Yea...So I was on my way to a friend's house after watching the firework display on the beach. As I was driving, I noticed smoke coming from under the hood. First thing I did was look at the temp gauge, normal, then I stopped at a red light and got out to check. I found nothing. So, I continued to drive thinking I picked up something on the road such as a plastic bag and it was burning, cause I smelled burning. When I got to my friend's house, I parked in the grass and got a flashlight to see what the heck was going on under there (engine was still running). When I was driving I noticed that when I turned the wheel, the car smoked more. So I thought maybe if I took the car off the grass and turned the wheel I would see something. So I had the hood open and backed up some to prevent hitting my friends mailbox. Then I put the car in drive and turned the wheel to the left (hood still open, my friend Jason was directing me). All I heard was "Holy sh*t, the car is on fire!" I looked up and saw flames, I immediately turned the vehicle off and ran out, and called 911. The fire put itself out before EMS arrived. What could possibly cause the vehicle to catch fire? The vehicle is sitting in front of my friends house cause it being July 4 and all none of the Acura roadside assistance people were out and about. So tomorrow morning the car will be towed and brought to the dealer. I have never experienced so much crap with a car, the car is like a curse, one problem after another. This is my first Acura and it will be my last, as of tomorrow I will offically start car shopping. I will keep you all updated with what happens and the cause.

 

Yea...So I was on my way to a friend's house after watching the firework display on the beach. As I was driving, I noticed smoke coming from under the hood. First thing I did was look at the temp gauge, normal, then I stopped at a red light and got out to check. I found nothing. So, I continued to drive thinking I picked up something on the road such as a plastic bag and it was burning, cause I smelled burning. When I got to my friend's house, I parked in the grass and got a flashlight to see what the heck was going on under there (engine was still running). When I was driving I noticed that when I turned the wheel, the car smoked more. So I thought maybe if I took the car off the grass and turned the wheel I would see something. So I had the hood open and backed up some to prevent hitting my friends mailbox. Then I put the car in drive and turned the wheel to the left (hood still open, my friend Jason was directing me). All I heard was "Holy sh*t, the car is on fire!" I looked up and saw flames, I immediately turned the vehicle off and ran out, and called 911. The fire put itself out before EMS arrived. What could possibly cause the vehicle to catch fire? The vehicle is sitting in front of my friends house cause it being July 4 and all none of the Acura roadside assistance people were out and about. So tomorrow morning the car will be towed and brought to the dealer. I have never experienced so much crap with a car, the car is like a curse, one problem after another. This is my first Acura and it will be my last, as of tomorrow I will offically start car shopping. I will keep you all updated with what happens and the cause.

 

Thats insane man! Glad that your okay though. Hopefully you'll find out why it was on fire?? Where exactly did the fire come from?? the wheel area?

 

Car catching fire--that's totally wicked. Running and calling 911 were the right things to do. Glad you're ok. Keep us posted as to how this happened!!!

 

hard to imagine on a 3G TL = =
did you do any engine or any upgrades by yourself??
keep updated with the information plz
i'm scared now that my car will be cursed too

 

crazy...! got any pics?

 

If when you turned the wheel it smoked more I guess your powersteering fluid could be leaking out and landing on the hot engine, I believe it is oil based so I guess ignition is plausible. That's my best guess.

Mike

 

whoa shit that sounds really baaaddd! i hope things work out for you, let us know what happens !

earlier this week i thought my car was on fire too! after a day of driving all day and having the a/c on/off i was returning home from work and noticed some smoke coming out of my drivers side vent above the a/c display. the smoke was very subtle and can only be seen by direct sunlight, yet there was no burning smell at that point but earlier in the day i thought i did smell something burn but it could have been out doors.

I freaked out and checked the temp. display and the needle was at the half way mark (a little hotter than normal) so when i got home i opened the hood and found nothing but extreme heat. so i called up my friend to get his opinion and he thinks its just water evaporating from the a/c

what do you guys think?

 

I would say to get rid of the car as well. There could be any number of things that could cause this such as fluid leaks and or electrical issues or both. But if you have lost confidence in the car providing trouble free service, get rid of it fast...

 

Yes when the cold air coming from the vent hits the warm humid air in you car it will quickly condense the mositure out of the humid air. Think of it as cold steam.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...99#post1494099

You should only post your thread in ONE section, not two.


Sucks about the car... let us know the prognosis...

 

What other problems have you experienced? We haven't heard of anything else going wrong with it...

 

Interesting.. I have never experienced that.....

For the guys who "caught fire" and "saw smoke"... where do you live? If it was a factor of heat and You live in Texas then there may be something more to it than if you lived in Maine... Just curious....

 

So this morning at around 8:30 the tow truck came to my friend's house to tow the car. The driver was nice and asked me what happend. I told him what happened and he said that he didnt want to start the car. I said I didnt blame him, and we pushed the car out of the grass and behind the tow truck. He towed the car to the dealer and my service advisor called my cell phone to ask what happened when the vehicle arrived there. I explained the situation to him and he was like, he never had this situation before and hever heard of the vehicle catching fire. The day progressed and later this afternoon the service advisor called me back and told me what they found. Crazymjb was right, the power steering fluid was leaking on the exhaust manifold. Here is the service write up word for word:

33796 HIGH PRESSURE P/S LINE WAS LEAKING FLUID ON EXHAUST MANIFOLD CAUSING A FIRE 512199 3.8HR 117199 .2HR INSPECTED ENGINE BAY AND FOUND HIGH PRESSURE P/S LINE WAS LEAKING. REMOVED ALL PLASTIC COVER ON ENGINE, AND REMOVED STRUT BAR ON TOP OF ENGINE REMOVED PRESSURE SENSOR IN LINE AND REMOVED LINE FROM P/S PUMP AND P/S RACK. REMOVED SUB FRAME AND REAR MOUNT TO REMOVE HIGH PRESSURE LINE. INSTALLED NEW LINE, THEN REINSTALLED MOUNT, SUBFRAME, AND CONNECTED LINE TO PUMP AND RACK. INSPECTED ALL VACCUM LINES, ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS, AND WIRES IN ENGINE BAY AND FOUND THAT THE COIL PACK ON CYLINDER NUMBER 2 WAS DAMAGED BY THE FIRE REPLACED COIL PACK. AFTER INSTALLING HIGH PRESSURE LINE, REMOVED ALL AIR IN THE SYSTEM BY BLEEDING IT. TEST DROVE AND NO LEAKS WERE PRESENT. PERFORMED DTC CHECK ON ALL SYSTEMS AND NONE WERE PRESENT.

Tomorrow I am going to speak with my attorney because on June 01, I had a full service that consisted of 30000 mile maintenance, POWER STEERING FLUSH, and throttle body service & fuel injection service. This problem is totally their mechanic's fault. The day after I got my full service, the vehicle was leaking transmission fluid, i call and complained on June 02. I paid them $612.70 for the full service and I am not a happy camper.

SORRY NO PICTURES, (I was too busy running for my life).....lol....but my friend Jen and Nikki took pics of the fire rescue!!! Ill post them as soon as I get my hands on them.

Replies to questions:

babi_boy_31: i did not do anything to the vehicle it is as stock as the day i took delivery.

cTLgo: other problems include a noise coming from the bottom of the vehicle when I would stop and go, I took it in to get it looked at and they told me that the control arm was bent and they cannot fix it; another problem was the leaking of transmission fluid, and some other minor problems included the center consloe popping up randomly.

jmbnova: I live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FEEL FREE TO LET ME KNOW!!!!

 

That has got to be a horrible come back for the mechanic.

 

I am not taking sides with the dealership, however, what is involved on a power steering flush that would case the high-pressure line to leak?

PS: This is why I hate the engine covers. You cannot just look at the engine and the various components to see if something is going awry.

 

^-depends. sometimes, nothing and it was just a problem manifested from the get go. Or it could be that the line was tweaked when it was being flushed or it rubbed up against something weird. depending on how they flushed the fluid the line migth have rubbed up against a belt or something, causing rapid wear.

 

Phew! Sounds like mechanic error, not car recall material. I think you're the first report of a TL on fire (not caused by illegal fireworks like in the other thread ).

 

wow...you paid so much for the service
get a refund!!!
whew...scared the hell out of me, i thought it was the stock material causing it.
but may i ask...how did it leak?
overfilled or ....?

 

Just out of curiosity, did you have it serviced at Rick Case Acura?

 

Wow, my buddies MR2 burned to the ground due to a power steering fluid leak. It burned quick though, within minutes the car was melting. As far as the process on a power steering flush. It is two a very simple and quick process. One hose goes into the resevoir and sucks fluid out while another tube also stuffed in the resevoir sends in a detergent that cleans the thick expired fluid. Once that is complete it then sends in new fluid completing the process. All in all it takes 10 minutes at the most. I charge $109.95, how much did you pay? Honda has been having some problems with leaky power steering rack seals but no fires as of yet reported. Sorry for your luck....

 

^-another way to flush the fluid is to unhook one of the p/s lines and send it through a machine which replaces the old fluid with the new fluid.

 

Power steering hoses as well as fuel hoses can fail (as with any mechanical component). The flush procedure may have required removal of this hose. Something to question. Ask if they can pinpoint why the hose failed: did it chafe against another component, was it overflexed during the flush, or installed in the wrong orientation such that it was under abnormal stress

Would I feel safe keeping the car, yes. Be certain that all of the fire damaged components are replaced. A slightly damaged electrical connector or wiring harness can cause problems down the road. Other hoses & sensors in the area of the fire should be carefully inspected. Sounds like the dealer has done this already, but if you are techncally inclined, I would double check their work before accepting it.

I don't think a lawyer is required up front. If you get a bunch of static from them then maybe lawyer-up

 

i think that the dealer now owns the TL.. You should get a new one.

What does that do for your resale value? Lemon law... "It smells burnt"