justin_4runner

so today i went to walmart and while in there i get a call saying return to my car and came out to find it on fire and this is what burned, dist, air box, front cover, wires, anyone have any ideas of what would cause it?

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

First I am sorry for you loss!!!

How long where you in the store??

Did you not smell or see anything odd on any of your gauges??

Without being there in person it is hard to tell for sure.

Was there a lot of oil and grease on your engine??

It was caused by one or two things either you had a gas leak which you should have smelled.

I am leaning more towards electrical in nature where wires or wire got hot enough to melt insulation then just enough of combustible material it started to flame and burn.

This is just a guess!!

justin_4runner

i was in the store about 5 to 10 mins when i was called out, no oil build up i just rebuilt the top end less than a month ago, no weird smells or anything like that when i got there and it ran normal all the way there. i got out went in and came out to this, well flames coming out and people looking at it like what should we do?.... duh.. put it out. im thinking something in the dist went bad but i cant think of what tho.

Toy3sgte

iTrader: (1)

Bad or missing grounds coupled with some other catalyst?

93toyrunner2

Fuel leak from the Fuel Pressure Regulator hose, spraying onto the hot engine components.

Utah4Runner86

iTrader: (1)

Ninja squirrels. With laser guns.

rworegon

Sorry to see this so soon after the rebuild.

It seems that fuel played a role here as the accelerant. Possibly, a fuel line was touching a hot engine part and melted through spraying fuel onto an ignition source like the manifold? Look for the area with the most heat damage and work backwards. The arrow in post 5 and the damage to the lower right of it is intesting. A leaking gasket on the fuel rail?

Was the fire contained in the engine bay?

While this engine was mostly spared, here is a revived fire damaged rig:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...runner-200608/

85TurboRunner

That happens when a 3vze realizes it is a worthless engine and kills itself.

PowerstrokeJoe

^^that was a very helpful post..

It looks like it was above the alternator but its worth a check. The Voltage regualtor on my in stuck open and shorted it out. It got hot enough that it was too hot to touch before I could get unplugged. It really does look more fuel related. Sorry to hear about that. Hope you get it running again soon!

justin_4runner

when i came out and popped and hood it didn't look like the fuel was spraying out, only after having it open for a min i heard a pop then flames got bigger, im thinking something in the dist. but what in there could cause it to go like that? if it was the fuel line i would think the fire would of been centered more around it,

so i have to wait for the insurance company to come and take a look at it, i was looking around last night and at about 3000-4000 for ones compromised to mine, but thats not with the bumper i have and winch. so we will see if they will fix or total. i might buy back and fix or go and get another yota not sure yet.

ksti

Toy3sgte

iTrader: (1)

Fire was probably fueled by oxygen when you opened the hood. It seems like a fuel fire would have been bigger. unless maybe the return line got a pinhole leak and sprayed it onto the dizzy

ksti

Another -

mpwarfy

seems like this isn't all that rare... I have seen a few fire related post on here and the pull a part by me has 2 4runners that had fires that started in the engine bay. I guess what I'm getting at is how can I avoid something like this... I would go nuckin futs if this happened to me. I'm sorry this happened to you buddy. I would have picked up the closet person watching my truck burn and beat the fire out with them.

vital22re

iTrader: (2)

most of the 3vz engine fires ive herd of start with a fuel leak. Having said that. I wanna say it was that regulater hose with a pin hole leak. Its under pressure as your driving and as you shut off the motor, it loses pressure. so you most likely wouldn't see it unless the engine was running and under load. And those 3vz do get pretty hot under the hood. You're lucky yours stopped right there. I've seen others that fire worked its way into the cab.

justin_4runner

i got lucky that people told someone and i came out as quick as i did and didnt just stand there. there was 3 workers standing 10 ft away and looking at it and then one goes u have a fire extinguisher? i happen to pull it out 3 weeks ago when i was cleaning it out and didnt put it back in. but none of them tryied to get it out or do anything to put it out. pissed me off. but what can i do... now its just a wait to see what the insurance does and go from there, been looking at a landcruisers right now.

James Woods

iTrader: (1)

I would have to agree that the fire most likely started from that FPR hose, if you look at the oil cap, it is melted on the backside pointing right at the hose.

As for the Walmart workers not doing anything, what would you expect? They are are Walmart workers

Seriously though it really sucks, sorry about your 4Runner man.

MudHippy

Yet the fuel hose remains intact...



It was caused by a short circuit in the distributor cap/rotor. Liquified plastic and rubber were the accelerants.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...r-fire-106560/

FYI, had the fuel hose ruptured the local fire department would have been needed to put out the fire. The entire engine bay would have erupted in flames...literally. The fuel delivery system is pressurized at all times. And there would have been enough fuel come spraying out of that small hose to easily catch the whole engine ablaze.

JBurt

I agree with MudHippy. I had an f150 have a fuel related engine fire and we had to call the fire department. Doesn't look like it was anywhere as big as the ones I've seen.

I vote for swap in a 3.4!

93toyrunner2

Intact? I guess, because MudHippy knows it all, but from what I can see in this picture, it looks to me like it might have had a leak, possibly spraying onto the distributor harness connector, maybe causing the spark that could ignite the fuel. . . ? Oh, and on my motor, once it is shut off, the fuel pressure in the return line off the regulator is gone (vacuum stopped, valve closes).