Electircal Fire

[acass]

Had a spot of trouble last night as I was leaving work. Bit of a bad smell followed by smoke . I pulled over, opened the engine compartment and was quite surprised to see flames where my battery usually sits . Managed to get the flames out but my electrical is messed. It looks like the fire was contained in the battery "box" but now I'm faced with a massive job. The garage I usually take it to isn't really optimistic about getting it running again as they have a heck of a time finding the right parts (two weeks to track down belts). I live in the Northwest Territories so I can't exactly bring it to any of the West Coast gurus. Anyone have any suggestion? I'll be needing a new wiring harness at the very least. I'll try and get some pictures (it pretty grisly). I love my Delly.

Andrew

[Green1]

the first step is figuring out what happened, most likely an electrical wire somewhere grounded, once you find that spot most of the damage will be between there and the batter (that wire will have been what got hot and started your fire)

most of what you will likely need to replace is wiring and probably the batteries themselves (any garage should be able to do that stuff), however if it happened near the battery you may also need a new coolant expansion bottle, and related hoses.

most importantly, don't even bother repairing it until you figure out what caused it, no point in replacing everything and then having the same problem tomorrow!

[ccautos]

I have seen this problem before when the battery does not have a hold down clamp and is free to short against the body . There should also be red insulating boots over the `+` terminal to prevent any accidental shorting .

I can supply all the battery cables , wiring harnesses , coolant bottle and trims that you require . We can also ship it all up to you by courier or greyhound . Call me on (250)954-2157 for more details . Thanks , Glen

[JMK]

Thanks for the heads up on this. Having just bought spiral cells, I will now be doubly careful when I install them.