point. probably from the distributor.

oil and brake fluid have a much lower flash point so they can start from hot exhausts. even antifreeze is flamable as i found out on my Sunbeam Tiger many years ago. didn't do any damage luckily.

it looks like it must have been a leak that ignited.

andyrob · Post by **andyrob** » Sat Aug 24, 13 5:24 pm

you sound kind of clam about this !
One of my biggest fears one of cars going on fire.
I be asking for a big settlement + car back, do it right & this might be a blessing in disguise.Restored car +cash in pocket
The salvage will be worth more to you than any insurance comp.

Dave81 · Post by **Dave81** » Sat Aug 24, 13 9:19 pm

Really sorry to see this........Gutted for you, but as you say it could of been a lot worse.

Car looks easily salvageable to me, but then i have no first hand experience so what do i know!

On a slightly selfish note, could you please keep us updated with the insurance outcome (obviously i'm talking fix not financial).

I believe 95% on here are with RH as insurers, but as they say the proof is in the payout not the premium........And i've yet to hear of anyone having to make a claim!

Hope they come up trumps for you!

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Sat Aug 24, 13 9:22 pm

andyrob wrote:you sound kind of clam about this !
One of my biggest fears one of cars going on fire.
I be asking for a big settlement + car back, do it right & this might be a blessing in disguise.Restored car +cash in pocket
The salvage will be worth more to you than any insurance comp.

Just what I was thinking Andy.

Charger · Post by **Charger** » Sat Aug 24, 13 9:45 pm

terrible thing to happen, sorry to see this

any idea how it happened yet??

it looks like you put it out with powder?? depending on the type of dry chemical, it can be corrosive, good idea to thoroughly rinse it away, especially if the car is going to be stood any time awaiting repair

Scooby · Post by **Scooby** » Sun Aug 25, 13 9:34 am

Bad news ..keep us posted to what actually caused the fire....
Although its still a shock...it could have been a lot worse...good point also about the little fire extinguisher in the car...think most of us has one of these....!!!
Rich..

deano · Post by **deano** » Sun Aug 25, 13 10:25 am

Thanks for your comments guys. Pictures were taken just after fire was out - the powder was washed away as I am aware that this can cause damage.

The car is being left as is until the inspector has had a look, then I can begin to assess the full extent of the damage. Luckily only the engine bay and bonnet seem to be affected, but that still means an awful lot of parts and many hours of labour!

On the bright side I still have a car rather than just a heap of ash, and this is an opportunity to make it better than ever.

I'll let you know how things progress with the insurance.