I'm stranded in a small town 500 miles from home. Launched my boat yesterday, then, after parking truck, noticed engine compartment fire. I luckily put it out before extreme damage occurred. It was on top of engine, on passenger side, near rear of intake. Definitely not the infamous cruise control module (it's on driver side, or so I'm told). Anyhow, since it was 5:00 am, we went ahead with our fishing (caught a few), came back around noon. Truck started fine, but after only 15 seconds or so, a glow started from same area, top passenger side, toward rear of engine. So I shut her down and called a tow truck. Only mechanic in town. Anybody got any ideas? I'm wondering if I pull all the non-essential fuses to, say, A/C, defrost, cruise, etc., wonder if I can safely drive back home. I can fix it myself if I can get it home.
The particulars: 2004 Screw, 5.4 L engine, 2WD, 3.73 diff., 50,000 miles. No problems on the 500 mile tow on the day before. But after only a 12-mile trip to the boat launch, there's this pesky engine fire. Luckily, I had a fire extinguisher handy - always carry one.

When you consider all the possible parking places I could have been in (my garage at home, for example), having a fire occur out in a wide open parking lot is not really all that bad. Pretty lucky, I'd say. Now if I could only get home. I gotta go back to work. All help/advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
CW

 

By the way, my truck is 100% stock, no after-market adds or mods of any type. Has the factory trailer tow package, does NOT have audiophile sound system.

I had been running my defroster, and did happen to notice that the check-engine light came on just as I reached the boat launch. I noticed that the odometer had just rolled over 50,000 miles, and my fishing buddies in the truck all agreed: normal condition, indicating a need to visit a dealership for the "routine" 50,000-mile checkup ( or a re-set of the check engine light). Both my two buddies had similar stories of how they had to visit their respective dealerships at the 50,000 mile mark, just to have their "check engine" lights truned off. One a Chevy, the other a Toyota. So, maybe the check engine light was a red herring; maybe not. (...wondering if this local mechanic even has a scan tool...hmmm)

CW

 

I definitely would not drive it until you get it checked out. No sense in taking the chance of it burning up on the road.

 

I don't suppose this small town is anywhere in Georgia, is it?

 

That may very well happen on other makes.. But does not happen on fords. Pull the codes and i'll bet you'll be on the right path to finding your cause of that fire. I would not drive it until its fixed.

Chris

 

Have you tried opening the hood and turning on the engine to watch where the problem is coming from. I would think that would be the place to start because all we know is its coming from the passenger side which the last time i check theres alot of stuff on that side....

 

Was your truck overheating? Maybe it is a flammable liquid leaking from your block, that ignites at around 200 degrees (or higher if it was overheating). That musta been pretty scary. Good luck and keep checking for a leak, I see no way a fire could have started without an accelerant up there.

 

electrical...almost sounds like your fan got shorted out...you said your defroster was running...makes me think the fan got shorted...you could try turning it off/pulling the fuse and see what happens


although, why would a fan throw a CEL?

 

sounds like maybe brake fluid leaked on the header and caught fire!

 

Guys: thanks for the input. Just to recap, there was no sign of overheating; probably not brake-related since it's on passenger side. Looking under hood, there was a glow starting to brighten when I re-started the engine after fishing. The glow was at rear of intake, on passenger side, over what I think would be cylinder 8. So I shut her down and called a tow. Local tech still has not cracked the hood...he's really backed up. I may go by his shop tonight and pull some fuses, then see if the glow returns.

Wish I had a scan tool.

Oh, well... Gotta remember: it could have been a catastrophy. Gotta be thankful that nobody, and no cars, boats, houses, or garages, were hurt. If it had happened at home, or in a parking garage, or in the middle of the night on one of my interstate runs...well, I am thankful to be right here, safe and sound.

Later,
CW

 

That reminds me, put my extinguisher under back seet.

 

Sure it isn't a cat gone bad? They do have a tendency to glow when they have a problem.

 

Latest update: Tech says it's a coil pack gone bad. Pretty scary to see what happens when a coil pack goes bad. I wonder if there's not more to this story...the engine was running perfectly - except for the CEL - and except for the underhood fire, of course! Seems like if the coil pack went bad, there would have been a misfire, not an engine fire, LOL! Wonder if I have 7 more coil pack fires waiting to happen??

I've been driving Fords for a long time. Owned 3 Mustangs, a Lincoln Conti, a Lightning, a CrVic, and now the '04 Screw. I've had to replace coil packs before, but they always presented with an engine miss. Never with a fire.

Go figure. Anyways, I'm still feeling pretty fortunate here.

Later,
CW