Fire in rear boot

[chrisdragon]

I have had a fire in the rear boot in a electrical box above the rear battery can anyone tell me what the part is or the junction box is properly called please?
2004 Mercedes SL 500 67K miles

 

[DSM10000]

Sorry to see that amount of damage

Have you any idea how the overheating started? It is essential to find out before you even attempt to source parts and replace items.

You are also going to need a great deal more than the rear SAM (I presume that's what is badly burnt and melted in the photograph?) as there is clearly a lot of damage to many wiring looms and connectors, carpet, other trim pieces etc

If this is going through insurance I am uncertain if that amount of damage and labour required would cause it to be a write off?

At least no one was hurt?

 

[chrisdragon]

Sorry to see that amount of damage

Have you any idea how the overheating started? It is essential to find out before you even attempt to source parts and replace items.

You are also going to need a great deal more than the rear SAM (I presume that's what is badly burnt and melted in the photograph?) as there is clearly a lot of damage to many wiring looms and connectors, carpet, other trim pieces etc

If this is going through insurance I am uncertain if that amount of damage and labour required would cause it to be a write off?

At least no one was hurt?

Hi Thanks for your reply ... there was arcing occurring inside that box and carried on when the boot battery was disconnected and only stopped when the main battery was disconnected.... Insurance company saying my fire and theft excludes fire caused by mechanical or electrical part failure... Although conceded that if a fuse caused it and the fuse box was damaged in the resultant fire i would be responsible for the fuse and they would repair the fuse box. So if it is the rear SAM or a part inside it that's not the end of the world as they appear to be reasonably priced.

And yes lucky no one hurt fire brigade were brilliant there within 3 mins of the call.

Thoughts appreciated...

 

[DSM10000]

I think that a SAM is circa £400 or so depending on model. There is also the cost of the cables, fitting, coding etc

I think a talk with your insurer is called for and a mention of involving the Ombudsman. Their terms seem rather odd.


How do they define a "fuse"?

Some are electronics current monitoring types rather than the conventional wire type

 

[chrisdragon]

I think that a SAM is circa £400 or so depending on model. There is also the cost of the cables, fitting, coding etc

I think a talk with your insurer is called for and a mention of involving the Ombudsman. Their terms seem rather odd.


How do they define a "fuse"?

Some are electronics current monitoring types rather than the conventional wire type

Yep that's what I saw online ref the cost of the SAM ... they have acknowledged that surrounding damage caused by the part failure .. and that must include wiring going into the SAM .... would be covered by them.

Thanks for the info ... they are sending tec guy to look on Friday so its good to be have had this chat in advance.

 

[Dickster]

Sorry to see that too.

Isn’t that the battery control module? Failure doesn’t appear to be common but not unknown. One of the USA car shows repaired an SL55 with the same damage and it was very involved because of the wiring.

so you heard the arching from inside the car?

 

[DSM10000]

Isn’t that the battery control module? Failure doesn’t appear to be common but not unknown. One of the USA car shows repaired an SL55 with the same damage and it was very involved because of the wiring.

Good point.

It looked rather large but difficult to tell and not much left of whatever it was?

 

[Dickster]

I believe this is the unit / £300-400 secondhand

Mercedes-Benz R230 Sl Battery Control Unit Bosch A2305401045 | eBay

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[DSM10000]

I believe this is the unit / £300-400 secondhand

Mercedes-Benz R230 Sl Battery Control Unit Bosch A2305401045 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Mercedes-Benz R230 Sl Battery Control Unit Bosch A2305401045 at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

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Good spot.

I would still want to know why the fire started before thinking of repair.

 

[Petrol Pete]

If the insurers get involved and insist on new MB parts and labour There is a risk they might try to write the car off.

 

[mioba]

Electrical fires can be caused my a loose connection and resultant sparking.
If you are needing new looms, and that seems the case by the looks of it, it could be very expensive. The more longer and complex the loom the more expensive and it could be labour intesive is the looms run the length of the car.
Glad the insurance co are involved as they will use only genuine parts.
Glad you caught it in time and the damage appears limited and importantly no one was injured.

 

[poormansporsche]

Careful with insurance. I had a small fire in the passenger footwell and car was written off cat B with zero investigation !

 

[DSM10000]

A fire of sufficient magnitude to require the Fire Service would normally write off a car.

The perceived risk if a repair is carried out can make it very difficult to get insurance cover.

 

[chrisdragon]

Sorry to see that too.

Isn’t that the battery control module? Failure doesn’t appear to be common but not unknown. One of the USA car shows repaired an SL55 with the same damage and it was very involved because of the wiring.

so you heard the arching from inside the car?

Thanks everyone for engaging in the thread… the arcing was not audible and only showed up on the Fire Brigades thermal cameras… which showed the very high internal temperature and the nicked up intermittent sparking which only stopped when the main battery in the front of the car was disconnected … it would be a pity to write it off as it’s a lovely car low mileage with everything on it

 

[DSM10000]

Thanks everyone for engaging in the thread… the arcing was not audible and only showed up on the Fire Brigades thermal cameras… which showed the very high internal temperature and the nicked up intermittent sparking which only stopped when the main battery in the front of the car was disconnected … it would be a pity to write it off as it’s a lovely car low mileage with everything on it

Hopefully the damage is contained to a relatively small area.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do and please keep us informed as to the outcome

 

[markjay]

'Insurance company saying my fire and theft excludes fire caused by mechanical or electrical part failure... '

Really? So basically you're only covered for arson...? Because I can't think of many other ways thar a car fire can start.

I'm guessing that the 'theft' part of the policy excludes the car being taken by thieves...

Not having a go at the OP, it's obviously not his fault, it's just that some of these insurances companies are a law unto themselves.

 

[mioba]

If they do write it off, consider buying it back if you love the car.
BUT
This is not a mechanical thing where once bolted back it will be fine.
Its electrical and although once you fitted new looms and a module, I can imagine a lot of other electrical failts showing up.
These things are thus not straight forward to assess by insurance so for their safety (ahem business model) they would write it off.

Fingers crossed

 

[Justintyme]

Once upon a time, I bought a two year old small mileage Audi 80, which was fire damaged. The main electrical control box in the engine compartment went on fire ( looked a bit like the rear SAM in boot of chrisdragons car, but no where near as bad )....talk about a mistake.. I finished up having to rip out the dash, and replace all the engine compartment wiring..never again. It's easy to see why all the cabling is done when the vehicle is just a painted shell on the production line. The problem is that what is visible is just the tip of the iceberg., but you wont know for sure until you start the repairs. As an option ( and i know its maybe a bit far fetched) But if you have a look around and see the same model, with the engine gone, and swap your engine into it??? Just a suggestion,

 

[chrisdragon]

Update …The insurance firm sent a tec guy around to inspect… it needs a new electrical loom and needs to see if the metal frame work was damaged by the heat of the fire and finally there is a health and safety issue relating to the toxic smoke damage inside the car …. So am now waiting to hear back from the insurance company

 

[Justintyme]

Update …The insurance firm sent a tec guy around to inspect… it needs a new electrical loom and needs to see if the metal frame work was damaged by the heat of the fire and finally there is a health and safety issue relating to the toxic smoke damage inside the car …. So am now waiting to hear back from the insurance company

That's not looking to good....especially the toxic smoke comment....replacing parts is one thing, and unless the metal got red hot, I would not worry too much about it. But how do you detoxify a car???anyway, see what the insurance say. In any case, Good Luck with it.