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.

[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!