yay! engine bay fires are fuuuuun!

[WillyPete]

i've had my first honorary engine bay fire. one of the posi cables from the alternator rubbed against the exhaust manifold, causing the insulation to melt. the wire then grounded itself on the alt case, which caused some more wires to spontaneously combust. i fixed it and the jeep runs again, however, the alt undercharges horribly (2.6 volts).

so what do i need to replace on the alt? regulator sounds vaguely correct, but i'm not sure. thanks smile.gif

[Shake N Bake]

Not sure on the cause, But it does sound like the regulator to me...

At the same time your engine fire was less exciting than mine smile.gif May 2000 I set shake up in flames dropping her new engine in... The base plate for the carb cracked during install (and I didn't notice) fuel was pouring out all over the intake, while trying to get her started (couldn't see all the gas on the intake from the drivers seat) she let off a nice backfire... and WOOOOOSH! Glad I had the hood off smile.gif You've never seen anyone hop out of a jeep, hurdle a engine hoist, engine core, open a garage door, unmount a fire extinguisher (kinda, i took the mount and screw + those plastic thingys with me) and get back to the truck in such a short period of time. My buddy was killing himself laughing, said I looked like the roadrunner smile.gif I was less than impressed smile.gif

Andy

[WillyPete]

at least you had a fire extinguisher! tongue.gif ;)

i carry one with me now at all times :D

"hi ho, hi ho, it's off to AC Delco i go!"

[Blue Woody]

Also just had a fire. I put a new starter, battery, and battery cables in. Must have scraped the insulation off the + cable. Went over some railroad tracks and boom!! Turns out the muffler exploded most likely from built up fuel vapors from running rich. The battery cable shorted out on the exhaust pipe or manifold. Lucky I ended up near a factory and they had an extinguisher.

[bentpushrod]

Reminds me of the fire I had in my Commando a few years ago. I left the thing running with the dog in back. Went in the house for something, came back out and smoke was pouring out the grille. Opened the hood, and the top of the engine was on fire. No fire extinguisher, so I ran back into the house, grabbed a pitcher of fruit juice. Back outside, I doused the engine, then finished off the remaining flames with my jacket.

The steel gas line cracked up on top of the intake, and raw gas was pouring onto the engine.

It burned all the wires in the engine compartment, the vacuum lines, burned the paint off the hood. It even melted the case of my Optima.

After fixing everything, I continued to use the melted Optima, which worked fine.