As diesel needs a flame to ignite it could it be something else that initially catches fire, eg electrical wiring and then that burns through a fuel line thus igniting the diesel ?
Just a thought
LR really need to be investigating this, lets hope they are. Liam ?
Diesel doesn't need a flame to ignite, it needs a source of heat and oxygen............. Diesel engines don't have spark plugs so how else would they cause the explosion needed to make the fuel burn without them - they use compression of the fuel in the cylinder to heat it.
There have been quite a few diesel engined cars that have gone up in flames due to leakage from the HP side of the common rail diesel fuel delivery line spraying diesel onto the hot turbo under engine load. The owner of the local LR non-franchise service outlet had his 2 day old Disco3 burn up on the motorway 5 miles from his house as he went off on holiday and LR eventually traced the cause back to a tiny leak on the fuel line spraying onto the turbo.
(15-04-2013 08:17am)speary Wrote: [ -> ]As diesel needs a flame to ignite it could it be something else that initially catches fire, eg electrical wiring and then that burns through a fuel line thus igniting the diesel ?
Just a thought
LR really need to be investigating this, lets hope they are. Liam ?
Hi speary,
I can confirm that LR are taking these cases seriously and are looking into the concern. As soon as I get an update I will update the thread accordingly.
Kind regards,
Liam
As Tim says - if diesel didn't burn it wouldn't be much good as a fuel! I think it is less flammable and less explosive than petrol that's all.
John
(15-04-2013 09:57am)XFullFatTim Wrote: [ -> ]Diesel doesn't need a flame to ignite, it needs a source of heat and oxygen............. Diesel engines don't have spark plugs so how else would they cause the explosion needed to make the fuel burn without them - they use compression of the fuel in the cylinder to heat it.
There have been quite a few diesel engined cars that have gone up in flames due to leakage from the HP side of the common rail diesel fuel delivery line spraying diesel onto the hot turbo under engine load. The owner of the local LR non-franchise service outlet had his 2 day old Disco3 burn up on the motorway 5 miles from his house as he went off on holiday and LR eventually traced the cause back to a tiny leak on the fuel line spraying onto the turbo.
In general if you put a flame near a pool of diesel it will not ignite as petrol would. Obvioulsy if you apply enough heat, either by putting it on someting extremely hot (turbo casing) or compressing it, it will ignite. Hence the compression ignition engine.
Just saying that it is much more difficult to ignite diesel than petrol so less likely to cause an engine fire if it leaks
The reason diesel burns as fuel in the engine is that the fuel injector pump raises the line pressure to probably around 2000 Bar and then passes it through a fuel injector that atomises the fuel into a very fine mist. Many finely atomised materials will burn easily - flour for example.
(16-04-2013 09:35am)Straydox Wrote: [ -> ]Many finely atomised materials will burn easily - flour for example.
Indeed ... an associate of mine ran a Derwent 8 gas turbine (jet engine) on sawdust. A tad smokey but it ran and self-sustained OK. Not the easiest 'fuel' to cart around though.
So presumably we are of the belief then that the diesel fires are due to the HP side failing? I suppose then that by the time the fire is noticed, killing the power it's too late as too much other stuff has started to burn.
Hope JLR determine the cause and fix it pronto - or that it's just a very narrow range of VIN's affected by faulty parts.
Hi interested parties - just to update you.
After a worldwide search operation (only Liam knows), a new spill-off pipe was found and delivered to the dealer earlier than expected. The car was repaired and has been running fine*.
Thanks to Liam and Taggarts for their efforts. I am a bit miffied that the engine compartment doesn't look pristine any more, and there was certainly a residual smell for a few days, when the engine heated up. However, all does seem to be running smoothly now.
I got the software update for ECO stop-start done at the same time. I didn't see anythign on Topix advising personnel to look out for cars reporting fuel smells, though.
Interestingly, I am getting easily over 36mpg on my daily commute, nearly 37mpg. I was getting around 33 before. Perhaps the leaky fuel pipe is the difference, or maybe my driving style has gone "pipe and slippers" after changing frmo my previous nippier runabout!
*Though I do carry a small fire extinguisher in the car, now!
Good to hear it is all fixed and running well, hope you now have many event free miles