fire in engine compartment, I need help..it won't start!

[ctjeepman]

I had a fire a couple of weeks back in my 1987 J20 V8 when 1 of my hoses broke off of the PCV valve and caused the oil to blow out the filler cap, and then the fan blew it onto the intake manifold and it ignited. The fire itself wasn't bad at all it was just a surface fire where a thin film of oil had covered the engine but 2 plug wires were fried, the wiring harness next to the coil was pretty melted and the cap and wires to the coil were melted. I put in new coil,plug wires and respliced together the wiring harness and it still doesn't want to start. ANy suggestions guys? I am at a loss as to what to do and any ideas I will try, I am desperate

[shadowfax101]

Are you sure you got the wires back correctly? The first thing I would do is to check to see if you have spark. If you do not, check voltage to the coil and work your way from there down to the wires. If it got hot enough to melt your cap, it might have also damaged the pickup coil. If you have spark, then check to make sure your fule pump is working.

If that is working then check the timing, you might have bumped it at some point, but I do not think so.

If you have used all three and they all check out then I have no idea.

I would place money on the wires getting the juice to your spark plugs...

Good luck

[bvibert]

Sounds like a real mess! You can drop it off at my house and I'll take it off your hands

Really though shadowfax101's advice is sound. Double, triple check the wires that got burned to make sure you put them back properly. I suppose it is also possible that you may have damaged the ignition module if the wires in the harness melted and shorted to gether while the engine was running, thats just a wild guess though.

Good luck and keep us updated!

[ctjeepman]

I am sure on the wires being ok since I respliced them 1 at a time. Coil was good I am getting a spark but it won't start. It just endlessly cranks. I'll try new ICM today if I get to it after work, there were about 4 wires that had totally burnt through the insulation. Funny thing is that the jeep was still running even though it was on fire...I had to turn it off....HMMM...I'll keep you updated. I don't know what is worse at this point, the fact that I cannot use it or that it has 2 tons of rock in the bed that I need back home and no way to get it here!

[shadowfax101]

Well if you are getting spark then I would check to ICM like you said. I would replace it anyway to be on the safe side. What color is the spark. Is it hot enough to get the job done? But since you are getting spark, I would check to see if you are getting fuel.

When you mix fuel with spark it should go....assuming the spark is at the right time.

Did you replace the rotor when you replaced the cap?

[porkchop]

How did you put the fire out? If an extingusher was used was it sprayed into the intake and now the carb is all gummed up. Just asking more questions.