Charged it at 2.5 amps for a few hours and suddenly I had an inferno.
I was able to put the fire out with a weak garden hose but the battery itself kept reigniting as if it were dealing with decay heat from a freshly scrammed ˟˟˟ushima #2.
I opened the glove box and flames came out......which I extinguished but the front is bad off and I'm not sure how I would deal with the burnt smell once it's fixed.

I'm looking for ideas.
It was a 1989 V6 5 speed 4x4.

It was one day from being inspected and put back on the road.
Sucks.


left rear quarter

interior

underhood



inside passenger fender

inside driver's fender

 

Oh man! That sucks.

 

Sadly fire damage is usually terminal. Heat ruins the panels.. You'll have to inspect and see if they are not soft or brittle, then you can thing about new harnesses and body work.

Lots of lessons to be learned here.

Don't charge batteries in the vehicle.
Don't use water to put out automotive fires, they are typically electrical or fuel fires and water is not a good solution for this.

 

When you're rural and a weak hose is all you have....

I chose to not let it burn to the ground and used what I had.

As far as fires being terminal. I've restored a few porsche 934s and 935s that would never have brought the $4.8 million they do today today if we had given up because of fire damage.

Whether a fire is terminal depends on the person doing the work.

It's probably the biggest fire I've seen that didn't end up with fire engines here.

This isn't my first rodeo being a MDT but it's the first fire I have have experienced in my long career unlike a lot of my past co-workers who seem to experience fires quite often.........sometimes in the bay next to mine.

 

You know, maybe you were tired of the 3.0 anyway. Great time for a swap to the engine of your choice. Very nice truck!

 

If it's worth fixing, it will likely be a 1gr though I do like the extra room in the bay when a smaller engine is used.

I've hated on any Pre-1gr since they were new. I did a lot of supercharger installs and never liked how they worked out on anything but the V8s.

 

The 1gr looks like a nice choice. Got any idea of how painful the swap would be?

 

It depends more on the gearbox and 4wd hardware than the engine itself.

A 1gr using 2wd should be pretty simple.

 

That is crappy

The rest of the truck looks in good shape and the cab is OK.
These Rigs are getting hard to come by. I vote a 3.4 swap and save it. All the electrical needs to be replaced anyway...

 

I too suffered the same fate with my 1990 4 runner, but as luck would have it I am a firefighter and beat the truck to the fire and knocked it down before it went into the passenger compartment. My question is I want to do the 3.4 swap, so does that mean all the wiring can be taking out? I did purchase a 1994 donor 4 runner with a 3.0 wiring harness. Is it best to get a 3.4 harness or what?