Good Bye to the VY - Engine Fire

[batemada]

Well today was not a good day, got home from the bank and could smell fuel inside the car.

Shut off the car and then saw smoke comming up from under to bonnet, got out and then started seeing flames.

The fire service only took 5 mins to arrive but the motor and electrics are still cooked.

Holden dealer has had a look and estimates will cost arround $10000+ to fix because everything has to be replaced including the motor.

Looks like i will be doing some car shopping shortly all depends on what the insurance guys say being as the fire was contained to the engine bay but there was alot of smoke which went into the car.

[TVR-190]

ouch man, whats agreed value, i think itll def be a write off

[Kal123]

Holy shit!! Unlucky man.

[fuzzy2308]

damn that sux how come its allways ecotec's that burst into flames.

[batemada]

ouch man, whats agreed value, i think itll def be a write off

Well i just renewed my insurance 2 weeks ago luckily, it is insured for $20000 which is possibly a little high but the car has less than 93000kms on the clock and has genuine ROH reflex wheels so who knows what they will say.

If they do write it off im not too sure what i will get but i might go away from having a commodore for a while, I like the look and drive of the mazda 6 wagon and the 1.8T Volkswagon Passat so will have to see what i find.

[caaf]

Nasty..Sorry to see the bugger all burnt up... I assume it's covered by insurance? either by pay out or fix. If it is, it could still be worth while as you'll have a recent donk going in it

[bardy]

man that sucks. i would like to give you a dollar if your insurance doesnt pay out.
If you could convince everyone on this site to do that you would have $6689 towards a new car lol

[batemada]

Just a word of advice to you all check your rubber high pressure fuel pipes as it is suspected that one of these failing has caused this fire.

[batemada]

Well ive just had a call from the insurance accessor and have been advised they think the VY will be a write off but wont know for another week yet while they complete all the checks and reports for the damage and checking the work done by my local garage when its been serviced to make sure it wasnt caused by a mechanical fault.

[-Junior-]

Just a word of advice to you all check your rubber high pressure fuel pipes as it is suspected that one of these failing has caused this fire.

Yep, have seen this happen to a Gen 3.
On a roadtest, pulled up at a set of lights and saw smoke from the guards.
Melted top of motor and wiring, but was fixed under insurance. (Due to near new).

[daniel555]

Bad luck man. Damn.

[alien]

damn that sux how come its allways ecotec's that burst into flames.

I see a flaw in your statement: vz on FIRE! Not always the ecotecs.

OP, sucks that it happened. Thats why i carry a fire extinguisher just in case, i know how long it can take fireys. At least insurance will be covering it

[Changa]

Just one thing, how did you not notice a fire of that magnitude going on under you bonnet? Or was it only small when you stopped the engine, then it got worse?

[batemada]

Just one thing, how did you not notice a fire of that magnitude going on under you bonnet? Or was it only small when you stopped the engine, then it got worse?

I could see the smoke comming up in large amounts from arround the edge of the bonnet.

The 1st warning sign was when i could smell fuel inside the car when i pulled up at home, saw a large amount of smoke come out so i called the fire service. I didnt see the flames untill the fire service popped the bonnet.

[acarmody]

All I can say is that with all that metal and crap melting, that is a BLOODY strong upper radiator collant pipe.

[batemada]

All I can say is that with all that metal and crap melting, that is a BLOODY strong upper radiator collant pipe.

It appears to be intact but i wouldnt want to try and use it again.

[cpbait]

just read post, sorry to hear at least as said insurance is covering, any word yet if write off or repairable, going by that damage i'd say right off, but you never know with insurance companies, hope all works out though, mazda 6 is a nice car, so's the passat.

[batemada]

just read post, sorry to hear at least as said insurance is covering, any word yet if write off or repairable, going by that damage i'd say right off, but you never know with insurance companies, hope all works out though, mazda 6 is a nice car, so's the passat.

Still no word on the insurance yet. The car is now in the hands of a fire investigator to try and nut out what caused it.
The assesor thinks that it maybe a write off but ive had nothing confirmed yet so at this stage im still running arround in my dad's old 1988 1.6L Nissan Sentra ZXE manual hatchback

[cpbait]

lol, insurance companies, stringing it out, probably trying to find anyway they can to get out of it and blame the last person to work on it or touched it.

[batemada]

lol, insurance companies, stringing it out, probably trying to find anyway they can to get out of it and blame the last person to work on it or touched it.

Only problem with them trying that is it had last been touched/worked on 6000-7000 kms ago, i get it serviced every 10000kms as per my mechanical waranty requires by an aproved local mechanic who doesnt rob you blind when getting work done.

[VYMAD]

AAMI are good, my ex rolled her VY almost on purpose, went crazy, etc. Anyway AAMI wrote the car off and paid the 18k out no worries, I was surprised but she told them she lost control on some loose stones (50km/h zone.) So surely yours will pay out for a fire?

[batemada]

Will Have see what they say but it is looking good so far, i have just had a meeting with insurance fire investigator and he has narrowed the cause of the fire to being a rubber fuel line failure which caused fuel to dump all over the hot manifold.

My local hoden dealer who is looking for a VE SV6 for me says that they may see if they can initiate a factory recall for all ecotech motors to check out the rubber fuel line links.

[Villan_au]

Well ive just had a call from the insurance accessor and have been advised they think the VY will be a write off but wont know for another week yet while they complete all the checks and reports for the damage and checking the work done by my local garage when its been serviced to make sure it wasnt caused by a mechanical fault.

If it was a mechanical fault i dont think they would cover you they would try everthing they can to get out of paying for it. Good luck with it and can only hope it happens to mine fast as the same car yard has a nice black S in with my name all over it.

[batemada]

I have spoken to the the insurance company today and they have confirmed that my car is a write off with a market valuation of $15000 but im still waiting confirmation that my claim has been accepted so im still unable to go car shopping grrrrrrrr

[batemada]

Well I have had a call today to advise that the insurance is going to pay out for the write off so that is the end of the VY.

As to what i will get to replace it im not too sure but it will probably be something cheap like a Honda Accord wagon or a Nissan wagon of some sort so I can build up my funds again to look at buying another commodore some time in the future when im in a betting financial position.