MY05 D3 on Fire

[Tinman]

Hi everyone, Yesterday while towing my caravan into the township of Deniliquin just crossed the Murray River we smelt something burning when i looked in my mirrors I could see great plumes of smoke coming from our car i quickly pulled over. People were coming from everywhere with fire extinguishers to fight our car fire. we manged to put the fire out looks like maybe a transmission hose has burst and sprayed oil over the hot exhaust. The fire brigade came and all they wanted to do was use there hoses had to nearly force them not to hose the motor. Called NRMA road service where i have premium cover they didn't want a bar of me as they said it is a fire you need to contact your insurance company. Thanks NRMA for nothing. Called GIO they were very good they organised a tow for the car to a local repairer. The good people of Deniliquin came to my rescue where the local IGA bloke brought his car around and took me and the missus plus the caravan to the local caravan park and got us set up. Couldn't thank them enough. GIO call a fire an accident so I just have to pay my excess and they are going to fix the car. Not sure who is going to repair it at the moment. Just a wait and see. Only 4 days into my holiday, looks like We are going to spend much of our holiday in Deniliquin.:(

[Redback]

That's bad luck, could have been much worse though, glad you're all OK.

I could think of worst regions to be stuck in, I'd hire a car and go from there, if you can budget for it.

[Tinman]

Yeah i have been checking rentals it seems if i get one with a tow bar i have to bring it back to where it was hired from so still a dilemma. Talking to the 4x4 guy who has my car seems to think they will write it off so does GIO they say 90% of cars with fire damage are written off. So maybe looking for a replacement. Just sitting in the caravan park having a beer pondering my thoughts now

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Its interesting that a fire is not a breakdown,,
how do they think it caught fire?
air friction?

Dont let this stop you from having a holiday,, just replan. :bat:

[Tinman]

NRMA told me they will go to any brake down as long as it is not fire related. Seems they shudder when you mention fire, and start to back peddle they way out of your conversation .

[LRD414]

Sorry to hear about this and hopefully you get fair value if it is written off. Probably doesn't feel like it now but the silver lining could be a newer improved model once the current situation is resolved.

Scott

[Narangga]

Defintely not a good start to the trip. Trust you'll be able to get both short term and long term wheels organised soon. Thankfully you have the van to keep accommodation costs down for a while.

[weeds]

My camper caught fire on our recent trip......only held us up for one day.

Hope you get it sorted and you can continue.

[DiscoDB]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Tinman. The people of Deniliquin sound like they are very good people.

Will be interested to know more about what failed. Sounds like a potential catastrophic event that could have much worse consequences (although losing a car is pretty bad given our LR's are members of our families!). Could be a preventative check more of us need to make as our D3's get on in age.

[shanegtr]

I agree, I'd love to hear what the initial cause was if its possible.

[Tinman]

Thanks guys for all your kind thoughts. I had a talk to the 4x4 guy who has my vehicle, he is at a loss to what has caused the problem but it was at the rear of the motor down low the car left a small trail of diesel for about a kilometre when coming into town. It wasnt transmission oil on the ground when it was burning it was coolant and diesel which looked like transmission oil. Dont know where the coolant was coming from. The coolant came after the fire was going for a while. the diesel lines are burnt the wiring to the front and real wheels is cooked bottom control arm bushes burnt wiring to fuel tank burnt. It may have started with some under body insulation falling down onto hot exhaust. Nothing is certain. Probably will get my son to come and rescue us as GIO are only alowing up to $500 for emergency transport and accommodation then that is broken down to $300 for transport and $200 for accommodation . So to get to a hire mob I wil have to take a taxi to the next town Eucha 80klms then hire the car then travel back 80klms not a cheap option.

[LRD414]

... a loss to what has caused the problem but it was at the rear of the motor down low the car left a small trail of diesel for about a kilometre when coming into town. It wasnt transmission oil on the ground when it was burning it was coolant and diesel ...

Good chance it was a diesel leak onto hot exhaust. There is a couple of known issues, one being HPFP seal leak:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/222459-hopefully-not-one-us.html

Regards,
Scott

[Tinman]

Yeah Scott that me have been the culprit

[jon3950]

The coolant may have come from the fuel cooler, which is towards the back of the engine on the drivers side. It is a little tin box with coolant and fuel lines running into it.

Cheers,
Jon

[Tinman]

Yeah it looks like a sardine can with pipes sticking out. Got the the news from the insurance assessor today they are writing it off. Bit of a sad moment the old girl has taken us to some amazing places. Now the hunt is on for a replacement disco so all steam ahead

[Nomad9]

Hi Tinman,
Firstly I'm glad you and you family are OK the is the most important thing, an adventure you will look back and laugh about one day. Enjoy the beer.

When my D3 caught fire the recovery guy told me it was a write of about two minutes after it caught alight. Like yourself I phoned the insurance company SGIO, they had the vehicle picked up and gone within hours. Asked me if any work had been done on the vehicle recently and what modifications had been done. Called me back 24 hours later told me there were no suspicious circumstances and that I would be paid out. Money was in the bank three days later.

I very much doubt you will ever find out the real reason, I never did but I suspected the HP fuel pump from where the fire started. I started to ask the insurance company about how do they think the fire started and were they going to find out. The responses gave me the impression that they were more interested to know why I wanted to know than the actual reason why the fire started so I backed off and let sleeping dogs lie. Land Rover people are inquisitive, insurance assessors don't always understand that.
Enjoy the beer, check Gumtree buy another one and move on, enjoy the holiday. Count the stars, they are all lucky ones.............

Good luck finding a new vehicle.

Cheers Marty.j

[Tinman]

Hi Marty, Thanks for the kind words. The assessor that call me was a real nice bloke very sympathetic to our cause which is un herd of from insurance people. After talking to him for some time it turns out he lives in the next suburb to me. We have both lived there for the last 34 years, small world. Anyway me and the boss have moved on we have been looking online for or next purchase. Have a nice one lined up for when we get back. Our daughter is coming down to Deniliquin on saturday to take us back to the big smoke. We are having a lovely time here great people great place to be. I normally drive through big towns but this town has become our holiday. Plenty of pubs and good company. This is a really nice place we will mark on our list of places too come back too.
Cheers Bryon

[kmdisco]

Hi Tinman.

Sorry to hear about your Land Rover
At least you still have your caravan
I wish you all the best with the replacement.
I also thankyou for the info about Deniliquin. I have only been through the place the once on a caravan trip to Adelaide.
So from what you say we will have to try it the next time we are down that way.

All the very best to you and your family.

regards Kev
MY13 D4 SDV6 HSE

[Tinman]

Hi aĺl, Thought I would update you on my plight. Yesterday had a look at a my09 D3 HSE with all the bells and whistles added dont think they left any option out when it was ordered. It has low klms and it looks like it has just rolled off the assembly line with pristine paint and interior. Left a deposit am going back today for a test drive as it was in there show room and it would have taken them half a day to get it out. The permagrin has returned.

[Redback]

Hi aĺl, Thought I would update you on my plight. Yesterday had a look at a my09 D3 HSE with all the bells and whistles added dont think they left any option out when it was ordered. It has low klms and it looks like it has just rolled off the assembly line with pristine paint and interior. Left a deposit am going back today for a test drive as it was in there show room and it would have taken them half a day to get it out. The permagrin has returned.

That's a great outcome from your ordeal, many more trips away in the new beast, good to hear.

Like I said, worst places to be stuck, the whole area is good, plenty of places to see and things to do, it's also close to Echuca to the south and the Murray River, it's often the way we come home from the high Country, one of those surpise areas that most people just drive through.

Good luck with the new car.