Date: Tue, 3 May 2016 10:28:52 -0500
Reply-To: Mike South <msouth@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mike South <msouth@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Rear heater motor caught on fire
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85 westy bostig conversion, auto->manual conversion
Thinking of rolling it off a cliff into a quarry, but maybe there's another
fix?
It was a little cool this morning as I was taking the kids to school, so I
turned on the rear blower fan to warm up the van.
I heard something when the fan started turning (like it was hitting a leaf
or something), and, as is obvious now in hindsight, should have turned it
off right then. But I turned it on all the way and the sound stopped (I
assumed it had cleared the obstruction on its own) and it did fine, van was
warm.
Stopped at the elementary school for "morning time" (I drop her brother off
at another school that starts 1/2 hour earlier, so we sit in the car and I
read to her or do some other activity). It was plenty warm by now so I had
turned off the fan. I later realized I had only turned it down, not off.
My daughter complained about a smell. I could smell something, but it was
pretty faint. Fan hadn't been used in a while, it's not that unusual for a
heater-type thing to smell a little when it hasn't been used, I am thinking.
I let her out early, didn't seem like the smell was getting stronger, no
smoke, so I drove home. Smell was still definitely there, though, debated
pulling over, but almost home so I just drove on. Got to the driveway and
started pulling out tools to try to get to the heater box and see what's up.
Then, smoke. I continued frantically working to disconnect the ground
strap thinking that cutting off current would be best thing to stop it
getting worse. I'd forgotten that I had bought a different ground strap
and lost some time because I didn't know what size the nut on it was.
Ended up breaking the connector, but got it off.
Next, flames! I had already gotten the extinguisher out of its bracket,
pulled the pin, couldn't remember how to shoot it. Figured that out
eventually and put the fire out.
I went through the expense and effort of the Bostig conversion so that I
wouldn't have to deal with the age of all those parts. I'm happy no one
was hurt, and that this didn't happen on the road, and that no one was in
the car, etc, etc. But now I wonder where the next fire is going to come
from, who's going to be in it, and where they will be when it happens.
This is our third car breakdown this week, too. We're hoping the fourth
one doesn't spontaneously combust.
mike