Rear end fire

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Harrowfield

New Member
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5
Hi Guys,
Thought I would share this with you. My 02 ES has gone up in smoke. TC light, ABS light and brake lights came on, pulled over and turned ignition off and removed the keys. Smoke coming from the rear end and could smell it was wiring burning. Electric source was isolated by removing keys, so called RAC for recovery. 15 minutes later still smoke but now small fire from leaking diesel, then up she goes. Took a couple of minutes from first sign of fire to a raging inferno.
I wanted to know why! Turns out there is a constantly live feed to the rear for a caravan feed, this had to be the culprit.
I'm now trying to source a replacement ES and when I do that feed will be disconnected.
 
Harrowfield said:
Hi Guys,
Thought I would share this with you. My 02 ES has gone up in smoke. TC light, ABS light and brake lights came on, pulled over and turned ignition off and removed the keys. Smoke coming from the rear end and could smell it was wiring burning. Electric source was isolated by removing keys, so called RAC for recovery. 15 minutes later still smoke but now small fire from leaking diesel, then up she goes. Took a couple of minutes from first sign of fire to a raging inferno.
I wanted to know why! Turns out there is a constantly live feed to the rear for a caravan feed, this had to be the culprit.
I'm now trying to source a replacement ES and when I do that feed will be disconnected.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that mate.:(

This might sound like a silly question but how did the trailer socket leak diesel? You say you're blaming the rear caravan feed but it still doesn't make sense. Also why did you not disconnect the battery?

Rear end fires are pretty common on disco 1's but I've only come across a couple of D2's that have gone up.
 
Had no tools with me to disconnect battery and did not know about the live feed until after the event. It seems the feed is harnessed with all other cables and goes over the fuel tank. The tank obviously melted and had 80+ ltrs on board.
 
My disco 200 has a constant rear feed as standard, I have no trailer bit use it for accessories in the boot space. It is 15 amp fused from factory.

It's a shame yours managed to set on fire.

And ratty, please don't tell me rear end fires are common, i just put 100 litres of petrol in about 20 minutes ago!

Cheers
 
That's where the confusion comes in, The fuse obviously didn't blow and no it wasn't by-passed with a nail!
Once I have the payout from the insurance company I have the task of finding another one with the right mileage and spec.
 
Harrowfield said:
Had no tools with me to disconnect battery and did not know about the live feed until after the event. It seems the feed is harnessed with all other cables and goes over the fuel tank. The tank obviously melted and had 80+ ltrs on board.
Click to expand...

The wire I think your on about is the purple 'accessory' wire. As far as I'm aware it will be in virtually all landys.

Mr Noisy said:
My disco 200 has a constant rear feed as standard, I have no trailer bit use it for accessories in the boot space. It is 15 amp fused from factory.

It's a shame yours managed to set on fire.

And ratty, please don't tell me rear end fires are common, i just put 100 litres of petrol in about 20 minutes ago!

Cheers
Click to expand...

As far as I know it's not usually the 'accessory' wire that causes the problem. It's usualy the wires to the tailgate.
 
when you get your payout get a defender lots less problems & cheaper to fix if?? it breaks down
 

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Good idea to carry a fire extinguisher, but if you think a rear end fire is the most likely, is the boot area the best place to carry it?
 
hi guys,
having just experienced a fire in my d1, probably caused by one of the pups chewing up the rear load space light and all the wiring in the back door! i now carry an extingwisher in the front passenger footwell.
my fire was behind the main fuse box under the steering wheel.
 
gtland said:
Good idea to carry a fire extinguisher, but if you think a rear end fire is the most likely, is the boot area the best place to carry it?
Click to expand...

ricc said:
if you carry an extinguisher it makes sense to have it within reach of the driver.
Click to expand...

I carry 3 of em. 2 in the rear load area and 1 in front of the rear cubby box. I also carry 2 first aid kits. 1 in the back and 1 in the rear cubby box.;)
 
I'm in the middle of refitting my interior following water leak prevention, someone had wired her for the 12s caravan socket, there is a new wire running from the spaghetti in the rear corner to the front, quite a thick one. I presume this is the 12v feed for the fridge or something. Anyway it had chafed right through for about two inches because it wasn't fitted right. I've taped it up well and clipped it back now.

I need to check that it has a fuse in it somewhere I guess too, and where it goes to. Being that heavy would be a good source of heat in a short circuit.
 
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