It's hard to tell from these pictures but it would appear that it was an electrical fire caused by the radiator fan. Note the burn marks around the bumper near the front of the radiator. Also notice the flame marks on the inside of the hood directly above the radiator fans. Also notice the "hot spots" on the outside of the hood directly over the front radiator fan.

Unlike AC induction motors which are brushless - DC motors have brushes and often spark internally when running. If there was any flammable reidues in the areas.. waxes, thinners, cleaners, particles, etc.. it could have gone up.

I would start by pulling the front radiator fan and investigate it carefully since that's where all the burn marks seem to be coming from.

 

The shop dust theory does make sense...

 

Undercover insurance adjuster on EVOm
lol



seems like you can spot alot just by looking at pics.


I bet the shop had a BBQ on your car, and forgot about it...

Why else would a shop offer "free labor/services" for something they had NO IDEA what happened.


just my opinion

 

or the STI owners vandalizing our cars because our cars are sweet?

 

ouch glad they got it out quick

 

WoW.......

 

anybody else have any ideas?!

 

Did you check the fan?

 

Good thing it wasn't any worse or nothing really serious happened

 

Haha.. naah.. just being observant.

In picture 1 -- look at the char marks on the bumper. That's looks like charring from an actual flame - not melting from radiant heat. I think this is where the fire came from.


In picture 2 -- look at the heat damage on the carbon fiber. It melted the resin. The source of the fire had to be directly beneath that spot. The flames coming up heated this spot on the hood and melted it from the underside. That's my theory anyway.


There also must have been a pretty good "flash fire" associate with it as well since you can see the wire shielding melted as well as some melting on some of the hoses. That would suggest an igniting of some sort of vapors in the vicinity.. Maybe gasoline or some other vaporized flammable agent ignited by a spark from the fan. Then the heat of the flash fire melted the wire shrouds and hoses a bit. Notice they aren't burned - just melted by heat. Of course I could be wrong. Just looks like it is all.

 

^very good point there, I do not have a fan in front of the radiator but I do have a slim line fan behind the radiator and the fan is perfectly fine. But it does seem like the fire started from the top of my front bumper.

 

I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to pull the front bumper off and get us some pictures.

 

^ yea I will be going over to my buddies body shop tomorrow and take more pics. Hood and front bumper is already off and my buddy want to take my radiator out and get things cleaned out to paint. So I will be taking more pics.

 

Maybe inside or underneath...

 

probably someone tried to open the hood with a cigar in his hand... took fire.