dave833 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Occasionally at the junkyard I'll see a lower mileage newer car (in this case it was an '01 OBW) that's obviously had an engine fire. Of course the wiring, hoses, and anything else plastic was destroyed by the fire, but would fire cause damage to the internals making the bare engine unusable? The low miles would make it an appealing swap candidate if not for the fire damage. Has anyone reused a fire-damaged engine like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 (edited) I have been to enough wrecking yards to see exactly what you are talking about. Something shorts out the electrical system to start a fire and toast the engine bay and maybe more. I have never bought a motor from a fried car like that, but would think that the motor itself would be unharmed. An under hood electrical fire does not get that hot to damage the motor in my opinion. The reason the car sits in a wrecking yard is because the labor to install a new wiring harnass, and all other damaged under hood components is beyond the value of the car. Now that I think about it, I remember talking to a guy shopping in a wrecking yard years back. We were both looking at a car that had suffered an engine bay fire in the yard. In conversation, he said that he bought a car from a wrecking yard, and painstakingly rewired what was damaged in the fire, and put the car back on the road again. He said the cause of the fire was a leaking fuel injector, or fuel line that sprayed or leaked fuel on the exhaust manifold to start the fire. So, I guess that is a testimonial that the motor is prolly not damaged. Guess, I should also add that the engine fires that I have am talking about have not been catastrophic. Only wiring has been burned, not radiator or heater hoses, valve covers, or any belts burnt off the car. Edited January 9, 2009 by Rooster2 more info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 an XT6 of mine caught fire years ago under the hood. fun story but i won't recount it here. i would have had no problem reusing that engine. they would be very simple to reuse - just swap out the entire intake manifold. i'd replace all seals, gaskets, and water pump, unless for some reason you're very confident certain things didn't get heat damaged. my guess is usually something simple stalls the engine before major damage occurs. wiring or fuel starvation. there are probably rare cases of owners jumping out with the car running and it runs until something shuts it down. as long as the timing belts don't melt/slip and coolant hoses don't burn up and cause it to overheat before that you're probably fine. the odds might be better or the same as your "average unknown" condition motor in reality. at least you know what happened and can inspect it, see how bad it was. i'd check the timing belts on interference engines, not sure what to say about the timing chain equipped H6's. they don't do so well with cooked oil, but have a metal protector plate and probably shut off quickly with an under hood fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subiemech85 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 saw a burnt honda? in the yard once, fairly obvious what started the fire, HOLE in block Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scooby Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 i would not use it simply because the heat under the hood like that can effect the strength of the aluminum, case in point, i work in a subaru wrecking yard, kid had a 06 2.5i impreza, rolled it and the engine caught fire. we pulled the engine and tore it apart to see if anything was good for a rebuild to sell. even the valves where brittle, it had made the intake manifold and water cross over pipe so weak that they crumbled in your hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Reading above posts............I guess it depends on the intensity of the heat from the fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 If the rest of the car is burned too, I wouldnt try it. Subaru engines sit very low under the hood (Pancake or suitcase take your pick). this puts it under most combustables. If the front tires are melted I would think twice about it. Upright engines (everyone else) is surrounded by combustables. If there is small scorching under the hood, I would say its ok. If the Wheel well liners are melted, I wouldnt use it. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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