Most common reasons for car fires?

Quote
heymagic
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fuels-ignition-temperatures-d_171.html


Looks like 600 degrees gets most dino fluids going. A stock exhaust under load sees in excess of that easily. Chevrolet had a massive recall in the mid-90s to redirect the vent tube from the automatic transmissions due to fires. I know of one personally that burned from that towing a rally car.

hmmmmmmm. cataclysmic converters get real hot ...always thought they were fire waiting to happen.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Quote
john vanlandingham

Quote
heymagic
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fuels-ignition-temperatures-d_171.html


Looks like 600 degrees gets most dino fluids going. A stock exhaust under load sees in excess of that easily. Chevrolet had a massive recall in the mid-90s to redirect the vent tube from the automatic transmissions due to fires. I know of one personally that burned from that towing a rally car.

hmmmmmmm. cataclysmic converters get real hot ...always thought they were fire waiting to happen.

Agreed. Maybe less of a danger at the back like many rally cars but seemingly a potential fire starter. We used to pull them off of emergency rigs years ago due to the fire hazard.

I had a fire at ESPR this year. I heard a pop and soon after realized that I wasn't getting any boost. I looked in the rearview only to see literally nothing but light grey smoke. I immediately pulled off and the spectators there were all yelling "your car is on fire!" I jumped out and grabbed my extinguisher. There were flames shooting out the exhaust enough so that I dispensed my extinguisher a bit. The spectators then yelled that there was fire up front but by the time I got there it had put itself out. Just a few singed ground wires. The turbo blew and I figure I lost about a quart and a half of oil through the exhaust in less than a 1/4 mile. It was a lot of smoke. Some guy has a video of it but I don't have a way to contact him. Could have been much much worse. Replaced the turbo on the side of the road and we finished the rally.

Two minor ones that could have been bigger I know of were results of poor preparation. Oil fitting leaking and just going with it and reusing a shitty 30 year old rotten fuel line.

Power steering fluid leak onto a turbo was cause of one burning to the ground a few years ago in a Subaru, Piotr W at Ojibwe perhaps.

Best way to prevent fire is to not race. Make sure nothing is leaking and don't rally turbo cars is probably the second best way.

Anyone know what caused the Steeley Focus to burn to the ground?

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Grant Hughes

Quote
NoCoast

Power steering fluid leak onto a turbo was cause of one burning to the ground a few years ago in a Subaru, Piotr W at Ojibwe perhaps.

Don't think it was this one. But a couple of years back a Subie rolled and the cap came off the PS fluid container and spilled on the turbo. Whole car was toast. That's why my cap is safety wired on.

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Don Kennedy

Quote
MarkHille
I had a fire at ESPR this year. I heard a pop and soon after realized that I wasn't getting any boost. I looked in the rearview only to see literally nothing but light grey smoke. I immediately pulled off and the spectators there were all yelling "your car is on fire!" I jumped out and grabbed my extinguisher. There were flames shooting out the exhaust enough so that I dispensed my extinguisher a bit. The spectators then yelled that there was fire up front but by the time I got there it had put itself out. Just a few singed ground wires. The turbo blew and I figure I lost about a quart and a half of oil through the exhaust in less than a 1/4 mile. It was a lot of smoke. Some guy has a video of it but I don't have a way to contact him. Could have been much much worse. Replaced the turbo on the side of the road and we finished the rally.

So THAT's what happened to you..

I was follow your times and the Irish guy living in MA with the red MkII RS1800 that has the n.a. YB Cossie I built....Crazy but two cars 10 years and a world apart.. Crazy ass 9000+ rpm YB and short gears and maybe 2100lb and your bigger, heavier, and stockish-er, just barkes suspension and a 4.3 diff---and swapping times...

Whatcher gonna do for a turbo now? You have a Cossie turbine housing already right?

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Thank goodness guys are burning down Subies..Just wait 5 minutes and another one comes along.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Not much is going to stop a load of fuel burning if its in the right situation...

Just in case, we had better start racing here!

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Enablers, All of you.

The Winter before last I was working at 2 new hanger job sites in NM for the USAF and got to see them do the testing of those things. They are pretty insane.

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R.Sealey
http://www.facebook.com/SealeySport
http://www.youtube.com/ryolse

Insane is the word... They can also be killer. Its like water that can drown you just the same as anything else, except you cant see in it or swim to the top. The 'top' is up there too, with the doors closed all you see is the stabilizers sticking out of the foam.

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Enablers, All of you.

Quote
john vanlandingham

So THAT's what happened to you..

I was follow your times and the Irish guy living in MA with the red MkII RS1800 that has the n.a. YB Cossie I built....Crazy but two cars 10 years and a world apart.. Crazy ass 9000+ rpm YB and short gears and maybe 2100lb and your bigger, heavier, and stockish-er, just barkes suspension and a 4.3 diff---and swapping times...

Whatcher gonna do for a turbo now? You have a Cossie turbine housing already right?

That was my favorite car there. Yeah, I was pretty happy with our performance. I think we beat, or at least tied, the porche on a stage or two. We had our eyes on the MkII until the turbo blew. It became quite clear how out powered we were by the top cars at the stages at monticello motor club. Even though we had a poor power/weight ratio our fun/money spent on the car ratio was probably one of the best. I don't have a cossie housing and because I still have two t3 turbos, I find it difficult to rationalize buying a better turbo until I blow another one. There is money better spent at this point like a better oil cooler. My cheap aftermarket one isn't cutting it. My oil temps are well over 250* on the long stages and thats only at 16psi. I'd like to figure that out before spending money on a nice turbo.

Oh, and I don't have any spare supra diffs by the way.

The Cossie turbine housing bolts right onto the stock center section.
the exhaust outlet is 55mm stock, Cossie outlet is 64mm..and the studs on the husing shows they intend to see a 3" down pipe...
The fit on the stock center section is perfect as the Xratty turbo and Cossie turbos (as well as a shit ton of Volvos and Lancia Deltas and a pile of other cars) all have the same PN for the turbine wheel and shaft...

You think maybe a 40% larger outlet gets some of the heat out of the unit?

Whaddya have for a cooler? Piccie? dims? I have stacks of different coolers

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

how well does the vinyl wrap stuff burn?

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First Rally: 2010 First RallyX: 2004 (a bunch)
Driver (0), Co-Driver (7)
Organizer (3), Volunteer (3)
Cars Built (2.5), Engines Blown (2) Cages Built (0) # of rotations (3.5)
Last Updated, Apr 9, 2023

Quote
MarkHille
I had a fire at ESPR this year. I heard a pop and soon after realized that I wasn't getting any boost. I looked in the rearview only to see literally nothing but light grey smoke. I immediately pulled off and the spectators there were all yelling "your car is on fire!" I jumped out and grabbed my extinguisher. There were flames shooting out the exhaust enough so that I dispensed my extinguisher a bit. The spectators then yelled that there was fire up front but by the time I got there it had put itself out. Just a few singed ground wires. The turbo blew and I figure I lost about a quart and a half of oil through the exhaust in less than a 1/4 mile. It was a lot of smoke. Some guy has a video of it but I don't have a way to contact him. Could have been much much worse. Replaced the turbo on the side of the road and we finished the rally.

Mark, That was you in the Red Markur? Yours was one of my favorite cars there!

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Enablers, All of you.

That was me in all of my blazing glory........2:30.