Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2010 17:32:15 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Vanagon engine fire or mishap in Roanoke, Va
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a leaking spark plug wire can ignite gasoline , if it wants to badly enough,
and there's gas present.
gasoline is funny ..it can be on a hot surface and not ignite..
but then, it can just as well too.
if not a fuel related fire, electrical is the other likely source.
Saw one van ....tangled high amperage wires under the rear floor rug going
to a big booster amp under the back seat ..
if that line was fused, it might have been at the consumer, rather than at
the source as would be proper..
The poor guy ..
no fire extinguisher, and no way to get the battery disconnected quickly..
he was able to get out, call 911, and watch the entire interior burn up to a
crisp ..
blew out all windows except one vent window.
He called me from a couple of miles away to say 'you can probably see the
smoke column.'
and I could.
total loss on that van.
another ...diesel vanagon ..
positive battery cable rubbed on the oil filter for about 5,000 miles until
it rubbed through ..
the zap caught the oil filter oil on fire ...then the plastic parts on top
of the engine started burning or melting .
fortunately, a power company truck happened by with a fire extinguisher.
that guy was lucky.
waterboxers are less likely to catch on fire in the engine area due to
electrical reasons I'd say.
*all* aftermarket installations like radios and such are always suspect.
and really, besides fire extinguisher, everyone should have a plan for
getting the battery disconnected like 'now.'
Had a 71 Bus catch on fire electrically once too. It happens. Saved that
one though, just some inconvenience is all.
Seems like there have been very frequent house and business fires this
winter where I am ..
like one every week or two at least.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Beierl" <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2010 4:38 PM
Subject: Re: Vanagon engine fire or mishap in Roanoke, Va
> At 07:02 PM 12/4/2010, David Clarkson wrote:
>> a vanagon westfalia that appeared to have had some sort of fire
>> (probably
>>fuel line related)
>
> Hi David -- I'm just curious what led you to the conclusion that it
> was probably fuel-line related.
>
> I'm not saying it wasn't, and it's certainly a very poor idea to have
> gasoline spraying around the engine room. But unless gasoline
> behaves differently than it used to (and it might -- it's more of a
> mixture of heavy and light components than when I was young) you can
> spray it on a hot exhaust pipe without it catching fire* (whereas of
> course a small spark will ignite gasoline vapor). Oil, OTOH, dropped
> on a hot exhaust will burn. Under normal circumstances there aren't
> any sparks available in the engine room, unless of course the
> sparking inside the distributor or from the ECU and fuel pump relays
> can do it. I'm guessing that with proper distributor cap/box seals
> it can't, but again I don't know for sure.
>
> *I think this was the basis of one of the Car Talk puzzles twenty
> years ago. Not that I was young twenty years ago. <g>
>
> Yours,
> David
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