[Vwdiesel] VW issues

[Andrew .Libby]

I bought an ALH engine that had a massive engine fire.  The hard parts were
still good and since I had no intention of using the electronics anyway I
just had to replace a few plastic bits like timing cover, oil filter cover,
etc...  Worked out well for me.

A good friend bought a VW Quantum 1.6TD that had a massive engine fire.

My brother had a John Deer skidder that caught on fire and was completely
destroyed from a diesel fuel leak.

That's three that I've dealt with first hand.


On Mon, Jan 6, 2014 at 6:03 PM, Chris Geiser <cfgeiser at gmail.com> wrote:

> Travis - that's the first diesel vehicle fire that I've heard of... You
> know it wasn't fuel in those temps, so had to be electrical...
> Sorry for your troubles - hope things warm up and turn out positively.
>
> CG
> **sent with mobile device
>
> On Jan 6, 2014 6:26 PM, "Travis ." <tgott at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Well after I order brakes but before I received them even- my car started
> > on fire. Went out to start my car. Turned over slowly. I tried one more
> > time and figured it wasn't going to spin it fast enough to actually
> start.
> > I worked night shift and this was trying to get home. I went inside to
> call
> > my wife. After a couple minutes someone said they had jumper cables and
> we
> > would try that. Just then my boss came in and said-your car is running. I
> > ran outside and saw smoke coming out from the hood area. I popped the
> hood
> > and flames came out. I closed the hood and got a couple fire
> extinguishers.
> > Thankfully where I work there is a lot of those per building
> codes/factory,
> > etc. Came back out with my boss on my heels and we got the hood back open
> > and took two big extinguishers but it was out. I had to peel the
> smoldering
> > hood insulation off for fear it would drop back in and start something
> up.
> > It was around -25. Around as cold as it was last Monday. I should have
> just
> > had my wife drop me off
> >  last night and pick me back up since our garage isn't as cold as it is
> > outside and we can plug it in vs at work were there isn't plug in's.
> >
> > So my boss gave me a ride home. Called insurance which gave me a claim
> > number and I was suppose to call a different number. 3 numbers later I
> > finally got the right set of number since this was "fire". Since they
> were
> > already booked today-they might send someone to look at Tuesday. Glade
> they
> > really can speed things up. Found out I don't have the coverage that
> covers
> > getting a rental either so that will be getting added in. Love how with
> > insurance that unless you ask the right things it is hard to figure out
> > what you do have. They said that the part causing the fire wouldn't be
> > covered but the surrounding parts would be.
> >
> > So I attempted to start my truck-wouldn't turn over. I attempted to move
> > my JD L&G tractors and after an hour of messing around got one started to
> > so I could move it out of the way. Only to find the hydraulics
> > (hydrostactic, power steering, blower lift) wouldn't work as the oil
> likely
> > couldn't get past the filter. So I had to push it out of the way and push
> > it back in. The Geo metro with some extended cranking was the only thing
> > that did fire off. I was getting parts for it to rebuild since there is
> no
> > power, it burns oil, etc. I did have the battery on a battery maintainer.
> >
> > So after driving to work at 35 mph since it doesn't have the power to go
> > faster then that right now I got there to clear my car out. I went to
> > remove my rear hitch carrier and twisted the lock key in the pin. So-that
> > got left behind. Took pictures of the damage since I now had a camera and
> > it was now daylight. No body damage (paint) and no mechanical engine
> > damage. But if it is rubber or plastic and in the engine-it doesn't look
> > good. One radiator fan is melted down as is the battery area. Valve cover
> > was starting to melt, radiator melted some. Hoses crispy but not burned
> > through.
> >
> > The crappy part-that was my good vehicle that was meant for my towing and
> > my distance drives. Internet was down most of the day due to cold related
> > issues. I felt like a caged animal today. When it rains-it pours.
> Hopefully
> > the insurance stuff gets worked out OK. My deductibles aren't bad but I
> > worry since it isn't a 100% stock car on what they could put blame to on
> > things. I know it had to be the battery area. I don't know if something
> > just overheated in the attempted start and then it smoldered and started
> > up. Could have been the live wires on top of the battery as well (don't
> > know the name for it were it is a power hub basically). I had my cold
> > weather front on so that helped keep things from burning faster I think.
> It
> > burned a hole in the intake side of the one cover. My entire plastic
> intake
> > parts are also melted.
> >
> > Could have been worse I guess. I could have been someplace without fire
> > extinguishers - or enough of them. My wife could have been driving -
> with 3
> > kids strapped in cars seats and a fire up front stranded outside in the
> > cold. So I am thankful for several things. But I am still at a lose as to
> > how this happened. No recent work that hasn't already started the car in
> > just as cold of weather.
> >
> > On top of that we had one frozen water pipe in the house we rent (we got
> > it thawed) and now have found a few areas of ice on the inside of the
> > house-on outside facing walls. Now my wife will have to drop me off day
> and
> > possibly another day or two since I don't trust starting a vehicle
> sitting
> > outside. Neighbor will help watch the kids as this is done - which they
> > just are recovering from the stomach flu.
> >
> > Well-I think that venting makes me feel a little better. Couldn't barely
> > sleep but a few hours.
> > Travis
> >
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> >
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