I have seen this happen twice before, on other cars both times there were signs a rodent had made a nest before the air box. It does not take much to ignite dried out sticks, leaves, etc. Look around under the hood for animal poop or signs of a nest.
A few years back, I was at my buddyâs shop. He does quite a bit of work for the local farmers on their cars and trucks. We were putting in new plugs and distributor cap on an older 1980s farm truck that is only used a few weeks a year.
I pulled the air cleaner off to have better access to the distributor cap and when I lifted the air
filter cover it was fulled with nuts seeds and a nicely built nest.
Yosemite
A Volkswagen was towed in to us one time with a hard to start complaint. The car was only a year or so old and would do nothing more when started that stumble and cough, not rev, and belch black smoke.
With the air filter housing apart I found it to be packed with dried dog food. The pack rats had gnawed their way in and were using the air filter housing as a storage facility.
The customer was a little suspect of that diagnosis until shown the gnawed hole and the PurinaâŠ
One of odder ones was someone who had their almost new (7k miles) SAAB towed in with horribly grinding brakes. The left front was as new; the right front was totally trashed and the rotor shredded to nothing.
Getting it apart I discovered a large rat had gotten caught in there at some point and which then caused the caliper to seize.
The customer was a bit suspicious about this one too until shown a baggie with hunks of fur, a length of tail, and a couple of mangled feet.
At least the customer accepted this good naturedly when told the factory warranty manual has no provision for half of the R & R labor operation regarding rodents in the brakes.
Back in the late '70s working in TV repair shops, besides the occasional roach infested sets (theyâd eat paper speaker cones) I once encountered a set with a âshorted ratâ.
Lots of lethal voltages in a vacuum tube circuit.
This unlucky rodent was not only electrocuted; operation was disrupted by its body resistance.
@circuitsmith I thought televisions had an RF stage to keep this from happening. Doesnât RF stand for ârat free?â.
There have been recalls in the past because of the wrong type of oil being used to coat the filterâŠwhich was flamable under certainâŠrareâŠconditions, like backfire and ingestion of flaming material.
ok4450
May 16
While this is very unusual I would never dismiss anything as being too odd. While it was not stated, I tend to read this as:
âThe firefighters did not disassemble the air cleaner housing.
You took pics of the outside of the air cleaner housing.
Neither one of those says anything about what was going on inside of the housing.â
If a butt was the cause then I would assume the dealer has evidence in hand and they should show it to you.
The dealer would also be correct in that this would not be a warrantable repair.
Arlo89
âFirefighters came and took out the air filter, which burst into flames. They said they had never seen anything like it before. They looked over the air filter box thoroughly, said there was no more threat of fire damage but that it smelled like an electrical issue, and I had the car towed to the dealership.â
Arlo89:
About 2 months back I had a rock bounce into my windshield on the highway. My comprehensive insurance paid $500+ for a replacement with zero deductible. The coverage costs less than $5 per month.
I used to have issues with mice and packrats getting into the cars. I would have 100lbs of sticks and trash under the hood and then chewed wires and hoses. I had blocks of decon wired up under the hood for a while and then took in some stray outdoor cars which have kept it from happening again. The cigarette theory seems odd but I have seen stranger things happen so you donât know.
I am sure the fire fighters had other things to deal with so mainly were concerned about getting the fire put out.
You mean stray outdoor âcatsâ not cars, right? I like having cats around. I try not to scare the neighbor cat when she is roaming around looking for stuff.
I am somewhat skeptical that a cigarette getting sucked in from outside caused the problem. I wonder if the dealership could demonstrate how that could happen. Anyone want to wager on them being able to duplicate the occurance if they had an hour throwing the filters pulled from cigarettes?
I have a 2012 Toyota sienna and this exact thing happened to me on Aug. 6. I was driving down the highway and started to loose speed and when I pushed the gas pedal it wasnât giving me any increase in speed. Then all the lights on my dash lit up. I pulled over, turned the car off and back on. The power came on, air worked, radio and lights worked, but no rev at all when I pushed the gas. There was no smoke or actual flames coming from under the hood but I smelled something burning so I turned the car off and had it towed to the nearest dealership. They discovered the carâs air filter had caught on fire and it was giving out misfire codes for throttle body actuator and air intake manifold. After almost 4 weeks, they finally told me the same thing that you were told. They said after several inspections by a toyota field tech specialist, that they found no internal source for the fire or defect and that it was caused by an external source. They said it possibly could have been a lit cigarette but had found no evidence of said cigarette or any other external source. They told me they werenât responsible for the damages and that I had to go through insurance. Considering you have the same vehicle and same problem, I am very interested in what your final results were.
Rosie this thread has been dormant for 3 months and the person who started it most likely has left the building. You might try a private message from your inbox .
Ok thank you
Well I think you should go back to Barkydogâs post on page 2 and take a look at the recall. At least make sure the fuel pipe is properly sealed. I really donât buy the cigarette butt theory myself.
I think Volvoâs point is that whatever the cause, the OP has long since left the building. And perhaps also that posting to long-dormant threads really only clutters up the forum⊠unless, of course, thereâs something really new to add that could be used in the future. I agree with him.
Rosie, allow me to officially welcome you to the group. Itâs not personal, simply a tap on the shoulder to a new member. Youâre always welcome to join ongoing conversations and/or start one of your own. Weâre all here to help. And learn. And sometimes, just occasionally, teach.
@RosieSmitty96 Thank you for leaving your message about your experience with an air cleaner fire. It shows that air cleaner fires are more common than people are aware of.
Without finding a cigarette butt in the air cleaner it is difficult to believe that is the cause of the fire but there is no ignition source before the air filter so it is a reasonable theory. Other motorist throw lit cigarettes at me several times a week.
The recall mentioned applies to the 2014 model year like the OP owns. However a fuel rail leak/gasoline fire is more serious and would likely destroy the vehicle.
As to having the same make/model vehicle as the OP, I think the air cleaners on these vehicles may be more susceptible to debris than the typical vehicle and it is unlikely that they are self igniting.
Without finding a cigarette butt in the air cleaner it is difficult to believe that is the cause of the fire...
I believe a cigarette butt is mostly cellulose, i.e., combustible. It could also be sucked into the engine and therefore wouldnât be found.
Is it possible that instead of a whole cigarette going in it was without the filter, or just the burning coals at the end?
That might not leave evidence to the naked eye.
Even more feasible if it was a small cigar.