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HELP!! - Electical smoke/fire - don't know what to do

E

Emerscape

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Boston, MA
Hi All:

So here's what happened:

Went out this morning at 11am to get the jeep washed and do some grocery shopping. Came back around 1pm, parked it and went inside. Around 6pm I got a call from one of my neighbors telling me that my jeep was on fire. I ran outside to find no smoke outside of my jeep but a strong electrical/burning plastic smell. Opening the drivers side door I found the jeep to be full of smoke, so I popped the hood and pulled the positive wire on the battery. Afterwards I started pulling off panels around the dash and fuse box but couldn't locate the source of the smoke. I should note that I reconnected the positive terminal to use the key fob to lock all the doors and it caused the horn to get stuck on....

The fire department came shortly thereafter (I live in the city) to take a look but couldn't find anything. They suggested that I have it towed to the dealership.

I've called my insurance company (liberty mutual) who gave me a temporary claim bumber and told me that a customer rep would call me on Monday to have an adjuster sent out.

I really don't know what to do. My wife needs a car to get to work on monday since it's month-end and work is slammed. I don't know where to have my jeep towed to, but it has to be towed by Monday morning since Monday is street cleaning.

Can anyone give me some suggestions on what to do? Should I have it towed to a dealer?

I've dropped $2k into this jeep this year, on top of $3k last year for repairs (2000 Jeep Sport - , OME 2" lift, new cylinder head, CPS, CPK, brakes, sway bar bushings, all new AC & compressor). My wife needs something safe to drive (she's 7 months pregnant with our first) and I'm wondering if I should just throw in the towel on this jeep and go buy her something newer.

Help!!
 
Sorry to hear about your troubles.

The problem is that this is a little hard to help you with. You obviously need to have it looked at. But it doesn't need to be at a dealership where labor rates can be higher than an independent shop.

Where have you had work done before? It's nice to establish a relationship with a repair shop, just like you do with your doctor, dentist, insurance agent, etc.

You could have it towed to a shop for an evaluation and require them to provide a quote before any work is done so that you have that information to make decisions on. It's hard to know what to do until you know what is wrong. It might not be all that serious.

Good luck.
 
That's a tough one but at least you'll have tomorrow to work on it. Pull fuses for everything that isn't essential (radio, power windows, blower motor,etc) and slowly work your way forward. At least you know the problem is limited to the interior so, as long as the ECM is ok, everything else in there can sit.
When I bought my '90 MJ the electrical system was in tough shape. Wouldn't run if you unhooked the jumper cables, no interior lights, gauges, backup lights, or brake lights. I started off working on what I needed (run on it's own & brake lights) and played with the rest as time permitted.
 
Emerscape said:
Hi All:

So here's what happened:

Went out this morning at 11am to get the jeep washed and do some grocery shopping. Came back around 1pm, parked it and went inside. Around 6pm I got a call from one of my neighbors telling me that my jeep was on fire. I ran outside to find no smoke outside of my jeep but a strong electrical/burning plastic smell. Opening the drivers side door I found the jeep to be full of smoke, so I popped the hood and pulled the positive wire on the battery. Afterwards I started pulling off panels around the dash and fuse box but couldn't locate the source of the smoke. I should note that I reconnected the positive terminal to use the key fob to lock all the doors and it caused the horn to get stuck on....

The fire department came shortly thereafter (I live in the city) to take a look but couldn't find anything. They suggested that I have it towed to the dealership.

I've called my insurance company (liberty mutual) who gave me a temporary claim bumber and told me that a customer rep would call me on Monday to have an adjuster sent out.

I really don't know what to do. My wife needs a car to get to work on monday since it's month-end and work is slammed. I don't know where to have my jeep towed to, but it has to be towed by Monday morning since Monday is street cleaning.

Can anyone give me some suggestions on what to do? Should I have it towed to a dealer?

I've dropped $2k into this jeep this year, on top of $3k last year for repairs (2000 Jeep Sport - , OME 2" lift, new cylinder head, CPS, CPK, brakes, sway bar bushings, all new AC & compressor). My wife needs something safe to drive (she's 7 months pregnant with our first) and I'm wondering if I should just throw in the towel on this jeep and go buy her something newer.

Help!!
Click to expand...

If the insurance company is willing to pay for a tow, maybe you should ask for a rental car and expain your wifes condition.
 
The wife told me she had it with out 2000 cherokee and went down to a jeep dealer on Sunday and bought a 2007 Grand Cherokee Laredo v6 with 40k miles. It's pretty stock, but we're happy with it. Ended up having the 2000 Cherokee towed down to the dealer that we bought the 2007 from and currently waiting for the insurance adjuster to take a look at it.

I'll let you know what they come back with.

I may just have it towed to my mother-in-law's house and try to sell it or part it out.
 
actually yes. I installed a set of electric leather seats about a year ago.. didn't think the smoke was coming from them but didn't really check.
 
You guys are all just guessing. It absolutely has to be the framaramus. It's located just behind the gimblebar. Know why that's it? It's the component furthest away from the TPS.
 
The wife is meeting with the fire investigation unit today to get a FD 33c form and then hopefully the adjuster will get out to it. I just don't know how the adjuster will figure out what happened.
 
So after 2.5 hrs of diagnostics, the dealership is saying that my starter motor and ignition switch need to be replaced. Total cost of $900, including the $250 of diagnostic time.

What do you guys think? I'm fairly mechanically inclined so think I could do it myself.

The service guy said that no evidence of fire damage was found. Would it be possible for these two parts to go and cause as much smoke as it did?
 
when i had my 96, i was driving to work at like 530am and didnt have the dash all back together. I pulled out of my road and the ingintion switch started sparking which i just hit once and it stopped. It never happened again i dont think, i put the cover back on not to long afterwards and never thought about it again
 
I had the brake light controller for my hitch wiring short out and melt down. It wreaked havoc on my light system but also generated a good amount of smoke.
 
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