Whoot... Engine fire.

[CSquared]

Well folks… My supra has officially suffered fire damage.

Caution… Long story… But I’ll try to make it interesting.

Anyway…

I was leaving work with a friend tonight planning on dropping him off at home. As soon as we pulled away I started smelling something burning, but I really didn’t think it was my car considering it had been running for a minute or two before we left and I didn’t smell anything. We drove for about 30 seconds and I decide to pull over and take a look under the hood… Just to be sure…

BAM!!! I get hit in the face with a cloud of smoke and notice a red glow in my engine bay. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from originally until after we wafted some of the smoke away and I noticed my alternator was on fire. This is/was my worst fucking nightmare come to life, but I was going to do anything in my power to save my car.

So, I jump into the back seat and find a half empty bottle of Gatorade, which I think I will drink on a daily basis for now on. I run back to the front of the car and pour that on the alternator, dimming the fire long enough for me to grab the gallon of coolant I keep in my hatch. I was honestly so fucked up that I asked my friend if coolant was flammable, but before he could answer I started pouring it all over the place.

The fire would dim down to a cherry and keep lighting back up every few seconds. After a few minutes I ran out of coolant and began to accept the fact that my car would burn down to the ground. I told my friend to get the hell away from the car and we both stepped back, watching my pride and joy being destroyed before my eyes.

Then out of fucking nowhere some dude runs up with a fire extinguisher and starts dousing my engine bay. He kept spraying but that bitch just didn’t want to cool down (probably because he kept spraying in the same exact damn spot). So, I finally ripped the extinguisher out of his hands and starting spraying the front, back, sides, top and bottom. After about another minute or two the thing finally went out… And stayed out…

I had someone run some tools up to me and took the alternator out of the car ASAP. Aside from the connectors being melted it thankfully doesn’t look like any other serious damage was done. I seriously lucked the fuck out and shook that dudes hand until he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. It turns out he was a trucker turning into a local home depot when he saw the glow and the smoke.

I think I am going to take this as a hint to put my mk2 on the road and work the kinks out of this car for a while. I honestly don’t know what I would have done if I lost it.

Thanks for reading and/or skimming,
Chris "Lucky S.O.B." Cramer

P.S. You can bet your ass I am going to buy a fire extinguisher tomorrow.

 

[Mr.PFloyd]

haha i love the ps. close call! but glad you and the supra are okay.

 

[Brady]

god damn man thats terrifying

hope shit turns out ok

post some pics!

 

[hottscennessey]

damn, glad you're okay. If I were you, about the time when I ran out of coolant would be the point when I'd start pissing on it.

 

[jetjock]

Another car with no Halon extinguisher. Not even a crap dry chemical. Amazing.

 

[TheAmazingDave]

I've been keeping a 10 pound dry chemical extinguiser in the rear passenger footwell behind me since I did my first mod.

You can NEVER be too carefull, and don't buy one of those little ricer-mobile fire extinguishers and expect it to do you any good. Fires are nothing to fuck around with. Cars can go up in flames absurdly quick.

 

[johnathan1]

Yes, the whole car will be completely destroyed within 30 minutes.

Even all the glass melts.

 

[BigTree]

Sorry to hear man that man but great to hear it was saved for the most part.

While we are on topic what are some good extinguishers to get for a car? Just so we dont go pick up "ricer mobile" extinguishers?

Thanks.

 

[jetjock]

There is no better fire suppressant known than Halon. Unlike other agents halon actually kills the chemical process that makes fire. It leaves zero mess too. Problem is it's expensive because like R12 it's been banned by the Montreal Protocol. Ozone hole and all that. I dunno about Canada but halon extinguishers can still be bought in the US. Try and get an aviation type extinguisher that's a blend of 1211and 1301 halon. If you can't get a blend 1211 will do. Halon is on Ebay all the time for reasonably cheap. See here for more info on the stuff:

http://tinyurl.com/36nlpm

Btw, that guys fire should not have happened. That's what the fuses and fusible links are for. Unless the wiring had been hacked (no surprise in these cars) the only thing I can think of that would cause it was a bad connection.

 

[CSquared]

There is no better fire suppressant known than halon. Unlike other agents halon actually kills the chemical process that makes fire. It leaves zero mess too. Problem is it's expensive because like R12 it's been banned by the Montreal Protocol. Ozone hole and all that. I dunno about Canada but halon extinguishers can still be bought in the US. Ebay will often have deals on them. It's supposed to be for aircraft use only but no one ever asks. It's all I have in my house, cars, and aircraft. See here for more info:

http://tinyurl.com/36nlpm

Btw, that guys fire should not have happened. That's what the fuses and fusible links are for. Unless the wiring had been hacked (no surprise in these cars) the only thing I can think of that would cause it was a bad connection.

Yeah first thing tomorrow i am going to stop at home depot and buy a fire extinguisher. You think "oh that crap won't happen to me" and then your alternator decides to spontaneously combust.

As far as reasons for the fire... Honestly I do not know for sure but i suspect that it was purely mechanical (ie: the internals in the alternator froze and the resulting friction caused the fire). What I can say for sure is that the fire was coming from inside the actual alternator, as opposed to an outside connection.

 

[jetjock]

Maybe a seized bearing then. The things are packed with grease. That would've torn your belt up though. You're right, people think it'll never happen to them. Your car should have an extinguisher, a good flashlight, basic tools, a blanket, flares, even first aid stuff. A whole bunch of things depending on where you live, the climate, what kind of traveling you do, if you want to help others, and so on. Do it...that way next time you can be the hero

 

[CSquared]

Maybe a seized bearing then. The things are packed with grease. That would've torn your belt up though. You're right, people think it'll never happen to them. Your car should have an extinguisher, a good flashlight, basic tools, a blanket, flares, even first aid stuff. A whole bunch of things depending on where you live, the climate, what kind of traveling you do, if you want to help others, and so on. Do it...that way next time you can be the hero

lol have you ever seen the cartoon GIJOE? Every episode they had a little segment where one of the guys would walk up to a group of kids and teach them some sort of overall lesson or moral based upon that day's storyline.

Either way... Your safety tips just totally reminded me of that.

 

[drunk_medic]

..and knowing is half the battle..

 

[TheAmazingDave]

Sorry to hear man that man but great to hear it was saved for the most part.

While we are on topic what are some good extinguishers to get for a car? Just so we dont go pick up "ricer mobile" extinguishers?

Thanks.

A good example of a "ricer-mobile" extinguisher are the shiny polished ones that are the size of 20 oz. soda bottles. Not very big, and not big enough to fight a big fire, or one that keeps reigniting like the one the OP had.

 

[CSquared]

..and knowing is half the battle..

lol perfectly timed. Props.

 

[aggie08281]

where can one get one of these dry chemical fire extinguishers? for cheap

 

[CRE]

Home Depot, Lowes, ebay...

 

[aggie08281]

thanks

 

[CRE]

The small can fire extinguishers are only good for something to have in a position to grab quickly and get the situation manageable. I have one behind my driver's seat, but I've got a full sized one in the trunk.

The Halon extinguishers (as JetJock has mentioned) are excellent! (as JetJock has mentioned). Yeah, they cost more but they're well worth it. Besides, hopefully, it's a one time investment.

 

[Figit090]

some reason i reamember reading that dry chemical extinguishers had to be stored upright... is there any rule/warning for ANY extinguisher on how it is placed? if not i'm getting one and stashing it behind the passenger seat.

thats crazy, and i could imagine every bit...which made it more frightening.

thats freaky though... glad you and your car got out ok...

one day i came home, parked to get the mail...and when i came back my car was smoking. thankfully it was just coolant leaked on the exaust, but it scared the shit out of me because i had no extinguisher...and the last time i saw smoke it was a full-on engine fire.

ironically, it was at a car wash. and no...nobody tried to extinguish it with the car wash, it was too far away, and it was probab ly an oil fire so that would have been much worse.

basically i was doing a fund raiser and a lady pulls up in a f-250... it was a deisel. she shut it off, and i heard it "deisel" after shutdown....like an extremely overheated petrol engine would do, but even though it was a deisel, no engine should suddenly try and sputter to life after you've turned it off, and then start to smoke.

when i told the woman about the grey smoke spilling from the vents above the hood, she said; "oh it does that all the time"

hheeeyaaahh.... dummy... so i glance through the grill of the behemoth and see flames. yell at her to get out of the car.....it took about 4 tries for her to figure it out, and see a cop rollin by so i run for him because i know nobody around has a fire extinguisher.

as we get back he hits it with his extinguisher, and we call the fire dpt. but the fire doesnt cease... the fire truck arrives, more extinguishers come out, and they try to open the hood to access the fire... but there was a hood lock, and no key.

they had to spend several minutes hacking through the grille just to open the damn thing, because squirting through the grill, albeit large, was not working.

so yeah... never actually use the locking mechanism if you have one on your hood, and carry a fire extinguisher.

not a crazy story...but its the only engine fire one i have.

oh and it melted her hood and left the engine completely black and totally destroyed, incase you hadnt already figured. and if i misspelt diesel, forgive me. i hate that word, i always seem to mess it up.