I think they all had model rocket engines mounted under them to light them up.
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
Why do so many k5s have fire damage?
- Thread starter wazzabie
- Start date
I had a rubber fuel line near the engine leak and sprayed fuel directly onto the engine. I don't know how long it was happening before I caught it.
Neglected rubber fuel lines.
Esp if the metal line to carb has been eliminated and replaced with soft line, then forgotten.
Modified or disturbed wiring,
broken loom anchor points. Adding loads to circuits.
Sunk floats, debris in fuel tank and no filters.
I could go on and on.
Ethenol hasn't done these old trucks any favors either.
I set mine on fire being stupid and in hurry.
It had flooded. I pulled the rear plugs to drain any liquid gas, then cranked it over to get the fuel out.
My dumb ass forgot to disconnect the 12v to dist, open plug wire near #7 sparked and set all that now mixed air and gas on fire as sprayed into fire wall and inner fender. I got it out quickly. No damage.
Stuff happens
Esp if the metal line to carb has been eliminated and replaced with soft line, then forgotten.
Modified or disturbed wiring,
broken loom anchor points. Adding loads to circuits.
Sunk floats, debris in fuel tank and no filters.
I could go on and on.
Ethenol hasn't done these old trucks any favors either.
I set mine on fire being stupid and in hurry.
It had flooded. I pulled the rear plugs to drain any liquid gas, then cranked it over to get the fuel out.
My dumb ass forgot to disconnect the 12v to dist, open plug wire near #7 sparked and set all that now mixed air and gas on fire as sprayed into fire wall and inner fender. I got it out quickly. No damage.
Stuff happens
Last edited:
I almost caught my K5 blaze on fire. I crossed the positive and negative battery cables when installing them to the battery. The 4x4 indicator wire burned from the tcase to the fuse box. Also a fusible link burned at the junction box on the firewall. That saved my harness. Also the grounding strap burned. It all happened so quickly. I smelled something burning and quickly realized. I was quick to disconnect the battery.
Don't forget about these POS. Pretty much guaranteed to leak
I would never run this on the K5. I just replace the filter in the carb.
Not only do they leak but they don't filter for crap either.
Pretty sure mine was my fault. Not exactly sure which part but I believe it started with a battery overheating/shorting. Either way I recommend fusible links in conjunction with relays on the battery side
Yikes. bummer. Was your wiring modified from stock? In stock form there are fusible links at the positive side of the solenoid and junction block at the fire wall. Would you recommend fusible links at other locations?
fuse links won't stop a shorted battery from burning. Or positive cable from shorting out and burning. Best Practice is to keep the fuses as close the source as possible.
When I bought my Yellow dune buggy it had 0 fuses, nada, zip. After I put a new chassis under the body I added 1 fuse link to the power feed. week later I drove it 50ish miles to Big Bear, 1 section of highway 18 is day light head lamps, I turned mine on and drove to Big Bear, about 1/2 a mile from my destination I started smelling insulation smoke. Head light wiring was melting. I stopped and disconnected the battery. It seems I didn't provide the best ground and the headlight circuit had high resistance and started melting. I removed the headlamp circuit from power and had a great week end. Head lamps are over rated anyway. So the fuse link didn't help here draw was to much for the 1 circuit but not the fuse link. I rewired the whole car it now has a real headlamp switch, before was a toggle switch controlling all driving lights.
When I bought my Yellow dune buggy it had 0 fuses, nada, zip. After I put a new chassis under the body I added 1 fuse link to the power feed. week later I drove it 50ish miles to Big Bear, 1 section of highway 18 is day light head lamps, I turned mine on and drove to Big Bear, about 1/2 a mile from my destination I started smelling insulation smoke. Head light wiring was melting. I stopped and disconnected the battery. It seems I didn't provide the best ground and the headlight circuit had high resistance and started melting. I removed the headlamp circuit from power and had a great week end. Head lamps are over rated anyway. So the fuse link didn't help here draw was to much for the 1 circuit but not the fuse link. I rewired the whole car it now has a real headlamp switch, before was a toggle switch controlling all driving lights.
On these squarebodies I believe the headlights are not on a relay. So the power runs directly thru the switch at the dash.
Heavily
I had a fire in my 85 c20 when I was driving back from Pismo pulling my k5.
Pulling hard the exhaust manifolds where glowing and I had leaky valve covers so the oil ignited, it burned some ignition wires and a couple of spark plug wires.
It started to stumble so I pulled over and opened the hood and saw the fire, I quickly grabbed a blanket and threw it on and put out the fire.
I was one mile from home so I fixed the wires quickly and drove it home and it caught fire again in my driveway.
I got it fixed right and changed the gaskets.
Pulling hard the exhaust manifolds where glowing and I had leaky valve covers so the oil ignited, it burned some ignition wires and a couple of spark plug wires.
It started to stumble so I pulled over and opened the hood and saw the fire, I quickly grabbed a blanket and threw it on and put out the fire.
I was one mile from home so I fixed the wires quickly and drove it home and it caught fire again in my driveway.
I got it fixed right and changed the gaskets.
I had a fire in my 89 Suburban V2500, after a road trip from Washington to Arizona and back, pulling a U-Haul trailer.
It was about 11:00 at night and two miles from my house, and I noticed Sparks coming out from under the hood.
I pulled over into a gas station (probably a bad move!!), cracked the hood and saw foot and a half tall flames shooting out of the alternator!!
As my wife and dogs slept in the truck I grabbed my fire extinguisher and went to work. Luckily the fire went right out and didn't reignite. I pulled the remnants of the serpentine belt off and drove the rest of the way home.
The next morning I took a closer look and the alternator was completely melted and the shaft was actually bent!!
I walked down the street to my local O'Reilly's, picked up an alternator, swapped it in and returned the melted one for a core, LOL. The parts guys didn't even look in the box thankfully. Installed my spare belt and the truck fired right back up no problem. Fortunately the connectors weren't even melted.
A while later I had some computer issues with the truck dying while driving, I always thought it was do to some kind of voltage Spike that happened during the fire but was never able to fully diagnose it I just swapped in a new computer and it was fine.
And I didn't blow up a gas station!!
It was about 11:00 at night and two miles from my house, and I noticed Sparks coming out from under the hood.
I pulled over into a gas station (probably a bad move!!), cracked the hood and saw foot and a half tall flames shooting out of the alternator!!
As my wife and dogs slept in the truck I grabbed my fire extinguisher and went to work. Luckily the fire went right out and didn't reignite. I pulled the remnants of the serpentine belt off and drove the rest of the way home.
The next morning I took a closer look and the alternator was completely melted and the shaft was actually bent!!
I walked down the street to my local O'Reilly's, picked up an alternator, swapped it in and returned the melted one for a core, LOL. The parts guys didn't even look in the box thankfully. Installed my spare belt and the truck fired right back up no problem. Fortunately the connectors weren't even melted.
A while later I had some computer issues with the truck dying while driving, I always thought it was do to some kind of voltage Spike that happened during the fire but was never able to fully diagnose it I just swapped in a new computer and it was fine.
And I didn't blow up a gas station!!
Last edited:
Maybe a case to run without inner fenders.. hahah you can just spray in the engine bay... but I don't know.
If, god forbid, you have an engine fire do not open the hood, spray extinguisher through grill. Then open hood. Opening hood will add O2 to the fire making things worse. I do not understand the chemical extinguishers, haven't had much interest I guess, I will use Halon if I can get, and ABC. I know these two types will flow through the grill and put out and engine fire.
What's worse, opening the hood once the fire has started or running without inner fenders and more air hitting the fire as you drive?
My deal was I had no idea that the alternator was on fire till I opened the hood, and yes the extra oxygen probably made it go up bigger. Also I was on the road for 12 hours which probably didn't help.
