Transit diesel, UK '55 plate.

The vehicle had not been started for around a year and I needed to move it, so I reconnected the battery and turned the key.

Smoke came out from under the bonnet, and kept on coming out even after I turned off the ignition.

When I lifted the bonnet I saw flames licking around the leads next to the fuse box.

I blew them out and fortunately no serious damage done.

I'd take bets that this isn't the first time that this has happened to somebody.

 

The problem appeared to be an overload in one of the two cable forms leading from the connector which has a red plastic cover in the attached photo.  One cable - if it's a single wire -  is the sort of thing you'd expect to take the current for the starter motor, the other is a single wire, probably around 1.5 mm or so, and it had obviously been way overloaded because it had melted through and set fire to the insulation in the process.   You can just see it beneath the thicker wire with damaged insulation.  It looks like this was from the factory, it doesn't look like an after-market bodge although I didn't buy the vehicle new so I can't be sure.

 

Incidentally the single undamaged red wire exposed by the burnt away black protective sleeve, in the photo now looping in an inverted 'U' shape, was originally sitting just above the flames.  I moved it out of the way for the photo but I *think* it was collateral damage - I don't think it was involved in the fault.

 

Questions:

1. What is the small, destroyed wire supposed to do?

2. What is the probable cause of the fault and what will I need to do to fix it?

3. Why isn't the wire protected by proper fusing?

 

Same happened to me - the damage is worse on mine - the box underneath has been burned into

it's a 'fusible link' apparently - a *terrible* piece of design .. had my wife not spotted the fire the van would have been a total loss

it happens when a glowplug fails/goes short circuit

I'm having real trouble finding the right spares to fix it