iluvdrt Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 So we had the columbus and the attendance was pretty good, except a very excited member could not make it due to a car fire. Alleyboy I am sorry this happened to you man. Ill let you tell the story, but here are the pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumby Boy Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 That hurts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvdrt Posted June 1, 2005 Author Share Posted June 1, 2005 Yes, we think the main harness shorted out. The dash, and engine caught fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 Yeah, this was by far, the worst disaster in all of my 25 odd years of wrenching. A complete loss. Worse than it looks in those pix even. It's all torn apart now, and I'm still not 100% certain of what happened. But judging by the looks of the wiring harness, especially under the dash, I have to suspect it began as an electrical fire. I also suspect that fuel was continuously being pumped to the turbo, because the turbo light would always be on. Probably the combination of electrical sparking and fuel vapor concentrated under the hood. The "Alleywagon" has been in the works for about 1 1/2 years, and it was all done (except paint and interior) before the fire. Mechanicals, body, everything was in as good shape as any Sube I have ever owned. Like Jason said, I was really looking forward to seeing what it was capable of on those trails. I wanted to get some fun out of the way before putting it back together to use as my daily driver. I'm over it now, but it sure was tuff sitting on the sidelines this past weekend. I didn't even make it out to the trail. Too depressing. Definitely next year... John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik litchy Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 wow just like that vw vid i posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phizinza Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 I always hate to see burnt out cars. Especially subies. :-( What parts of the engine have you salvaged? I hope theres more you can use then you think it is... hard luck mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twowagons Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 Big tears....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicky nighteyes Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 *shudder* why is it that when something really bad happens, it happens right when its almost finished? horrible man, you have my deepest condolences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soobmater Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 Man i'm really sorry about that. brings a tear to my eye to see a soob burnt:( that is too bad that it was pretty much finished to. and you didnt even see it off roading? that really sux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvdrt Posted June 2, 2005 Author Share Posted June 2, 2005 Yeah, this was by far, the worst disaster in all of my 25 odd years of wrenching. A complete loss. Worse than it looks in those pix even. It's all torn apart now, and I'm still not 100% certain of what happened. But judging by the looks of the wiring harness, especially under the dash, I have to suspect it began as an electrical fire. I also suspect that fuel was continuously being pumped to the turbo, because the turbo light would always be on. Probably the combination of electrical sparking and fuel vapor concentrated under the hood. The "Alleywagon" has been in the works for about 1 1/2 years, and it was all done (except paint and interior) before the fire. Mechanicals, body, everything was in as good shape as any Sube I have ever owned. Like Jason said, I was really looking forward to seeing what it was capable of on those trails. I wanted to get some fun out of the way before putting it back together to use as my daily driver. I'm over it now, but it sure was tuff sitting on the sidelines this past weekend. I didn't even make it out to the trail. Too depressing. Definitely next year... John Yeah It is definatly pretty bad. John, man I feel so bad you should have still come out. I know how you feel though, if it had been my car I probably wouldnt have come either. I just can not come up with any words to say....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 I've never heard of a wiring harness (Subaru) doing this. Did you mod it or tap into it for any reason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumby Boy Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 *shudder* why is it that when something really bad happens, it happens right when its almost finished? you gotta hate Murfey sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 john check out meet-greet , i'll call you friday night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 I've never heard of a wiring harness (Subaru) doing this. Did you mod it or tap into it for any reason? I did install a remote starter switch. Other than that, it was all OEM. I inspected the switch and wiring and and it did not show any evidence of a meltdown. When I was ripping out the wiring harness I noticed that some of the wiring above the rear passenger wheel well was scuffed up (bare wires). These are in the same section as the fuel pump, so it may be a possibility that something crossed up there, triggering the short somewhere up front. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hondasucks Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 A kid at Wyotech had his Jeep darn near burn to the ground in the parking lot, but this was cuz the guy was an idiot and ran his 0 gauge amp wire through the firewall with no grommet, and didnt' put a fuse on it where it went to the battery, insulation wore through at the firewall, shorted out, caught the engine compartment on fire. Inside was basically okay aside from a hole burnt through the dash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumby Boy Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 mY MATE HAS A 92 hOLDEN rodeo and when we put in his new pioneer headunit he thaught the black wire was the earth and it turned to be the back light wire for the old head deck as the old one earthed out through the shell of the unit to the body of the vehicle so when he started the car everything worked fine but when he turned his lights on POOF big lots of black smoke. melted every wire back to the fuse box. he got a new hARNESS from the wreckers for 10$ AU he and his missus bro fitted it while i went back to the burdekin to visit my olds. He was lucky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Inspector Clueso, quizzically rubs his chin and asks "Did you change the fuel filter recently? and Where where the fusible links during this episode?" Experiences like this are very hard to take but if we all learn something from it... it may soften the blow My deepest condolences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Inspector Clueso, quizzically rubs his chin and asks "Did you change the fuel filter recently? Fuel filter & pump brand new; the car ran like a champ only days before the fire. fuel system appeared to be fine. In fact, I ran this car in idle for extended periods to monitor the major systems. Only question mark was the turbo light indicator - which stayed on all the time. Haven't thouroughly researched this yet and Where where the fusible links during this episode?" all fuses and links pulled, checked values verified and replaced, one at a time. Experiences like this are very hard to take but if we all learn something from it... it may soften the blow My deepest condolences. If I had a clear cut answer, it would be easier to accept, learn, and move on. But this one is still a mystery at this point. BTW, thanks for all the kind words. As you can imagine, this been a major downer... John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddcomp Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 dumb question... but did you actually keep the spare tire under the hood? i don't even cary a spare.. is why i ask lol but looking at the pics and the heat marks ect i would say it started somewhere near the battery and if you had the spare tire under the hood then that might have caught fire and the heat from that roasted everything else just a .00002 wild theory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 The spare was not in the engine bay at the time of the fire. The fire seemed to have two "hot spots". One near the battery area, as you noted. The other was under the dash, which is not obvious from the pix. That's why I suspect that it was a combination of factors that caused it. Maybe the turbo/fuel being on, along with a short under the dash. (???) John dumb question... but did you actually keep the spare tire under the hood? i don't even cary a spare.. is why i ask lol but looking at the pics and the heat marks ect i would say it started somewhere near the battery and if you had the spare tire under the hood then that might have caught fire and the heat from that roasted everything else just a .00002 wild theory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 John, I downloaded and enlarged the engine photograph. I can find no evidence of the metal canister fuel filter? I doubt it would vaporize as it is steel and aluminum, as you know melts, at a lower temperature. Can you point it out in a photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Trust me, the fuel filter, along with the rest of the missing items, were there when the fire started. Jason took the pix after they came back from offroading. I started tearing the car down while they were all out having fun... John John,I downloaded and enlarged the engine photograph. I can find no evidence of the metal canister fuel filter? I doubt it would vaporize as it is steel and aluminum, as you know melts, at a lower temperature. Can you point it out in a photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadyirishmen Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 I've experienced that before. Its called Subaru Nuclear Engine Failure Meltdown (thats what a hillbilly told me). I parked my car on the side of the road cause it was running funny. (I was 19 and didn't know that overheating for long durations could lead to your oil to catching on fire). While I was on the phone all I could hear was load sirens, I had to end my conversation because it was so loud then when I went to see what the commotion was.... It was my subaru in a ball of little suubie flames.:-\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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