[rado]

I am talking about the 2017 model purchased new.
Mileage around 60000 km which is about 37280 miles.
It has been serviced at the dealership very regularly every 6 months or every 10000 km whatever came first.
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Anybody else experienced this with the regular model? My research shows a recall of the hybrid model but nothing on the regular one.

I was driving, I smelled a weird smell, pulled to the curb, checking the lights on the dashboard in case something was signaling. Then the car turned off on its own. Suddenly other cars coming on the opposite side were yelling at me to get out they were seeing fire coming out of the engine.
A couple of good Samaritans took care of opening the hood and extinguishing the fire, because honestly I froze.
When they opened the hood the flames were very high.
I was glad I was on my own. never been so scared in my whole life.

 

[aridenour99]

Not on our 2017.

Thankfully your auto insurance should cover vehicle repair / replacement for an engine fire.

 

[CANADAHYBRIDGUY]

That could be anything , fuel rail line , brake lines , oil leaking . Curious , how many miles on it ?

 

[Waldo]

Oh, that's a bummer. It is not a common occurrence. Your insurance should handle this. You apparently are from Mexico, so I don't know how insurance works there. Let us know how everything turns out.

 

[peterweb]

Glad to hear no one was hurt.

Please let us know when you find out the cause of the fire.

 

[freddief73]

Anybody else experienced this with the regular model? My research shows a recall of the hybrid model but nothing on the regular one.

I was driving, I smelled a weird smell, pulled to the curb, checking the lights on the dashboard in case something was signaling. Then the car turned off on its own. Suddenly other cars coming on the opposite side were yelling at me to get out they were seeing fire coming out of the engine.
A couple of good Samaritans took care of opening the hood and extinguishing the fire, because honestly I froze.
When they opened the hood the flames were very high.
I was glad I was on my own. never been so scared in my whole life.
View attachment 45204 View attachment 45205



View attachment 45204 View attachment 45205

I'm glad you're okay. It's hard to make out much because of the fire extinguisher residue, but you can clearly see the middle of the cowl, brake reservoir, and air filter housing are melted so that's probably around where the fire started. I think fuel or brake fluid most likely caused the fire. Brake fluid is very possible if the cap wasn't properly twisted on. Anyone that has removed it to check their brake fluid knows how difficult it is to get it back on. The fuel lines are in that area too so a fuel leak is also possible, especially if that line with the pressure sensor was recently serviced and not properly reattached.

Be sure to submit a complaint with the NHTSA. Stellantis might investigate the incident if you reach out to them. Please do post back and let us know what the cause was when it's discovered.

 

[CANADAHYBRIDGUY]

So we don’t know the build date or mileage and you say submit a complaint with NHTSA , I think before that happens anybody would probably like to see service records and maintance records as well . As far as any body knows this could be a 16 year build as well ...

 

[SWPacLim]

So we don’t know the build date or mileage and you say submit a complaint with NHTSA , I think before that happens anybody would probably like to see service records and maintance records as well . As far as any body knows this could be a 16 year build as well ...

So, it being a 16 year build would explain and condone it catching on fire? Here we go again lol.

I agree this is not common, and is likely caused by something that is not inherent to the vehicles design, but when the vehicle was made is pretty meaningless, and service records and maintenance records are also meaningless, as there is no maintenance that if missed could cause the vehicle to catch on fire.

Submitting a complaint to the NHTSA simply is the formal way of communicating with Stellantis through a third party. Thats not a punative action, thats the correct course of action. You're always demanding people who post problems say what build date their vehicle is and insinuate that if its an early build their troubles should just be expected, which is what this statement sounds like too. "Well it was an early 16 build, he should have expected it would catch on fire".

Anyways to the OP, glad you're okay. Its a very scary sight to see your car on fire. Before we got our first Pacifica I saw our 2015 Kia Sedona on fire, it was parked on the street with of a pile of leaves in front of it. Someone discarded a cigarette into the leaves which caught fire, and in turn caught the front fascia of the van on fire. Luckily, it was just cosmetic, the fire department was called by a passerby, and my wife happened to see the fire truck and look outside and said "Um, my cars on fire". I thought she was full of it, but sure enough it was on fire.

 

[CANADAHYBRIDGUY]

No but at least put the info in the forum , that way there also a little bit of back story to it . Just because it’s a specific model year doesn’t tell the whole story .Four to five yrs of driving it and non service , or shade tree mechanic service , also adds to the story . People post on this site but neglect also of pertinent info , ask any manufacturer what happens when you can’t produce service records when failures occur . Kind of like standing in front of a judge and just verbalizing your case with nothing factual . So maybe you should stop getting your **** in a knot when somebody asks a relevant question , just saying .

 

[Waldo]

Submitting a complaint to the NHTSA simply is the formal way of communicating with Stellantis through a third party.

Perhaps you were too busy commenting on other people's posts to notice that the OP has a what appears to be a Mexican flag by his avatar. I don't think the NHTSA is the agency involved south of our border.

 

[rado]

No but at least put the info in the forum , that way there also a little bit of back story to it . Just because it’s a specific model year doesn’t tell the whole story .Four to five yrs of driving it and non service , or shade tree mechanic service , also adds to the story . People post on this site but neglect also of pertinent info , ask any manufacturer what happens when you can’t produce service records when failures occur . Kind of like standing in front of a judge and just verbalizing your case with nothing factual . So maybe you should stop getting your **** in a knot when somebody asks a relevant question , just saying .

I had said on the title that it was a 2017 model. as for the mileage its around 60000 km which is about 37280 miles.
It has been serviced at the dealership very regularly every 6 months or every 10000 km whatever came first.

 

[rado]

Not on our 2017.

Thankfully your auto insurance should cover vehicle repair / replacement for an engine fire.

yes we are waiting to hear from them

 

[rado]

Not on our 2017.

Thankfully your auto insurance should cover vehicle repair / replacement for an engine fire.

hopefully, thanks for your reply

 

[rado]

That could be anything , fuel rail line , brake lines , oil leaking . Curious , how many miles on it ?

It's a 2017 model purchased new. Mileage around 60000 km which is about 37280 miles.
It has been serviced at the dealership very regularly every 6 months or every 10000 km whatever came first.
We're waiting to hear from insurance as pf what happened if they ever bother to investigate. We live in Mexico and things here a little different that in the US end Canada.

 

[rado]

I'm glad you're okay. It's hard to make out much because of the fire extinguisher residue, but you can clearly see the middle of the cowl, brake reservoir, and air filter housing are melted so that's probably around where the fire started. I think fuel or brake fluid most likely caused the fire. Brake fluid is very possible if the cap wasn't properly twisted on. Anyone that has removed it to check their brake fluid knows how difficult it is to get it back on. The fuel lines are in that area too so a fuel leak is also possible, especially if that line with the pressure sensor was recently serviced and not properly reattached.

Be sure to submit a complaint with the NHTSA. Stellantis might investigate the incident if you reach out to them. Please do post back and let us know what the cause was when it's discovered.

So we don’t know the build date or mileage and you say submit a complaint with NHTSA , I think before that happens anybody would probably like to see service records and maintenance records as well. As far as anybody knows this could be a 16 year build as well ...

As I had said on the title that it was a 2017 model.
Regarding the mileage its around 60000 km which is about 37280 miles.
It has been serviced at the dealership very regularly every 6 months or every 10000 km whatever came first. It is documented.

 

[CANADAHYBRIDGUY]

Look on drivers side door opening and you’ll see a month and year date the vehicle was born on, 17 models were started to build in late 16 if I remember correctly.

 

[rado]

Look on drivers side door opening and you’ll see a month and year date the vehicle was born on, 17 models were started to build in late 16 if I remember correctly.

I don't have the car anymore, it's at the insurance workshop. if I ever get a chance to I'll take a photo.

 

[SWPacLim]

Perhaps you were too busy commenting on other people's posts to notice that the OP has a what appears to be a Mexican flag by his avatar. I don't think the NHTSA is the agency involved south of our border.

Im well aware of that. Im not the one who suggested contacting the NHTSA, that was freddie73. I was commenting on the idea that doing so would be a punitive thing.

 

[rado]

Update: it was totaled by the insurance with no clear idea on the origin of the fire. thank you all for your help. i hope it never happens to anybody else.

 

[SWPacLim]

Update: it was totaled by the insurance with no clear idea on the origin of the fire. thank you all for your help. i hope it never happens to anybody else.

Thats the best outcome for you, you dont want it back after that.