Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Engine caught fire -- what happened?

Good morning CEG'rs. I'm still shaking over my SE's engine fire yesterday afternoon — so I come to you for your expert opinions/advice. Here's what happened:

I was driving south on I-5 back home to Vancouver, Wash. Without any obvious signs of engine trouble, the temperature gauge spiked quickly to the red bar, indicating, you would think, that the engine was overheating. I quickly pulled over, opened the hood, and was very surprised to feel no heat coming from the engine and that it was cool to the touch. So, I assumed the thermostat was stuck open and that the computer was programmed to spike the temperature gauge to indicate to the driver that there is trouble with the cooling system.

I decided to keep driving because my SE was running just fine up until then (aside from the fact that I couldn't get warm air from the heater/defroster). Minutes later I was traveling uphill, and the engine began to ping horribly. So, I assumed the reason for that was because it wasn't operating at its normal temperature. As I drove down the hill, smoke suddenly billowed out of the engine compartment. The oil pressure light came on, the car stalled and I managed to pull over safely to the shoulder. I opened the hood and discovered that the engine was on fire. I grabbed my coat, wallet and cell phone from the front passenger seat, called 911, and while I was on the phone to the dispatcher several bursts of flames shot out above the height of the hood. Police and a fire engine showed up very quickly and put out the fire. My car and I were towed home — 80 miles. Thank God for AAA Plus.

I can see that a few of the injectors are burned as are some vacuum or fuel lines, but without taking off the intake manifold it's difficult to see what else has been damaged or where the fault lies.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Also, please let me know if you think this would be covered under my car insurance. Thanks much, gents.

Sounds like your water pump let go when the temp needle flew up... Sorry to say but there might be serious internal damage there.

It could be covered under warranty, I don't know about isurance though!

Your first and second problem sounds like the waterpump went out. As soon as you noticed that your temp gauge spiked, you shouldn't have driven the car. Sounds like you have to replace the engine. DO you have any type of warranty on your car?

Thanks guys. No, I don't have a warranty, unfortunately. Also, what I can't get through my pea brain is why the engine was cool to the touch if the guage was reading-in-the-red hot. If the pump failed, seems I should have been blasted with heat when I opened the hood?

Did you have a recall done for whatever it was that could cause a fire in the engine bay. I think it would affect your car since you have a Duratech right? I think it was in the electric fans. If they wern't blowing and the switch fried it may help to explain your problem. Either way good luck and sorry for loss!! It trulely sucks.

There was a recall on a wiring harness that could crack and cause shorts leading to fire in the engine bay... Check with your local dealer to see if you had this done...if not Ford may foot the bill as it was a safety recall...Good Luck!!

Thanks again, guys. And yeah, I think I'm going to need all the luck I can get. Yes, I have the Duratec (or you could say I HAD the Duratec depending on the damage that was done), but I don't believe I received a notification for the recall that you guys are talking about. Man oh man. But I will look into it on Monday. I wonder what Ford's liability is in cases in which it has issued a recall but the customer (me) didn't act on it through neglict or ignorance? How I wish the dealership would help us stay on top of these recalls. I was just at my dealership for the heater blower wiring harness recall to replace the heater blower resistor and install a new wire jumper harness.

Update re: my insurance claim idea. I called my insurance company because according to my policy that I finally dug up, if you have comprehensive coverage, your car is covered for damage resulting from fire. Now, what was not made clear is whether that includes damage from fire as a result of engine trouble (as opposed to some random event that leads to your car being damaged by fire). I should hear from an adjustor by end of day tomorrow. I'll provide a meaningful update when I learn more. I hope what I learn from this experience will be helpful to others.

My 95 ztec engine needed the cooling fan recall. I got the recall notice from ford and was waiting to take it in when I had time. Any way while parking we noticed a little smoke and smell from under the hood. The fan had locked and fried. They replaced the fan and it's harness as well as installed the recall fuse setup. Since they had the fan in stock and the harness in district stock it is a problem. See if the fan turns or not. The fan would be turning if the defrost is on as it comes on with the AC. I thought pinging occurs when the engine is over heated and what about a knock sensor to retard timing when it pings?

Bill D.

Spoke to the insurance adjustor this morning: My insurer, Allstate, will pay for damage caused by the engine fire but won't pay for the cause of the fire itself. And that makes sense. So, let's say it was the water pump that went out which caused the engine to overheat which caused whatever to catch on fire -- I'll be responsible for that replacement. Fine. But where it gets tricky, in my mind, is if there's internal damage beyond what the fire obviously caused outside the engine. Will the insurance inspector, who will view the damage tomorrow, say, for instance, "the internal damage is due to the failed water pump, and we're not paying." Or will the inspector claim that the heat from the fire caused the internal damage (if any)?

And Bill D. -- you've got me thinking it was the water pump. There was noticeable pinging before the fire. But as I said before, I pulled over as soon as I first noticed the temp. gauge spiking (which was at least 45 minutes before the engine eventually caught fire I should add) but the engine was COOL to the touch. I just don't get it. Something's not quite adding up here.

Oh my God, this can't be real, can it? Temperature spikes and you keep driving 45 minutes because the engine was running fine and was cold to the touch?!?!?!? Plain and simple, you burned it up man, holy cow! The engine was cool to the touch because it's aluminum and didn't have any water flowing through it to extract the heat away from the cylinders. The engine fire was most likely engine oil spurting out from the warped heads running with no water in them.

If I were you, I'd keep the temp needle and driving 45 minutes thing quiet or you'll be paying for a new engine, fire or no fire, provided your insurance person knows anything about engines. That's negligence if I ever heard it and not covered by warranty or insurance.