numquamsine

As a general rule rain, wet, does not result in "shorts" for 12 volt sources. Salt-water SOAKING, maybe. Thank you for the reminder. Yes, at that voltage, there is probably not enough electrolyte in rainwater to cause anything to short. Especially if the circuit is fuse protected. So yes, as a general rule, cars don't catch on fire for reasons like this. I would like to thank everyone for their input so far. Now, has anyone worked on the undercarriage of an early 2000s RX300?

It was wired into the car. Like I posted in the original post, it had rained a lot that day, so it may be that the component became saturated and shorted and caught fire.

My original post: "The component was located on the underside of the car, adjacent to the left rear wheel." To elaborate, it was found hanging by the wires off of the undercarriage of the car, adjacent to the left rear wheel well and the gas tank. The fact that it was just hanging there is weird. I would expect that if it were secured by some sort of bolt-on bracket there would be remnants of that left on the component. This fact makes me think this piece was not OEM. My biggest question is "what is an electronic component doing on the rear side of undercarriage of the car with no real indication of permanent installation. curiouser and curiouser. haha any other input? thanks MrLatifa

Hi there. New guy here with a really specific question. A charred component was pulled off of the car after it was extinguished. The component was found with small flames, smoke, and sparking. It was discovered 2 hours after car had been turned off. The component was found hanging by the wires. The component was located on the underside of the car, adjacent to the left rear wheel. My car is a 2001 Lexus RX300. My question: What is it? It rained pretty heavily today and the car was driven though it. I'm thinking this might just be a simple case of "electrics+water=death". If anyone can tell me what it is, can we also discuss what other components are probably damaged as a result of the short? If I had to guess I'd say it's a towing relay of some sort, but I don't know much at all about this car. Mods/Admin: I've already searched extensively, both on this website and on others. I'm not a noob when it comes to car forums. I'm just a noob with Toyota/Lexus. Pics attached. Thanks for any help!