S-10 Flaming From the Bottom of the Engine

"Voice of C. Montgomery Burns" (voiceofcmb) 06/19/2014 at 09:51 • Filed to: None

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I apologize - there's no picture as I saw this while driving and I don't have a dashcam. I was driving to work today and I saw an S-10 smoking and puttering on the side of the road with his hazards properly on. Right as I was passed him (going the opposite way) the bottom of his engine lets out a mighty big flame. It looked like the flame came from the area of the oil pan. I must admit it was pretty gnarly looking.

Any ideas what's wrong with it and how SOL that guy is?

Squid > Voice of C. Montgomery Burns 06/19/2014 at 09:54

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Could be power steering fluid or tranny fluid spewing on a hot exhaust manifold that caught fire. Dude is pretty screwed if he didn't get the fire out. He's screwed even if he did get the fire out though.

shop-teacher > Squid 06/19/2014 at 10:00

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Could also be the oil cooler lines have blown and are spewing oil. The original lines were known to leak, and anybody who owned one, who had a brain, replaced them with an upgraded version. Damn I miss my S-10.

Squid > shop-teacher 06/19/2014 at 10:02

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Oh shit I didn't realize those had an oil cooler on them. You learn something new every day. I was just going on what commonly causes engine fires, and ATF catches flame far more quickly than oil does. . .

shop-teacher > Squid 06/19/2014 at 10:09

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Oh it could very well be ATF. The lines are right in that area, the newest S-10 is 11 years old now, so rust could easily have made a hole in them by now, and it definitely catches fire more easily.

I'm not sure if they all have an oil cooler, but my '98 V6 did, and the original 2-crimp lines were known to leak, so they had to be replaced by 3-crimp lines when they start leaking.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > shop-teacher 06/19/2014 at 10:10

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I miss my first gen s-10 terribly.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Voice of C. Montgomery Burns 06/19/2014 at 10:10

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Depends, was it the boxy type or the bubbly type?

shop-teacher > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 06/19/2014 at 10:12

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Just curious, why would that matter? They had the same frame, suspension, and much of the mechanicals. Or do you just not like the bubbly type ? :) I had and loved both.

daender > Voice of C. Montgomery Burns 06/19/2014 at 10:13

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He could have blown a nice big hole through the engine!

A friend's SVT Lightning made MANY big holes during a hard highway pull, according to him, it was like hell erupted from the engine bay: fire, smoke, and loud unpleasant noises.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > shop-teacher 06/19/2014 at 10:20

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I prefer my first gen boxy type I had but that was due to building it by hand and modifying the engine lol.

I was curious because there was a skid plate on my first gen boxy one that was underneath the oil pan, could be collecting leaking oil or other fluids, which could lead to heating up said fluids and GO BOOM.

I don't remember my bubbly one having such a defined skid plate.

Voice of C. Montgomery Burns > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 06/19/2014 at 10:23

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Bubbly.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Voice of C. Montgomery Burns 06/19/2014 at 10:53

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Like I replied to someone else, the boxy 1st gen ones had a more significant skid plate underneath the oil pan that I was wondering if it had collected some deliciously flammable fluids!

Could be anything then...

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > daender 06/19/2014 at 10:53

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well that's not right...

shop-teacher > daender 06/19/2014 at 12:01

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Well, there's your problem!