Car suffered a freak electrical fire on the highway and was completely engulfed in flames. The engine was still running fine, but the fire department shot some water in the intake to get the engine off as my off safety kill switch under the hood was inoperable at the time. I was considering repairing the car but the tow truck driver allowed it to slam into the house doing damage to the car and the house.
What parts should I pull out? Is the engine worth much to sell? any advice would be appriciated

Cheers,
Mike

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1984 300sd auto with 246,000 miles

Wow....sounds like you dealt with a wise bunch of people there! Sprayed water into the intake to stop the engine!?! I'd have done the same to their fire truck motor! They could have just hosed it off to get the fire out then stopped the motor. What a waste...engine is probably done for from trying to compress water, not to mention water flooding through the hot turbo...

I bet this was caused by the resistor for the blower under the brake booster, probably filled with leaves and debris, thus caught fire. Looks like it started in that vicinity.

Too bad Looks like it was a nice car still. Most you can do now is probably just part out what still works. The transmission should still be ok, as well as other drive components and body parts other than the hood/front.

This is why I always keep extinguishers in all my cars....

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Are you sure they sprayed water on it?

Would a fire department spray water on a burning vehicle? I'm thinking they would spray foam.

PM sent.

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

"the tow truck driver allowed it to slam into the house doing damage to the car and the house"

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Brian
87 300Dturbo 180K #14 head still running R-12 SOLD 12/2017
02 F350 Powerstroke 180K
05 Chevy Express 1 ton w/Royal Utility box 120K
08 Infiniti FX-35 40K
15 Golf Sportwagen TDI 35K
10 Sprinter 3500 chassis with a Class A Winnebago on it. 56K

Sorry to see that. Did you have full coverage insurance?

__________________
The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

Fire damage can be almost impossible to fully repair, and that damage can be extensive. One of the worst issues is that as a harness full of wires burns, and loses its insulation, wires that are electrically hot, can short to other wires, and burn the harness all through the car. It can create a cascade effect, one wire burning another, shorting, burning others. You just wont know until you get in there and start digging. All I can say is that ive done about three or four and almost wont even look at them anymore unless its extremely minor, which means starting with no burned paint. To burn your hood that bad there was a great deal of heat, and for quite a while.

And thats before we look at what damage the engine may have suffered. If this just happened, I would immediately pull the injectors and try to crank the motor, hot wiring the starter off a different battery if you need to. If it got water in it it will begin rusting within a day or two, cranking it with the injectors out will blow any remaining water out.

Just to be clear, DO NOT crank it until the injectors are removed. And water could do further damage, if it hasnt already. If they truly stopped the engine with water, its likely toast, but you never know.

Once its clear, put the injectors back in and try starting it. If it runs okay you could probably sell it for a few bucks. But from this point its really a parts car IMHO. Youll go broke and wear yourself out trying to repair it.

Further, the tow truck operator is responsible for all damages he caused, car, house, doesnt matter. They are two separate events, so dont let them say the car was junk and therefore any further damage didnt devalue it further. If they try, ask if its legal to go into a junk yard and damage their cars, seeing as they are already junk.

I wondered about the reference to water as well (even though you can see them pouring water under the hood, after the fire was out, in one of the pics).

When I have seen FD personnel respond to a car fire they have used a portable extinguisher first, halon or foam.

Wow. You should inquire as to whether the tow operator is related to the genius with the water hose.

I am really sorry for your loss. And I thought I had a bad day 'cause my back is sore....

If you had comprehensive coverage, the car will be written off. If the motor did ingest water, I don't think it will be worth your while to buy it back for salvage value and part it out, for what you will get minus an engine, versus your time and outlay.

If you don't have coverage, I would suggest keeping it as a parts car if you are able. Repairing cars that have had a fire of that sort is perfectly possible, but it's a tricky proposition. Part of the equation will be, would you feel confident in the future driving it?

Do you have an idea where exactly the fire started?

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Virtually every fire dept adds a foam solution to their water. It may not always look "foamy", but it should always have some in it. And yeah, when I was on the dept thats what we would likely have done.

Lucky they didnt go after the hood with pry bars, seen that too. If you dont want to lose a car to a fire, carry a fire extinguisher. Also, plan ahead. The sooner you can open the hood and battle it, the least amount of damage occurs. But the only way to kill an electrical fire is to cut battery power ASAP. Thats why Bus drivers have a hatchet within reach, a quick chop or two and its cut. Or get a battery disconnect.

When I was young it was common for cars to not have the air cleaner on, and just as common to get a carb fire. I cant count how many times we would be sitting at a light and start seeing the paint bubble up on the hood. Quick open the hood and often, just flooring the throttle would "suck" it out. Or throw your buddies jacket over it and tamp it out. Amazingly, it didnt often hurt a denim jacket.

This is one total I would probably not fix. The damage is probably too extensive to fix it at any reasonable price.

OTOH it is a diesel so its possible there is not that much wiring in the area it was burning to damage. I guess I'd take a close look.

The possibility of hydrolock bending a rod is also there, and the post above about removing the glows or injectors and cranking to get water out is a good one. Then if it seems ok put a teaspoon of oil in to keep it from rusting and put the injectors back in.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

This is great reinforcement for why I carry a co2 extinguisher in my car. You can spray that ish into the intake to shut off the engine and it won't be harmed.

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

There are enough nice ones that get scrapped I dont think that one would be worth doing much with. If the interior is good some of that would be useful to someone though im sure.

Get that tow company to pay for the damage to your house and car.

It doesn't take a whole lot of water to stall the car out, if you fire up a methanol setup pre-boost the car will bog down horribly.

As suggested, I would pull the injectors and spin it over a few times. Then do a compression test and see where you are.

The wiring on these cars is pretty simple under the hood. Start/glow circuit, then power to the dash and lights. A minimal setup shouldn't be too hard but you would probably lose some features.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

If it helps, I just bought an 84SD for $1,500 and have approx $600 in parts . Insurance gave me $3,000 for the 85 that was rear ended and let me keep it. I'm still driving it.

Just take the obvious parts and sell the rest. Store them in marked boxes for when you find another. Take anything that you "may" need. The price of even small parts adds up when you are bringing a car up to specs.

Aluminum brings more than steel. The hood is aluminum. The recycler will have a magnet to test.

There are multiple sites that search multiple craigslists at once.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Wow!!! iam really sorry to see what happened to your SD.
There have been numerous threads on keeping the area behind the false firewall clean of leaves and other debris. this is a bad design catch all area.

I have seen several engine related fires in usually gasser MB`s in the yards. usually the fire is so intensive and extensive that it really isn`t worth trying to repair them.

As has been mentioned above trying to repair the wiring harnesses and any shorting to other components to the cars systems, it really isn`t worth the expence. then the possible internal engine damage from water. but you wont`t know until you start digging into it.

There is the smoke damage that might have got into the interior, and that is really difficult to get rid of the seat materials, carpet etc...

If you have the space, there is still a lot that can be removed from the body before scrapping the hulk for your next SD or????


This reminds me of another electrical fire from a few years back on a W123 starting under the dash. be good to repost this link for new members to see.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/241899-i-lost-all-electrical-fire-high-up-dash.html



Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Thanks for the advice guys, I will get the hood off, and various other aluminum bits I can find. I just bought two new tires about 3 weeks ago so will try and save those. Here's the damage the tow truck operators did:





Fence knocked down & damaged, they were kind enough to pick it up on their way out:


fence brackets bent:




I did manage to get this video of the car on fire & still running. The firefighters were astonished for a brief moment, said they'd never seen it happen before.
car on fire but wont stop running - YouTube

Cheers,
Mike

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1984 300sd auto with 246,000 miles