The vehicle had 78000 miles on it, so I doubt you'll have any luck fighting Honda unless you can identify the cause and prove it was the fault of the manufactuer. Search web sites to see if this was a common problem for this model.

I can only guess what happened, but by the looks of it, I'd guess that you had a fuel fire. This can happen in a variety of ways, one being poor maintence and another by using fuel loaded with too much alcohol. If the elastomer parts of the fuel lines were not compatible with high alcohol content (over 10%), then a high alcohol fuel could have attacked and weakened the elastomer parts.

Your fire would have started very soon after shut-down while the exhaust parts were hot enough to ignite the fuel. A leaking fuel line could have been the cause. For fuel injection systems, the supply side fuel line is under considerable pressure. Typical fuel pressure is 50 psi.

Jemdandy,

Thanks for the reply. Car was maintained well and as said there was no sign of leaking fuel. What fuel contains alcohol in car?

Most gasolines today in the US contain up to 10% alcohol. A few pumps have 15% alcohol and should be well labeled as such, but that is not always the case. The fill nozzle is the same for 10% and 15% alcohol mix, so its buyer beware.

Just announced on Friday - a recall of 2005-2010 Odysseys for correcting a fire hazard. Your "lucky" day, you may have good cause for remedy from Honda.,

I drive a 2006 Odyssey, so I'll be heading down to the dealership, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: recall

So, now Honda has recalled Odyssey models ranging from 2005 to 2010. My question now is since my insurance has declared it a total loss and offered me actual cash, still i can ask Honda to reimburse me as well? Or i've to go with insurance only. Thanks.

I'd talk to an attorney. Face it, a used car is worth what a used car is worth, so you won't get a new car from Honda. And contact the NTSB and report it. Honda claims that there have been no fires, so you really should report it. Talk to the insurance agent, too. Maybe bring a small claims suit against Homda for your troubles, for the maximum allowed? Sorry I can't offer legal advice, but you may have more leverage thru the NTSB.

Here is a link that might be useful: NTSB

Thanks. I've already reported it to both Honda and NHSTA. Will report it to NTSB as well. Oh well, will see. Thanks again.

You maybe interested in the link below. There is a massive recall soon to begin on Honda Odysseys and I believe the recall includes your vehicle.

This recall is about the strainer cover for the fuel pump, and I beleive that part is on the fuel tank, not under the hood. Has your vehicle been examined for cause or source of your fire? I'd think that your insurance company would be interested to know why. However, in your case your vehicle has been declared a total loss and presumable your insurance company has offered payment accordingly. If so, you have not suffered a loss provided you got fair payment for the remaining value of your vehicle before the fire. You could have had lost contents in the car of high value such as a fur coat, a valuable painting, or a bag of money and that may create an argument about the loss.

So, what in you opinion, was the cause of the fire?

Here is a link that might be useful: Honda Recall of Odyssey

Thanks for the reply jemdandy. I don't know the cause of the fire. It was parked, caught fire and totaled as you can see in the picture. My best guess is some sort of electrical problem as we didn't notice anything wrong with the van. All was OK. For now negotiating with Insurance company to give me best actual cash value of the van. I hope to get some sort of rebate from Honda towards purchasing new CR-V. Let's see. Thanks again.

I just had my Honda Odyssey into the dealeship for the fuel strainer recall. Immediately I found the car harder to start. I called Honda to see if the recall and the extended start were related. They said no. I then took it to an independent mechanic and he said the fuel pump was losing pressure. I took it back to Honda and they replaced the screen but said the fuel pump was still losing pressure. They are checking now with Honda HQ to see the relationship. Anybody else experience this?

hmm, dealer removes fuel pump to replace strainer and puts old fuel pump back. i can see this on a 1-2 yr old rig. but 9 yrs? but than a honda fuel pump is probably $600 at least.