My Toyota Prius 2010 caught fire

There are plenty of examples of prius fires on the net, but i failed to find any statistics. Anyone else?

 

should we compare to all gassers, or does each model stand alone?

who said prius couldn't burn rubber?

 

Smokin!

 

Ok, I see 13 fire pictures here ... about six look to have an origin in the right front fender area, with the others either being hard to place, or definitely looking like the origin was somewhere else. The silver Gen 1 made me sad. Somebody remind me to go check my bus connections when the weather warms up.

But I'm not sure what we learn just by stacking up pictures. Those 13 pictures show 0.00025% of Priuses sold. They look to have a few different points of fire origin. I think we would probably learn more by trying to group similar cases together and look for common elements.

That was why I started the Gen 1 fires at ECU sense connector thread. It seems like maybe there's a feeling here that a Gen 3 fires originating near right fender thread would be worth starting, and then trying to collect technically useful information about them.

I really wasn't kidding upthread about seeing if some Gen 3 owners could get thermal images of that area (baseline and periodically, before any trouble is suspected). Those imagers like the FLIR One are really cheap these days, and we might learn something.

-Chap

 

some posters are inflammatory and excel at hyperbole. but at least he asked for data.

has anyone ever tried to figure out why gassers catch fire?

 

I don't think I understand the question. I don't think I'm on a "hybrids" team playing against a "gassers" team. There are car fires for lots of reasons involving lots of models, but any time there is a particular model that begins to seem to have similar incidents starting in similar places, I'm pretty sure people do try to figure out why. If a cause is found, it's typically something peculiar to that model, not something universal to "gassers" or "hybrids" as a category.

I have a personal interest in the Gen 1 incidents that start near the battery ECU, because I have a Gen 1 and I like it, and I would be sad if something happened to it, so if the power of PriusChat is ever able to identify a pattern, likely cause, or likely preventive measure, I'll probably be out there with wrenches doing the preventive measure.

If I were a Gen 3 owner I'd probably be following the right-fender discussion with some interest too, not in an alarmist way, just a will-I-learn-anything-from-this-that-I-can-employ-to-take-better-care-of-my-car way.

-Chap

 

Yes I believe earlier in the thread there are some statistics in the links...electrical/mechanical problems seem more the cause than fuel or anything

 

unfortunately, we won't learn anything from pictures of cars on fire. it would be more helpful, if anyone were interested beyond morbid curiosity, to research what might already be known about the causes of these or any fires. personally, if i were concerned, i'd buy a lottery ticket.

 

I believe NHSTA has data on fires but not sure if it is public...FOIA disovery do not know

 

You only need FOIA if the agency doesn't make something public to begin with. NHTSA has a website with a search. Check my ECU sense fires thread, you'll see links.

-Chap

 

i disagree with you on this. if you don't like the pictures, don't look at them. if you have a problem with me, put me on your ignore list. i won't mind. i don't find your posts helpful either.

 

Jacek, have you been able to draw any general conclusions toward a taxonomy or an understanding of causation of these incidents from the 13 photos you posted upthread? Could you elaborate?

-Chap

 

The first picture is from a tv show. They ran it out of oil and blew a hole in the block. And no it didn't catch on fire. That picture was just taken at the exact time it flung a rod.


iPhone ?

 

Let's be real. There are a lot of Prius haters out there. That doesn't exclude the press and the so called automotive and consumer magazines that sensationalize. Subjective minds have been bashing the Prius for years. It bothers me when negative press photos pop up without any explanation of circumstance.

 

it's hard to make any generalizations beyond the facts that prius fires do happen and right front corner is a common fire site.

according to this site: http://www.waltersforensic.com/articles/fire_investigation/vol3-no1.htm
Surprisingly, there is little published information relating to vehicle fires, and most of it deals with crash-related fires which are rare

but they also state:
Fuel system leaks are the most common causes of automobile fires.

conceivably, fuel could spray from a faulty fuel rail in front of the engine causing a fire.

 

i read about another fire tonight.

 

Not for nothing but when I did my recent HID upgrade I did notice the connectors were quite discolored due to heat

I think all should take a close look at theirs and consider changing them to ceramic connectors

 

this is certainly a possibility, but would not explain fires that happen when Prius is parked with all systems off (relatively common scenario).

 

Just to be clear on what people are saying: is this front-right as in US passenger side? The side with the hose that needs to be moved out of the way when the headlight bulb is changed?

 

Yes, and yes.