I need some serious advice...last night i was driving my x and all of a sudden the hood started smoking, and then it started coming into the cabin. When I pulled over, the fuse box holding the fuses for the fog light was on fire and was smoking and all.

After i smothered it and it went out, everything else was okay. The lights work inside, the alarm works,...its just that the car wont start now. When I turn the ignition switch, the stated will kick in, but wont actually start up.

Would anyone now if there is a failsafe switch on the x where I can reset it so that it starts again? Should I try resetting the computer by removing the batteries? Could the computer be fried? I need some suggestions.

One word-

DEALER

Damn dude.
How long have you had your X? What year is it?

I'd guess it's a 2001 2x4 SE...I'd even venture to guess that it's yellow

mlesliejr, sorry to hear about that man. My suggestion is that you take it directly back to the dealer to find out exactly what caused the problem in the first place. Don't take something like this into your own hands. Keep us posted.

Tell us more details! What kind of aftermarket electrical devices do you have? How much amps or whatever do they draw?

exactly-what has been touched or modified???

hey all....sorry, but this whole ordeal has been keeping me busy...

Anyhow, I have no mods, no amps, no stereo system in it...all stock. It bums me out because I had plans to mod it. Now, I don't even want to touch it.

I took it the dealer and they plan to look at it tomorrow first thing..6 a.m. at Tony Nissan on Oahu. Just have to wait and see...

I guess the hard thing for me is to know that this happened. I loved, no I mean seriously, loved my X. Now, I'm not so sure. Maybe I need some moral support.

BTW, like everyone else on the road here in Hawaii, I drive a Silver 2x4 SE 2001.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Rare flukes are bound to happen. They are built by humans . Don't let this incident shake your love for the X. Hopefully the dealer will not hassle you and just fix it and send you on your way so you can get back to enjoying it. Be lucky you were in it and caught it instead of it happening when you were out of it.

Don't be too surprised if no one can find an exact cause for the fire. A single bad terminal crimp in a high current circuit could have caused this.

A bad crimp has higher resistance than it should. The resistance creates heat, which in turn raises the resistance. Once the cycle starts it doesn't stop and often a fire results. No fuse will protect you from this because the current never rises above the normal circuit values. Any evidence of the bad crimp was likely destroyed in the fire.

It's unfortunate but it happens more often as more electrical crap gets crammed into vehicles.

[qoute]BTW, like everyone else on the road here in Hawaii, I drive a Silver 2x4 SE 2001.]mlesliejr
Hey-you mispelled "Silver" in your profile

I have to agree with the rare fluke thing. Don't loose your faith!

Sorry to hear about that. I know EXACTLY how you feel. (Well, not exactly since it wasn't my X)

Consider your self lucky that you were there. About 4 years ago, my wife's Accord, did the same thing, except she wasn't driving it at the time, it was parked in the garage and had been there for 2 days!!!!!

We found out that a relay was bad and shorted out, causing the plastic housing to melt and ignite. Luckly we were home and heard the tires explode . The fire department came with in a few minutes, but by the time they out it out, the car was totaled and we had about $80K in damages to the house .

Good luck and park it in the driveway

hey guys...got an update!

Talked to the service rep at the dealer and he said that there was a short in the wiring harness behind the front passenger kick panel. This caused a chain reaction that continued to the fuse box where the relays are (not sure if this is true, but this is what he said.) This caused the sparks and the fire.

Anyhow, the dealer said that all affected parts should be fixed by today.

Still, I hope that all is resolved from this problem. Not having my X for the weekend bummed out my weekend. When this happened, i was on my way to a Business meeting at Chilis. I had to call the person I was meeting and had to cancel.

I'll let you guys know how the X is when I get it back.

What would you guys do in this situation? Would you guys send it back to the dealer and see if you could get some type of compensation toward a new 2003 X? Just looking for some insight....

BTW, updated the profile. all should be correct now...