Hey guys,

New member here, own a 2005 TL A/T 139k miles. Owned since new. Have always done all maintenance items and the car is in great shape drives and runs well.

On March 8, I took it in for a standard oil change and a transmission drain and refill. Left the shop and smelled burning oil. I figured they just spilled a little on the manifolds and it would burn off (it did). Yesterday I was driving home and smelled burning electrical. Pulled over and could see smoke coming out of the hood. Opened the hood and was greeted with flames pouring out of the front of the engine. Grabbed my extinguisher and put out the fire. Called my wife to bring my truck down and towed the car back to my house.

Upon further inspection, it looks like this fire started with the wiring running to the cooling fans on the radiator. I had the owner of the oil change shop come out and we visually inspected everything, it does not look like oil on anything.

Has anybody heard of an issue like this? Looks like it will need a new wiring harness to the injectors, O2 sensor, fan back to the fuse box, new radiator fan, and a new motor mount. However, I want to make sure this never happens again. The car will start and there is no check engine lights, the fan also runs which is also puzzling.

Any thoughts or comments would be great as I really like the car and would hate to get rid of it.

Thanks everybody,

Phil

 

I watched my engine bay catch fire once. The power steering hose sprung a leak and oil fell onto the cat (or precat). It smelled of burnt oil though. Not sure if you have same issue but it is something to look at

 

I had that recall done back in 2012. It’s the first thing I looked at. It’s all in tact and no leaks or oil on it.

 

good job with the extinguisher!

 

that is so weird. it does look like the harness was the source of the fire from what i can see in the pictures. im no expert though

most of the engine fires posts here are related to the power steering hose

 

I’ll try to get better pics when I start taking it apart.

 

wouldn't be surprised if they spilled oil while filling and used something like brake cleaner to clean the area. Brake cleaner will eat through the protective coating on wires. Once the 2 wires touch on exposed areas, it creates a short circuit (lots of heat) and eventually fire. Call your ins co or look at LKQ/U-Pull it for replacement parts.

 

Now that makes sense, hence the burning oil smell. Definitely and short circuit. I don’t carry full coverage on such an older car. The only part I’ll really need at a junk yard is that wiring harness. Doesn’t seem like it will be to difficult to change but I’ll know more once the 5 feet of snow coming tomorrow melts and I can tear it apart.

 

Is the oil change paying for this?

 

I have no legal basis to make them pay for it. I Can’t prove that an oil spill happened, and then was subsequently cleaned up with a solvent that would have caused the wire insulation to deteriorate.

 

I also commend the use and carry of the fire extinguisher, as you greatly prevented mass casualties in the engine bay.
Makes me want to start carrying one.

 

just ordered a two pack replacement today on Amazon. I have fire extinguishers in every vehicle I own and every property I own including the garage. You never know when you’ll need it as yesterday proved.

 

What's the condition of your fuses? They're supposed to stop this very thing from happening.

Edit: And where's the plug for the O2 sensor? Did it burn up?

 

Care to share what you have been using for car use?

We just replaced our kitchen extinguisher since it happened to come in handy on an oven fire. In my 20+ years of home ownership, I have never needed to use an extinguisher until a couple of weeks ago. It got me thinking about cars...and this thread confirmed my concern that I want something in my car. My wife no longer gives me odd looks when I talk about having extinguishers around.

 

I second that, also, how did you mount / store it?

 

I purchased the below fire extinguishers and I mount them with a soft rubber mounting bracket held by two short self tapping screws.

 

I’m curious if anybody has wiring diagrams to help with what I need to purchase to fix this wiring. It looks as though the front three injectors, O2 sensor, throttle body and a couple other unknown connections, are running from the front of the motor to the fuse block, and a second harness is running to the back of the motor. Any guidance would be appreciated.