A guy I know just lost his 2003 CTD 3500 last night to a fire that was caused by the starter engaging on its own after he left the house. I have only seen this happen one other time in my carrier on a gasser, can't remember make/model. He oddly left it parked half way down his driveway so he could back his car out of the garage and take a short out of town trip with his son. Had he parked where he normally did, up close to the garage door......





At first I didn't know who's it was until he showed up later. Talk about a bad way to see an old acquaintance and having to be the one questioning him about his loss. From what he told me, the truck was completely stock except for having a bully dog pup used to tune it and adjust tire size. And he had never had any problems with the truck. I felt bad for his son as it was going to be passed down to him in a few years.

Does anyone know why or how the starter would engage itself long after the key was turned off and removed? Not just after he locked the doors, but maybe an hour or so later. The neighbor heard it cranking over constantly and was confused also. He figured it would drain the batteries and stop on its own eventually, which I'm sure it did but not before heating the cables to the point of igniting the insulation.



About the only positive thing that came out of it was that the interior for the most part was undamaged, and he was able to retrieve some valuables from it. I had a problem with whatever piece of magnesium is used for the steering column that passes through the firewall until I switched to a 30 pound dry chem and got it all out. Why do they have magnesium inside there anyway?

Just wanted to reach out to you guys and hear of any explanations I could pass on to him. Thanks.

 

Man, that is nuts.

My first thought would be that the starter relay failed and melted closed. Next on the list would be attempted theft, then road debris that contacted the starter.

It could be almost anything. Let us know if you find out.

 

I first thought somebody was trying to steal it also, but all the doors were locked. I had a hell of a time breaking the glass to unlock the doors and protect the interior. Didn't have my window punch with me, but finally got it with the halligan bar. I did ponder if someone had a grudge against him and maybe crawled underneath to short out the solenoid wires. No way to tell with as much damage was done. He couldn't think of anybody either.

 

If someone says they heard it cranking on it's own, and they were a trustworthy source, I'd say there ya go. it is the oddest thing I've ever seen. I had a buddy with an Olds Cutlass that has a starter engage going down the highway and it made the housing and the battery cables glow red. it was all we could do to get it stopped, however his car was a ragged out junker and he had everything rigged as much as one could rig something. Fords were doing this at one time.

 

We've already established it didn't have a remote starter, right?

 

I thought about a remote starter kit also, but he said the bully dog pup was the only thing he ever added to it. This was his bread and butter as he is a hunting guide and was just about to take some clients out on a nilgai hunt here pretty quick. It had been a very reliable truck to him.

 

There's no question as to what started the fire, but what could cause it to start cranking unattended, and without a remote starter kit?

 

I had a co worker back around 2000 that had a half ton dodge 5 speed that had electrical fire. He lived on a farm and his dad came in his bedroom middle of the night saying someone was stealing his truck. He went to look and truck was crankin in gear and had run into his moms car. Truck had less than 36k on it. It was at dealer for months, he said there was a bundle of wires as big as his arm that had melted down but he caught it before it burned down.

 

It is remotely possible that the bendix gear caught on the flywheel or didn't fully disengage. Had that happen at work on a 3516 Cat. It was an air starter but functionally little different than an electric one. Made a lot of heat running at excessive speed and did it very quickly!

 

I'm wondering if it had a short in a bundle somewhere and as those wires heated up and melted insulation, more and more copper was exposed, eventually connecting randomly to charge the starter. If so, as the neighbor heard the starter going, the damage had already started (pun intended).

 

Just don't tell me that Chrysler is using biodegradable insulation like Mercedes did in '94-'96. The insulation would actually crumble inside the looms and under the tape! Caused some pretty crazy things to happen until we figured out what was going on. All the wires in the engine harness just made random contacts/shorts!

 

It was just hard to point the finger to any one component as the shorting factor since he said there had been no work done to the truck. I thought for a moment that night that maybe he snagged something going through the brush on a hunt, but when he mentioned having actual hunting trucks at the camp I knew this truck was on maintained roads only to get them to and from. Plus he didn't have any scratches on his paint that is typical for rummaging off the path and through mesquite and huisache around here.

I asked if he ever had a recall on the truck, but he said no. Reason being because my '01 had a recall on the main supply to the fuse box ( power distribution center ) under the hood. Something about which way the cable's crimped eye was facing on the stud, up or down, and if need be, they were only going to flip it over to correct. Not sure what that was all about.

Not even any stereo amps or anything present to rule as possibility for over heated or non-fused connection around the battery or power distribution box. He kept this truck well maintained and simple.

 

When I was a kid I had a 1969 Datsun 510. I was driving on a highway when I smelled burning plastic and hot oil, and the oil pressure dropped to 0 on my mechanical gauge. Turned out the starter engaged while driving, but I didn't hear it because of the very loud exhaust. The positive battery cable heated up and started burning and burned through the plastic oil line. A postmortem on the started showed that the moving electrical contact in the solenoid had broken in half and shorted the two stationary contacts together causing the starter to run.

 

Did the fire look like it originated around the steering column? If so did he use the tilt wheel feature a lot? There's an issue with wires chaffing in the steering wheel column and it could have started from there.

MikeyB

 

Happened to a tanker driver I know. He had just finnished loading a load & pulled out from under the loading rack & went to shut the truck off while he went to get his paper work. The starter wouldn't disengage. Fortunately he had a battery disconnect switch inside the cab which saved it from having a real may day. I saw him the next day & he said the mechanic said it was the relay. It seems strange that that guys starter had a run away after it had been shut off.