Fire in the engine bay.

[daf11e]

Just thought I'd share what happened to me today. Drove to the local shopping centre today with my 94yo dad, while reversing into a spot he yelled out there is smoke coming from under the bonnet. Stopped. And got out, opened the bonnet and there was a fire on the exhaust manifold cover between the brake reservoir and the rocker cover. Flames were about 4" high so I grabbed the. Fire extinguisher and quickly put it out. I saw a spray of coolant coming from the join in the top hose where the skinny hose meets (the one that goes to the thermostat I think). The spray was a thin stream from a pinhole and was landing on the exhaust. Now I didn't think the red coolant (ethylene glycol) would ignite so quickly....no warning, car was not over temp hot as it had only just started to leak. Anyway just thought I'd let you guys know......pretty frightening at the time...now I know how Steve (the tree) felt. I also believe due to the fact my engine bay is clean it didn't take hold.

Jim

[Eevo]

moral of the story, dont take dad shopping

[bee utey]

moral of the story, dont take dad shopping
Sure, without an observant dad, it would have burnt to the ground, #### yeah.

[Eevo]

Sure, without an observant dad, it would have burnt to the ground, #### yeah.

without dad, it never would have caught fire :)

[daf11e]

It would have caught fire next trip with or without dad....thank goodness I wasn't on the expressway with the grandkids normally with me...don't see any humour in it at all.

[PeterH]

That's pretty scary, I wasn't aware coolant was flammable.
I see photos of P38's burned to the ground every so often, always assumed it would have been a fuel leak hitting the hot exhaust.
Glad everyone is ok and the Rangie survived, fire extinguishers are worth every cent when something like this happens.

[MrLandy]

That's frightening! Glad you're ok!
Who'd have thought coolant woukd ignite like that? Definately no fuel leak involved? What did you do once you'd put it out?

[daf11e]

Peter I put a fire extinguisher in it after steve's caught fire. I was absolutely amazed watching the flames being fuelled by coolant spray....must have been the right quantity hitting the manifold .
Jim

[PeterH]

I found this info on coolant being flammable, interesting read:
“Antifreeze “It doesn’t seem logical for a water based chemical to be flammable. (http://www.jcmmachineandcoatings.com/understanding-combustion/engine-coolant-is-it-flammable/)

[daf11e]

That's frightening! Glad you're ok!
Who'd have thought coolant woukd ignite like that? Definately no fuel leak involved? What did you do once you'd put it out?

No fuel at all involved , once the fire was out I covered the leaking spray of coolant with a rag and let it cool down. Took dad home in a cab then returned and came home on a tow truck . When cold I washed the coolant and it started and ran fine ( obviously only to put it in the garage..). I'd say new top hose and all good.......very lucky!

[daf11e]

That's frightening! Glad you're ok!
Who'd have thought coolant woukd ignite like that? Definately no fuel leak involved? What did you do once you'd put it out?

No fuel at all involved , once the fire was out I covered the leaking spray of coolant with a rag and let it cool down. Took dad home in a cab then returned and came home on a tow truck . When cold I washed the coolant and it started and ran fine ( obviously only to put it in the garage..). I'd say new top hose and all good.......very lucky!
Might have a scorched plug lead.
Jim

[daf11e]

Peter that is very interesting , not something you think about.

Jim

[MrLandy]

I found this info on coolant being flammable, interesting read:
“Antifreeze “It doesn’t seem logical for a water based chemical to be flammable. (http://www.jcmmachineandcoatings.com/understanding-combustion/engine-coolant-is-it-flammable/)

Thanks PH, well you learn something new everyday. Cheers

[MrLandy]

No fuel at all involved , once the fire was out I covered the leaking spray of coolant with a rag and let it cool down. Took dad home in a cab then returned and came home on a tow truck . When cold I washed the coolant and it started and ran fine ( obviously only to put it in the garage..). I'd say new top hose and all good.......very lucky!
Might have a scorched plug lead.
Jim

Nice work Jim. The extinguisher is invaluable indeed.

[gromit]

AUTOMOBILE ENGINE COOLANT RELATED FIRES (http://www.croberts.com/coolant.htm)

Seems to be that at temperature the water disappears as steam and the ethylene glycol can then ignite.

Never knew that........



Colin

[TheTree]

Mate I am glad you got it in time !

I was aware that coolant can ignite in the right circumstances I did lots of research on under bonnet fires

There was also mention on rr.net about the high pressure brake hose which runs from the pump to the master cylinder bursting and spraying brake fluid around with the same results :eek: Needless to say I have replaced my almost 20 yr old one :angel:

Steve

[daf11e]

Steve it's all thanks to you that I carry a fire extinguisher . I posted on rr nett just for others info.

Jim

[benji]

Wow! Glad to hear you got it in time.



Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

[Scouse]

Coolant catching fire is why there was a big coolant hose recall in the late 1990s. One now infamous politician lost his near new P38 that way.

[daf11e]

Scott the hose that failed is a dual one piece, the one I got to replace it is in three pieces with a steel T.......it actually failed at the join. Will the one I purchased be better?

Jim

[Scouse]

As long as the hose material is a decent quality, it'll be fine.

[benji]

Just thinking about this; a lot of lpg installations T into the heater hoses right above the exhaust manifold.

I might modify this so as to use the plenum heater circuit instead.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

[bee utey]

Just thinking about this; a lot of lpg installations T into the heater hoses right above the exhaust manifold.

I might modify this so as to use the plenum heater circuit instead.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

I always used to use the plenum heater circuit until the last job ('97 P38 GEMS), it would freeze up every time the owner drove it hard. I've gone back to using tees in the heater circuit but then I use brass tees with prominent ridges that I assemble myself. 19mm by 19mm by 16mm reducing tees with the 16mm cut off, threaded to 1/4 BSP and 10mm nipples inserted. Proper tees and good hoses shouldn't leak over the life of the hoses. Oh and I only use Mackay brand hoses, after 30 years in the LPG business they still last longer than most of the other rubbish pushed on the parts market. I serviced a mates car yesterday and threw out some Goss branded heater hose, after 5 light duty years of use they were hard as a rock and snapped in half when bent by hand.

[TheTree]

Thanks for the info Jilden

My recent LPG installation uses brass T pieces in the heater hoses.

One of my hoses started to weep where it joins that metal pipe, so I added another clamp which has stopped it, but I think I will be buying some Mackay hose and replacing those bits very soon !

Steve

[p38arover]

I'm not sure which brand of hose is in mine. The Tees are good quality brass.