02 max died a fiery death
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,816
From: Interior Alaska
02 max died a fiery death
My maxima died a fiery death today. I went to park at a customer site and come back 45 min later to see my car being extinguished. The high pressure power steering hose had been leaking lately and I ordered a new one from dave b last thursday. I think the hose burst when I parked and dumped all over the exhaust.
The fire was so hot that everything in the engine compartment was melted as well as part of the dash and the windshield. Even my prized passport 8500 x2 blue was melted.
I have full coverage and I got a smoking deal (no pun intended) when I bought the car, so I'll actually make a little money on the payoff. Plus my tranny was on its way out, so I can't complain too much.
Originally Posted by Weimar Ben
It looks like the phenolic spacers survived when everything else melted. I'm gonna have to salvage those.
Originally Posted by Weimar Ben
It looks like the phenolic spacers survived when everything else melted. I'm gonna have to salvage those.
I would love to see some shots of the spacers if you are able to get them off the motor. Just snap the heads off all the bolts if they won't come out.
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,816
From: Interior Alaska
Originally Posted by SLVRMAXX
LOL I was thinking of getting those but now I defintely am...sorry for your loss man. How many miles were on the car? Will you get another 5.5?
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,898
From: Philadelphia, PA
forgive me, as this may be a newbie question... but how could a power steering leak onto the exhaust cause a fire?
granted the exhaust is hot, but when fluids leak onto it, that usually makes steam, not a fire, no?
granted the exhaust is hot, but when fluids leak onto it, that usually makes steam, not a fire, no?
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,816
From: Interior Alaska
Originally Posted by wyche89
forgive me, as this may be a newbie question... but how could a power steering leak onto the exhaust cause a fire?
granted the exhaust is hot, but when fluids leak onto it, that usually makes steam, not a fire, no?
granted the exhaust is hot, but when fluids leak onto it, that usually makes steam, not a fire, no?
Sucks man.
I do agree with the post above tho. I have has ATF leak on the exhaust and it has smoked but never enough to cause a fire.
Maxima's use ATF as power steering fluid BTW
I do agree with the post above tho. I have has ATF leak on the exhaust and it has smoked but never enough to cause a fire.
Maxima's use ATF as power steering fluid BTW
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,816
From: Interior Alaska
Originally Posted by upstatemax
PSF most certainly can catch fire.
Sucks man, good luck on the next car... Wanna mail me those headlights?
Sucks man, good luck on the next car... Wanna mail me those headlights?
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,816
From: Interior Alaska
Originally Posted by wyche89
holy crap... so the exhaust can actually get hot enough to ignite oil that leaks onto it? i had no idea that was possible... does this happen often?
Originally Posted by wyche89
holy crap... so the exhaust can actually get hot enough to ignite oil that leaks onto it? i had no idea that was possible... does this happen often?
every day my friend,...... every day
@ teh vultures
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 450
From: Illa-del-phi-pennsy, Melrose Park
WOW!!! That is nuts man. I am glad you are safe and you can recover from it. I know the feeling of leaks. My 3rd gen leaked Tranny fluid and oil. the under side of my car was a slick. All over my warpspeedperformance exhaust and headers. That car has since been put down, but I know the feelings!!!
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,816
From: Interior Alaska
In thinking about this some more, I think it'd be pretty difficult for oil to actually catch fire rather than just smoke. And if it did actually catch fire, would it burn so hot that it would make the glass melt? As can be seen in the pics, this was one crazy hot fire.
Oh snap son, iam glad your ok, that sucks bad that, that had to happen, Here i am sitting here all depressed because i need a new motor because of a bad crank , and this happend to you, i feel your pain man.
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 899
From: Houston,TX
yo..that brings baq scary memories. riding in the baq of my buddy's regal coupe on the interstate when his car seizes and starts smoking something fierce thru the a/c vents.... the car burned up and we're not sure what happened cuz it was on fire for 2 hours!!! and there was nothing left of the car but a retarded looking burnt frame.... scary scary ****...but we had plenty of time to coast, pull over and get out and everything out of the trunk cuz the fire spread so slow...but once it got going it was intense... good thinig you wherent in the car when it started.
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,898
From: Philadelphia, PA
Originally Posted by Weimar Ben
In thinking about this some more, I think it'd be pretty difficult for oil to actually catch fire rather than just smoke. And if it did actually catch fire, would it burn so hot that it would make the glass melt? As can be seen in the pics, this was one crazy hot fire.
i've never heard of any type of oil catching fire from dripping onto an exhaust pipe... if that were possible, then i would think that the manufacturer would have done something differently in their design to prevent that from happening.. fluid leaks are too common in cars, and it wouldn't make sense for such a severe hazard to not be considered in almost 100 years of automotive technology... i'm thinking something else caused the fire
Originally Posted by Weimar Ben
Well, that's my hypothesis. The fire department wasn't all that interested in looking at it. They simply said the fire started in the engine compartment.
what an excellent observation they gave
