J4CK50N Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Hi people Firstly festive tidings!!!! Secondly, I need help - big time!! My car decided to set itself on fire today in the car park at work. Got a call to say my car was smoking!!! Came out to find flames coming out of the drivers side wheel arch!!! Luckily had a fire extinguisher and managed to put it out hopefully before too much damage has been done and then disconnected the battery. The car is a 6speed TT Dec 1993 model. All of the wiring in and around the drivers side wing seems to be knackered. Will try and post pics tonight. This seems to be where the fire started. As you can imagine I am a little peeved but also relieved as the situation could have been a whole lot worse as I had just filled that bad boy to the brim with Optimax!!! What I now need to know, and would greatly appreciate your help with is a rough estimate as to how much it is going to cost to fix the wiring. It literally just seems to be in and around that wing. The fire brigade seem to think it wont cost that much, but they are paid to put out fires and not re-wire cars so I'm not gonna get my hopes up!!! Best and worse case scenarios are all welcome. Also does anybody know of a good person to carry out this work within the west yorkshire area? Sorry for the long winded post. Still a little shaken up! Cheers J4CK50N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Ah haa..I see you have found the booby trap I left in the wheel arch before I sold you the car ;) Sorry to hear about this mate.....It's all very well fixing the wiring, but I would want to know what caused it in the first place? Could be a case of some kids or something setting light to the wheel arch or something like that? How long was the car stood before she went up? Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4CK50N Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 Just to add insult to injury the front spoiler has been smashed to bits being taken off the back of the flatbed!!! Any help greatly appreciated! Thanks J4CK50N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terminator Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 This is a first AFAIK and it seems a very odd place to catch fire as most of the likely electrics are under the bonnet, with one main loom going into the drivers foot well through the wing. You need someone to identify the source of the fire, did the fire brigade give any clues. What sort of extinguisher and where did you have to direct it? As for cost it depends what is damaged. The MKIV loom is very expensive:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4CK50N Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 Hiya mate Used a CO2 extinguisher in aimed it where the induction kit ends as that part of the wing was where the fire was. At one point the flames seemed quite big but that may have been coz I was panicking thinking the whole thing was gonna go up. I unlocked the door manually after trying the alarm (doh!!) and then flicked the bonnet. The flames seemed pretty small then and I put it out with the extinguisher I will post some pics up 2moz. All I want to do is get some sleep. Its been a long day and with the front spoiler getting smashed as well a day I would sooner forget!! As for cost it depends what is damaged. The MKIV loom is very expensive:( This is something I have already been told!!!! And it doesnt sound any better the 2nd time!!! :D Cheers J4CK50N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terminator Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 There is a large section of loom behind the OS head lamp, it branches off to the turbo electrical circuits, lighting, OS lamps and indicator and has connections to the ABS and Trac circuits. One small section goes through the wing down into the arch to the ABS sensor and wing repeater, I think it goes backwards and re-enters the engine bay at the hole near the brake master cylinder for your brake fluid level sensor. If you were lucky the damage may only been in the small section in the wheel arch. If not then your turbo electrics will be effected as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Brian Duff may well have a section of loom that can replace the damaged part. It sounds like you'll have to strip down the car around that area to get maximum access to the loom, excise the burnt/melted/damaged area and drop in a replacement chunk off Brian's/other scrapper loom. An annoying and tedious job but do-able and a pukka repair if done properly. And not overly expensive if you can use a replacement chunk of loom. Replacing the whole wiring loom is such a job it makes me feel ill thinking about it. Get some piccies up. And sue the idiots that broke your spoiler. -Ian There is a large section of loom behind the OS head lamp, it branches off to the turbo electrical circuits, lighting, OS lamps and indicator and it has connections to the ABS and Trac circuits. One small section goes through the wing down into the arch to the ABS sensor and wing repeater, I think it goes backwards and renters the engine bay at the hole near the brake master cylinder for you brake fluid level sensor. If you were luck the damage may only been in the small section in the wheels arch. If not then your turbo electrics will be effected as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra dan Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 what a nightmare for you may be best to claim on the insurance if its going to be very expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4CK50N Posted December 21, 2004 Author Share Posted December 21, 2004 Hi guys Thanks for the words and advice. I will be pursuing the repair cost for the spoiler, but I'm more worried about the electrics and what caused it in the first place!! The idea of a part of a loom would be brilliant but I'm not gonna hold my breath until i know the extent of the damage. I am lucky in the fact that my dad, who has taken early retirement is a whizz with anything like this and has regularly rewired cars in the past, albeit a long time ago. I have attached some pics so you can see the damage. Thanks for everyones help so far! Cheers Martyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonball Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Thats a bummer m8 - never heard of that happening before. Very strange Anyone fiddled around with the lights etc? / changed stuff around It doesn't seem too bad - contact CJ on this list for some loom from breakers once you identify what you need! The front is fecked - and yes the truck drivers' insurance should cover that - time for a change bud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keron Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 it does not look like the loom is burned though or the loom casing would be melted wouldnt it? i would take the casing off around where the the fire started and look to see if any wires inside are without a casing (bare). chances are that 2 off the wires within the black casing have touched and caused it to catch alight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4CK50N Posted December 21, 2004 Author Share Posted December 21, 2004 Paul Thanks mate Am just on with getting hold of the truck driver. Then depending on what happens will take the opportunity to find a new front bumper / spoiler Keron Cheers for chipping in. Having looked at it this morning, I feel a little better. hopefully, your explaination will be what went wrong, and I will put it down to "one of those things" Just gonna try and get xmas out of the way first as all family are coming. Besides I am now driving a car with true power - Citreon ZX Diesel!!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 It looks like a couple of wires are going through the hole in the wing where the IC pipe goes. If they haven't been protected properly it could easily have sawn through the insulation and then grounded them, shorting them out. Looks like a small area of damage though, that's good news. Not many wires either and it's accessible, so a chop and drop would be easy -Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4CK50N Posted December 21, 2004 Author Share Posted December 21, 2004 Ian As the day goes on, I feel a lot better. I have played merry hell with the company whos truck it was. I have let my representative tell them that they will be paying for a new bumper. He has said so far that he will get it repaired, to which he was told "no you wont you will pay for a new one." They guy doesnt want to go through his insurance though and wants to pay cash, so we will have to see what offer is put on the table. Must now decide whether I want a different front bumper and if so what. Am going to strip down all around the burnt area so that I can get a good idea of how far back it goes. How much do you think I will be looking at if it just the area shown in the pics that are damaged? Obviously to do the job properly and not bodge it up!! Cheers Martyn PS On a lighter note, I have already saved £10 today just by driving a diesel to work instead of my Supe!!! :D Cloud and Silver Lining! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keron Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 i think it would have only affected about an inch or so if that. a similar thing happened to me and it was only about 2 wires in there about an inch in lenght. the wires that come out of the loom near the intercooler pipe is only a ground wire. keron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dude Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Saving grace is that you can get rid of the ugliest bumper known to man !!!!! Dude :flame Dev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soonto_HAS_soop Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Saving grace is that you can get rid of the ugliest bumper known to man !!!!! Dude :flame Dev Yep, ditch the Jimmy Hill chin!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4CK50N Posted December 21, 2004 Author Share Posted December 21, 2004 Hi guys, Fingers crossed the wiring will be a minor job but knowing my luck it wont be that simple. I didnt like the front spoiler much to begin with, but it grew on me with time. Please dont speak ill of the fatally wounded :D Cheers people Martyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 How much do you think I will be looking at if it just the area shown in the pics that are damaged? Obviously to do the job properly and not bodge it up!! I couldn't tell you what it would cost as I'd effect that repair myself I think the biggest time sink would be ensuring 100% that you had found all the damage and the actual cause of the fire was that part of the loom and it wasn't just going to go up again. There isn't much to strip off, the most it would be is wheel, arch lining, headlight, even the front bumper wouldn't add on a daft amount of time, and that'll expose all that part of the loom. If it's a lot of wires that need cutting and replacing you may have a headache in making the finished result look nice, because spliced wires tend to end up 2 to 3 times the thickness of the original ones That's a bridge to cross as you get to it though. First things first, find out the extent of the damage and see if you can find the cause. -Ian PS it's a scratch, not a fatal wound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 There isn't much to strip off, the most it would be is wheel, arch lining, headlight, even the front bumper wouldn't add on a daft amount of timeSounds easy when you say it like that. A bit like the Haynes manuals ".....undo the nut and then slide the crank pulley from its shaft" I tried to remove my OS wheel arch liner once so that I could get at the SMIC. I gave up after I'd removed every visible nut and bolt but the bloody wheel arch liner still wouldn't come out. WTF holds those things in place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Sounds easy when you say it like that. A bit like the Haynes manuals ".....undo the nut and then slide the crank pulley from its shaft" I tried to remove my OS wheel arch liner once so that I could get at the SMIC. I gave up after I'd removed every visible nut and bolt but the bloody wheel arch liner still wouldn't come out. WTF holds those things in place? Perhaps you just need to goto the gym mate ? lol Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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