Went out to my 01 Ram 1500 5.4 engine, this morning and tried to start it. It ususal starts very quickly, however this morning it cranked over for about 5 - 10 seconds and then boom. Fire and black smoke poured out from under the hood. I grabbed an extinguisher and put it fairly quickly. The flames were coming from the rear area of the engine. I'm reasonably sure it was a gasoline fueled fire.

Not a lot of damage, except to the wiring harness. I will fix the wiring asap but until I get a chance to do so, I want to attempt to determine the source of the fuel leak.

Any ideas what to look for?

Y

 

Broken or frozen fuel line that broke under pressure? That would be my first guess and where I would start looking.

 

 

What the hell could have ignited the fuel?, Oh yeah 5.2 or 5.9

Dont bring in the Ford 5.4 AKA (5.turd)

 

i think that you have way to much time on yr hands

 

Yep, I meant 5.2 not 5.4, 318ci ....that one. The rat pic did get me an idea though, since I haven't drive this truck in a few weeks, I suppose that a squirrel may have sharpened its teeth on a fuel delivery part, somewhere near the rear of the engine. And it was certainly a fuel fire that caused the damage, based on the fires behavior.

I will figure out what happened!!

 

I do.

Thats weird.

 

Do we get pics of the post-fire carnage??

 

Well if you are near the back of the motor, it could be a bare wire that arced off of it, or something of the like. There is not much else that is flamamble and could start a fire that was how you described. In fact I would bet it was a busted fuel line, dry rotted or what not. It could also have started 'round the cap if you have a plug wire not seated right.

 

what are the chances something arc'd on an already comprimised fuel line or maybe the starter fried and was soaked in oil flared up the side to the back. let us know what u find