I am new poster to the forum but have been following it since I bought my 03 XKR over 1 year ago. 65,000 miles and bone stock. Dealer serviced its whole life according to documentation. I parked my XKR in the garage 3 nights ago and noticed steam or something coming from under the hood. Since it was raining that night I thought nothing more of it. A minute later I went back to the garage and smelled plastic burning and smoke coming from under the hood (bonnet). I opened the hood and flames 12" high erupted. The air intake tube and the hood insulation was on fire. The air intake was burning at the corrugations halfway between the filter box and the throttle body. A fire extinguisher later the flames were out and the house was saved but I have no idea what would cause the air intake tube to catch on fire. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated. I will get into the repair this weekend and will follow-up with a post of further findings. Thanks for a great forum and user group.

 

I'm just firing ideas off the top of my head...

On that side it could be the harness/electrical.. or a valve cover leak/oil leak that got on the header and lit got the intake tube on fire from below :/ If a lot of smoke initially then I could see a oil leak.. or like someone else on this message board posted a while ago - their wire harness melted from either some hack mechanic in the past and fused either against the engine block or something happened but it caused a big mess..hopefully you can figure out what happened that's scary! You said it was raining..maaaybe electrical short but you would think you would get a Christmas tree of lights popping up with a short...?

I almost feel like putting a fire extinguisher in my trunk now.. this is the second time I've read a user who either did lose their car/garage to fire or came close to it Glad you and your house didn't end up getting hurt..

Sorry to hear that

 

I always carry a fire extinguisher in all my cars for just this scenario. With my 2001 XKR I simply fitted it where the factory one should be - right hand side boot (trunk) side panel in front of the CD/Nav stack.
Steve

 

Sorry to hear about the fire. Good news you got it under control quickly.

Parked and engine off. First thought is the fuel rail is still pressurised - could be a leak from an injector or the rail (fuel injection supply manifold). Vapourisation and a hot manifold is going to do the rest.

Graham

 

Smart move, 03xkrtn, to have a fire extinguisher in your Jag. There's something about a Jaguar that's motivated me to keep an extinguisher handy in each of the four that I've owned. Strange, but I haven't felt similarly encouraged for the sake of my other cars, although it would be good to have an extinguisher on board to help someone else in distress.

Vince

 

Just a comment but in similar situations, best thing is to drop the hood, start the engine and get the car and yourself out of the garage before trying to deal with the fire.

It's all too easy for a small fire to become a big one with an owner getting trapped by flames between the car and the exit path.

 

Seeing one too many vehicle fires myself (not my own), I carry a fire extinguisher in each of our vehicles. I used to carry in the trunk, but now carry in the passenger area, as you can never get to them too fast. Chances of me using it for someone else on the roadside are probably greater than using it for myself, but it seems like most other motorists do not carry them.

Note for those who may carry in the future, you can never have too big of an extinguisher. Once you start discharging, they run out fast! Be sure you have the right type for the type of fire you are likely to encounter. Some extinguisher ingredients are also far messier than others.

To the OP, sorry to hear, but glad it did not cause you any injury.

 

You guys have all convinced me.. time to get one. I've always owned Japanese cars my whole life and never thought to even bother with one.. and here I am with my first British car.. but yeah wouldn't hurt to fabricate a fire extinguisher in the trunk with the removable panel..

 

Glad you caught it before it got worse...
My Jensen Interceptor came with a fire extinguisher from the factory, I always thought that was their way of saying even they didn't trust Lucas. But its still a good idea to keep one in your car even if it doesn't have Loose Unprotected Connections All Shorted.


Dave

 

Having owned couple

 

Following up on my original post....

I got under the hood and removed some parts. The rear of the valve cover shows fire damage as well. There is oil laying on the heat shield above the exhaust manifold. My best theory agrees with Matthew Childester's suggestion in a previous reply. (Thanks Matthew) I believe oil leaked out of the rear of the valve cover and onto the exhaust manifold and caught fire. The flames spread to the valve cover, intake tube, and hood insulation.
Passenger side, rear most cylinder.

 

Ah..fudge.. I'm sorry to hear that I guess one positive to look at is.. from your picture it looks like you might be able to just get away with buying a new intake tube.. but of course you need to get that valve cover leak fixed quick but I hope no other electrical parts got damaged in there.. maybe the mass air flow sensor got damaged too.. but UUGH... I'm sorry to hear that

Hopefully your wire harness is ok too.. that's right there in that area..high temps could of done something there but I HOPE not.... I'll be crossing my fingers that all you gotta do is replace that valve cover seal and the plastic portion of your intake tube and you'll be fine from there... :S

I don't remember who it was but seems like last fall someone's car completely caught fire and almost took his house/garage with it so I'm glad yours didn't spread further Keep us updated..