My L is a mess. 4 gauge wiring to an amp under the drivers seat caused a fire & destroyed my L's interior including an MTX Thunderform. The truck has 5900 miles on it & has a black exterior. It runs perfectly fine but everything in the interior is smoke damaged, EVERYTHING. The passenger seat including the frame is destroyed. I cannot make it clear enough that the entire interior is a loss. Now, with that said the drivers seat looks fine, it had a Wet Okole on it & shows no damage, but the smell may never come out. All of the factory wiring is fine, except the factory CD changer cable which is singed @ the changer end, no problem except the smell. Keep in mind that ithe L is PERFECT mechanically & the exterior is perfect as well. The insurance company & I am are in the negotiating process to determine how much they will pay me for the damage. I will be buying a new L & selling this one. No chemicals or water was sprayed in the truck, the fire extinguished itself when a 60 amp aftermarket fuse added for the stereo system blew & the oxygen was depleted inside the cab. If I could find a totaled L with a good interior I would be interested in replacing the interior & selling it. But my question for is, what do you think my L is worth? Do you know anyone who's interested? This would make an excellent platform for an all out drag racing project, or a rebuild for the right personm I suppose.

 

OUCH, sorry to hear about your fire. As for your reference to the smoke smell, it can be removed from the seat fabric. As for the rest of the smell, there are companies that specialize in fire damage and smoke odor removal. Unknown $$. I would try to get interior parts from a wrecked L and replace the ones you can't. At least it would be a higher market value.

As far as your other questions, I have no idea what it would be worth, with or without repair.

Good Luck!!

 

If you get it back or close to original I dont think you really should lose any value. It sounds as if you mainly messed up easily replacable stuff and your aftermarket stereo stuff, chear up man. Go ahead and do something custom now??

 

Sorry about your loss.
If you need some seats, I have a set for sale.
If you decide to sell the L, shoot me an email with the price.

 

E-mail J15BIG, he might be interested in the engine and computer!!!! (Hey, I'm just trying to help the kid..)

Other than that.... The L won't be as much due to the fire....I think you'll be taking it up the rear...if at ALL possible...find out how much it is to just replace the interior....might also want to look into an alternative for the stock seats? Sparco anyone?!?

Sorry to hear about your L though.....good luck.

 

The insurance company has a "fire crew" that has examined the interior & determined that the smoke & chemical destruction is too vast. The plastic is impregnated with the chemicals released when the foam & carpet under the passenger's seat burned & is in their opinion unrecoverable. The body shop has figured every piece of the interior: dash assembly, air bags, everything except the metal cab itself, the factory wiring harness, the metal pedals, & the steering column.

 

WOW, that was a very descriptive reminder. I have been in the fire service for 34 years and what you are describing to me sounds very much like a total. You didn't mention the damge to the top paint and metal warp.

If you let the insurance co total it, take a settlement, would they let you buy it for salvage rights? You could just part it out and make up the difference from the insurance money.

Just a suggestion.

I am really disheartened to talk about his because i love my L so much.

 

No metal warpage, or paint damage . The chemical smoke simply permeated everything.

 

first sorry about what happened that sucks........but i was curious if you did the install for your amp...etc. or did a install shop do it and have you determined what exactly caused this..

thx

 

The install was done by a stereo shop 11 months ago. I have not sought to determine the exact cause of the fire & my insurance company has not asked any questions of that nature. As long as they settle with me & cover the loss I will not pursue the matter.

 

Man that just sucks, how long did you have the truck? I had a a fire in my 95 GT a few months ago and the smell is still really strong, especially when I turn the heater on. I took everything apart and washed it down but it hasnt gotten any better. If you really wanna sell it please shoot me an email. I want a lightning more than anything in the world. jezze269@hotmail.com

 

All because of a 60 amp fuse? I think you better check elsewhere. Sure it wasn't a circuit breaker? A 60A fuse will pop quicker than you think it will. I just find it hard to believe a 60A fuse wouldn't blow extremly fast when grounded in a vehicle. That comes from 15+ years of stereo installs and an Electrical Engineering degree. Now a self resetting circuit breaker, which should NEVER be used in a car, might cause a problem like this.

Hope everything works out for you.


Just a note guys:
ALWAYS USE A FUSE ON ANY LINE COMING FROM THE BATTERY. I DON"T CARE IF IT'S A 18GA. WIRE. TRY NOT TO USE CIRCUIT BREAKERS.

 

The question that CC asked, also has occurred to me. Shouldn't a 60 amp fuse blow as soon as a short occurred and kept the fire from starting? Unless the seat material was just smoldering for a period of time before the flames started? No flame, just trying to understand

 

Shoot me a line if you decide to keep it. I may have a perfect set of l seats for sale very soon.

 

One 60 amp fuse was all that was on the circuit. I can't explain how it happened. A friend of a friend who owns a car stereo shop looked @ it last night. He believes the wiring to the EBC, MTX's version of an external bass control, may have shorted out & slowly cooked the amp, or the carpet. The wire to the EBC control is 18 guage or smaller & uses a telephone style connector to the amp. This control ties directly to the amp & has no fuse protection except the 60 amp feeding the amp circuit. This wire is about 25 feet long, the excess was tied with a wire tie that of course is melted. He believes that possibly the wire tie broke, or a loose wrap allowed the wiring to get against the seat frame & short out due to moving the seat or vibration, etc. This wire being incapable of carrying a sufficient load to open the 60 amp fuse simply cooked the carpet & amp until a fire resulted. Keep in mind this is all speculation & we may never know exactly what transpired, but thanks for your support. I'll keep you updated.