Fire Fire! My Gladiator burned down

[OPA Mac]

I am a new Jeep owner but not new to Jeeps; I learned to drive on my Dad's WW2 jeep and have driven the M-151 MUTT in Vietnam and Germany.

After reading several articles and watching YouTube videos, it has come to my attention that most of the fires seem to start on the vehicle's passenger side in or around the battery and power distribution box. It also looks like that Jeep JL and JT are the most often involved.

I came up with the idea that may help prevent the complete meltdown of our favorite toys.

The red arrows point to Flamebuster Portable Automatic Fire Ball Extinguisher, and the white points to the FireSlayer Automotive Tube Extinguisher Automatic Fire Suppression.

The brackets are made from 1x1/8 inch aluminum from Lowes bent and drilled to hold the included brackets for the Fire Ball.

As some people have stated, the 2022 Jeep JL and JT's did not come with an Engine-Cover. I found a used one in the local scrap yard and purchased it for a song "and fifty bucks," as I don't sing so good.

The whole mess cost me around two hundred eighty-five dollars, give or take a couple of bucks. I thought that was little enough to protect my new “I paid too damn much JT toy”. All materials are available online at Amazon or Walmart and various RV and truck supply stores.

P.S. Did you know that the U.S. Army's Jeep Mutt will do "H" mph while traveling downhill on Germany's Autobahns with a good tailwind? They will, and it’s scary as hell.

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[Waynesoffroad]

I am a new Jeep owner but not new to Jeeps; I learned to drive on my Dad's WW2 jeep and have driven the M-151 MUTT in Vietnam and Germany.

After reading several articles and watching YouTube videos, it has come to my attention that most of the fires seem to start on the vehicle's passenger side in or around the battery and power distribution box. It also looks like that Jeep JL and JT are the most often involved.

I came up with the idea that may help prevent the complete meltdown of our favorite toys.

The red arrows point to Flamebuster Portable Automatic Fire Ball Extinguisher, and the white points to the FireSlayer Automotive Tube Extinguisher Automatic Fire Suppression.

The brackets are made from 1x1/8 inch aluminum from Lowes bent and drilled to hold the included brackets for the Fire Ball.

As some people have stated, the 2022 Jeep JL and JT's did not come with an Engine-Cover. I found a used one in the local scrap yard and purchased it for a song "and fifty bucks," as I don't sing so good.

The whole mess cost me around two hundred eighty-five dollars, give or take a couple of bucks. I thought that was little enough to protect my new “I paid too damn much JT toy”. All materials are available online at Amazon or Walmart and various RV and truck supply stores.

P.S. Did you know that the U.S. Army's Jeep Mutt will do "H" mph while traveling downhill on Germany's Autobahns with a good tailwind? They will, and it’s scary as hell.

They should make that a standard feature. They will probably void your warranty now! Lol!

 

[badtux]

My JK had four (count'em, four) recalls for things that could have caught it on fire.

I'm starting to suspect my new JT is going to similarly be the "Arthur Brown Edition Memorial Jeep", sigh.

(220) Fire - The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown @ TOTP 1968 - YouTube

 

[OPA Mac]

Ya, I hadn't thought of that, but it only takes about 5 minutes to take the whole mess off....Mac

 

[OPA Mac]

I had forgotten about Arther I was out of the country from Jun-67 to Jan-69. Thanks for the memories....Mac

 

[B1tPirate]

Your attorney/insurance company/whomever needs to talk to an electrical engineer. This is a simple case of the dual battery connections not being right. $10 says the ground was loose on one of them. If it was a short the fuse box and computer would have shut stuff down. They don't put protections on ground wires (they should).

A loose ground means a lot of electrical resistance which builds heat. Everything in an engine bay is meant to take a lot of heat, so it would take a bit for the temperature to hit 400 or 500 degrees. Once it hit those temperatures things start burning.

If the tech hadn't worked on multi-battery systems they wouldn't know that a loose ground can even be a problem. I fully melted a ground cable on a three battery setup because the crimp on the end of one of the cables I purchased was loose.

As others have said, this isn't an ESS issue really. According to documentation the second battery is to run the radio, lights, etc while the vehicle is off due to ESS. The small battery doesn't have enough amps to be the starter in cold weather, lots of electronics on, etc. Jeep used the second battery the same way we all have been for years - to avoid running the main battery too low to start. The bad side and why there are lots of BBQ Jeeps out there is because multi battery systems are crazy finicky.

 

[B1tPirate]

One quick add - an electrical engineer can testify that if your accessories had fuses then the fuses would have if there was a short so it couldn't be your fault.

With the computer that is in the JT the two main ways to get an electrical fire like that is a positive wire with no fuse or a loose battery ground in a multiple battery system.

 

[OPA Mac]

Kevin, you make an excellent point, I hadn't looked at the problem from that direction. I had thought the problem may be due to the dual battery system but was looking at suppressing the fire. As some of us know it is better to prevent than to fight a problem. Thanks for the information....Mac

 

[obrianmcc]

Details on how to wire it to burst into flame?

Sure, but we jus gave them to your wife the other day.

What?

 

[obrianmcc]

.... updates?

 

[Waynesoffroad]

.... updates?

Insurance is covering it for current market value. I'll have to go after the dealer for the difference in accessories. I've started building another one. Not much to choose from. I went with a Overland this time.

 

[OPA Mac]

Very cool, and good luck. I hope that you saved all of your receipts from the addons. The insurance company should reimburse them also....Mac

 

[Boston Bill]

My start/stop works some days and doesn't other days....now you got me scared...

check this out. Genesis Dual Battery System for the Jeep Wrangler JL / Gladiator JT

 

[ShadowsPapa]

check this out. Genesis Dual Battery System for the Jeep Wrangler JL / Gladiator JT

No less risk with that. It's still batteries, but with more wiring. ESS is no more a fire risk than anything else electric in a vehicle.

 

[foolthrottle]

I hate fires, almost as much as dealing with insurance companies. The time to find out whats covered is not after the fact. I know your pain

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