I live in Whitehorse, Yukon Canada and today my 2007 Honda Civic DX burned up. I was wondering if anyone else has heard of a civic spontaneously combusting while plugged in at temperatures below -40 (forty below). The car had run earlier this morning and been plugged back in on return.

It is suspected that two wires connecting the battery to the starter arced through thin insulation (due to the increased electricity in the air from the extreme cold temperatures) on the wires and burned it's way up to the alternator.

shocked and awed, but grateful that we were home and awake when it happened. It could have been so much worse at night.

 

Plugged... in?

Anyone else confused why you are plugging in a gasoline driven car?

 

lol i didnt notice that he wrote dx. I wonder if he really has a dx or a type o

 

is your civic some solar power electric car?

 

sounds like he was using a engine block heater hence the 40- statement, glad you are ok sorry about your car block heaters can be dangerous

 

Sorry, I thought everyone was aware that we Northerners must plug our cars (or the cords to the oil recirculating pump, battery blanket and block heater) in when the temperature dips below -35 C (Celsius). Some folks even plug in at -20 or lower. That way, when you go to start the car, it's not as hard on the engine since the oil is warm and the battery is not frozen. It's been in the -35 to -53 C range for over 2 weeks now so the car has been plugged in at night and during the day for most of that. Honda actually supplies the block heater in most Canadian models.

Hasn't anyone ever heard of this happening before?

 

i haven't heard about hondas having problems just vw's

 

No offense, but that was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Try turning on your car after sitting a whole -52 degree night. If your car doesn't have a block heater, you're f*cked.

 

lol....

Really, but I get where you are coming from if you live south of NY, you wouldnt get the temp dips like we do, so you would be clueless to understand plugging a car in.

Rough loss, recently happened around here actually, it hurts, alot.

 

It was 35* here today, record low for this time of year. I have never needed or even seen a block heater, so to say the least it's not the first thing that comes to mind when I read that a car is plugged in.