vz on FIRE!
i went out and bought a vz executive sedan alloy tec motor in October last year, 110,000 on the clock
to keep my extended warranty current i took it in for it's 120,000 service on saturday.
when i got it home, five minutes after i parked it we heard a huge bang from outside and the sound of escaping gas
MY VZ WAS ON FIRE!!!
everything in the engine bay on the left hand side is completely melted.
i'm guessing that the only thing that put it out was the gas escaping from the air conditioning, which was the bang we heard.
can anyone think of what would cause this to happen??? i've talked to a heap of mec's about it and all say they've seen anything like it before.
i've posted photo's further down this page \/ \/ \/
Last edited by ohmygodmyvz....; 10-02-2009 at 08:35 PM.
Likes Cheese...
spontaneous combustion! man that is weird. never heard of it either.
Swerves for gay koalas
Mind Me Bloody Beer Champion!
Possibly a fuel leak + hot exhaust manifold? Did you notice any petrol smells before it blew?
It's awfully coincidental that you just had it serviced and it exploded right after... I'd be putting a lot of pressure on the service department to see exactly what they did to your car!
So Wet For You!
+1.Originally Posted by danja
That wouldn't be a good reputation builder if it got out!
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STEALTHY's Shed Clean Out! Buy my ****
go in Luxury
ah yeh sounds like someone cocked up, only issue is how?
What coul they possibly touch during a 120 000 service that would involve gas escaping?
Oil spill from the oil change I'd say, unusual for it to burn anything? must have been alot of oil!
Swerves for gay koalas
Mind Me Bloody Beer Champion!
Seriously? Can't say I've ever heard of engine oil causing an explosion? I've had plenty of oil on manifolds in my time and you get a bit of smoke, but not even a flame.
You only need a pinhole in the fuel lines for them to spray everywhere, they're under pressure. Plus the are on the left-hand side of the engine.
The aircon exploded ^ nothing else
It had to be on fire when it was parked, a fuel leak wont catch on fire when it's not running
P.S where's the oil filter on those things? go and check if it's loose, I wont be suprised if that's what happened and that it's right near one of the headers
The Only 6sp VZ Wagon
fuel lines are still under residual pressure when not running,The aircon exploded ^ nothing else
It had to be on fire when it was parked, a fuel leak wont catch on fire when it's not running
as far as i knew a/c was not flammible?,
only major thing that should have been down is spark plugs,
can you take pics?, detailed pics may show the hot spot for the fire
EASTERN CREEK JCNSW 2009
I was just talking to Benny (mechanic) and he said the filters on alloytecs are right above the header and that not only that, the rubber seal is easy to tear if you dont lube it up enough. He said the oil sprays everywhere like a super soaker when you stuff it up
CHE Tuned 156.8rwkw
Geez, lucky u weren't in the car.
Waiting on pics of devastation!
The Blue One
The AC put the fire out, am I the only one reading the post here? 100% for sure the oil filter
go in Luxury
mm yeh the oil filter makes sense. They also give you a new seal but I havent used it, it seems too thin to suit the housing?
the holden mechanic
Nil Bastardo Carborundum
There is a very good chance the oil filter seal will not have been damaged by the fire, as it would be protected by the filter case which is alloy. It might be possible to remove the filter cover carefully to see if the seal is in one piece or damaged (or worse still, missing altogether)
I'm not sure it's engine oil which started the fire. Oil will burn but it takes an awful lot of heat to ignite it. How long had you driven it before you stopped, and how long had you been stopped when you heard the bang? and what is the oil level in the sump at present - have you checked and changed that since the fire?
the holden mechanic
well 120,000 on an alloytec V6 is spark plugs, so thats a plenum off job, unless your mechanic is a complete noob then he shouldnt of even had to touch the fuel lines, the only lines that need to be touched are the PCV and evaporative purge lines.
the spark plugs are down in the head and seal up by the individual coils so theres no chance of the spark plugs or coils starting the fire cos they are oo far out of the way.... and there couldnt of been fuel present around that area unless they were extremely careless....
also 5w40 synthetic oil is actually pretty flammable ive seen a few motors with rocker cover leaks start fire when they come in after a drive. you would be suprice how hot an exhaust manifold can get while driving
Swerves for gay koalas
Mind Me Bloody Beer Champion!
From what I recall though, the oil filter on the Alloytec passenger side, and the fuel lines on the driver side? (someone please correct me if I'm wrong
Guess it depends does the OP mean LHS as in passenger, or driver? I read it as driver (looking from the front), but he may mean passenger.
Carbon Positive - DO IT!!
too bad, we need photos now.
no longer a hoon by association - the commodore is gone
The Only 6sp VZ Wagon
eeeeeep, good thing my car dont leak
fuel line loops around and is pretty well in the middle of the engine bay,From what I recall though, the oil filter on the Alloytec passenger side, and the fuel lines on the driver side? (someone please correct me if I'm wrong
.
theres a particular person at my work that dosnt like doing alot of work, him changing the seal is obviously a work saver, it back fireed on him one day, he could smell burning oil on a test drive, came back, it had dumped half a litre over the passengers side of the engine, he asked me for a hand cleaning it up, i told him to get stuffed and serves himself right lol, took a while with the degreaser
EASTERN CREEK JCNSW 2009
dont get too attached to the car if your planning to go through insurance (which you should).
your car will be written off.
pics are always good too.
wow i think one young apprentice is going to get his butt kicked lol sorry to hear thou mate hope insurance fixes this up for you and you get a new car for the troubles
That's really no good dude, very lucky you were not near it!!!
photos of destruction
hopefully these pictures work.
insurance is handling investigation today. does anyone know if they are supposed to go after compo for me cause if they don't i'm stuffed for a car.
i was attached to to this car as it's my first near new one ever. had my licence 6 years and figured it was time to get myself a pat on the back for all my hard work.
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