got a fire extinguisher?

Topic: got a fire extinguisher? (Read 1678 times) previous topic - next topic

got a fire extinguisher?

October 29, 2006, 09:12:44 PM

yes?-good deal
no?-GET ONE

As some of you may know, the 3.8 had blown a rod...
Well, I went to move it this afternoon, and I'm thinking some oil caught fire from a manifold...and it burst into flames. Well, to make a short story even more abrupt, the flames got the fuel lines and some wiring under the back part, and I think also the right rear brake hose got burnt, I used 2 full extinguishers putting it out.
I'll try to get pics tomorrow if the weather is good, will be a few days before I'll have them developed.
If the damage isn't too bad, I'll try to replace/repair, but considering
it's just a Base- V6 car, with rusty quarters, junk doors, and junk fenders on the front...well...things ain't looking good.
Man, I'm really bummed too...
Guess I could take my other '88 Bird shell, and start changing everything over to it...man, this sucks..
Do yourselves all a favor, if you don't have an A-B-C rated extinguisher, get one...
Oh yeah...when this all happened, I was IN the car.
I'm fine, but shook the hell up, only thing I could think of was the stuff in the trunk, and my TC interior stuff...priorities, huh?
Again...carry an ABC extinguisher of you don't already...hell, somebody else may need it.

got a fire extinguisher?

Reply #1 – October 29, 2006, 09:44:17 PM

That sucks. I keep a 5-pound dry chemical extingusher in the 'Bird - it was given to me by a mountie friend (he actually gave it to me shortly after a local accident in which a 16-year-old died because the car caught fire and none of the bystanders had any means of putting it out - I wasn't there, but the mountie said he wished everyone carried 'em). I also keep fire insurance in case the fire extingusher doesn't do the trick...

got a fire extinguisher?

Reply #2 – October 30, 2006, 10:05:25 AM

I have an extinguisher in every Ford I own. (My first 87 TC's alternator lit itself on fire) I need to get one for the pickup though. Not that a Nissan will ever catch fire (and if it did, if I'd bother to put it out) but when I was at the drags last a 383 Dart backfired and lit the cheapo fiberglass hood on fire. I was right next to him. Luckily the safety crew was close by, but it still made me think. I'm going to go get one now...

got a fire extinguisher?

Reply #3 – October 30, 2006, 11:37:27 AM

My father's '87 Pathfinder caught fire. Twice. Once under the dash while mom was parked, waiting for dad, and once in the column while my father was driving it home from hunting. That thing had electrical problems all over - by the time my mother finaly wrecked it in late '89 and put it out of its misery the horn would honk when the left turn signal was used, the gas gauge didn't work, the battery junction was all corroded (I cut it out and hard wired everything) and the fuel pump harness had a short that would make the truck stall at random intervals (one could get it running by reaching under the body and grabbing the harness and shaking it).

It must have been an oddity, though - the '90 King Cab he replaced the Pathfinder with was a pinnacle of reliability. The body rotted off, but it had 500,000 miles on it when I finally sold it (I had bought it from dad in the mid 90's). Original ball joints, tie rod ends, brake rotors, rear drums, antifreeze and spark plugs. It did have a problem with trannies, tho (a common problem for the Nissan 5-speeds) - I rebuilt the 5-speed twice before replacing it, and that one had the same problem at the end. The countershaft bearing kept getting chewed up. The clutch actually outlasted two trannies!

got a fire extinguisher?

Reply #4 – October 30, 2006, 12:23:16 PM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken;110729

My father's '87 Pathfinder caught fire. Twice.

-----------------------

the battery junction was all corroded (I cut it out and hard wired everything)

Uh... hrrrmmmm... uh.

got a fire extinguisher?

Reply #5 – October 30, 2006, 04:38:00 PM

Quote from: Aerobird Motorsports;110703

I have an extinguisher in every Ford I own.

Something about that statement is very funny to me :rolleyes:

I don't have one but maybe It wouldn't be a half bad idea.
Sorry to hear about that.

got a fire extinguisher?

Reply #6 – October 30, 2006, 05:07:13 PM

Quote from: 46Tbird;110736

Uh... hrrrmmmm... uh.

Umm.... no. The fires happened when the truck was about a year old and a year and a half old - one was the fog light circuit (the under dash one) and one was in the ignition circuit (the steering column one - I don't think the shop repaired the column fire damage properly, hence the wiper/horn thing). The corrosion at the battery was when it was just under three years old, and it was a bunch of plastic plugs with no weather sealing (similar to Ford 2G alt plugs). No fusible links or anything like that were involved - the connections simply became corroded to the point you could wiggle them and stall the engine, so I took the connections out of the circuits.

Believe me, I don't wire things to burn. I wire cars for a living.

got a fire extinguisher?

Reply #7 – October 30, 2006, 06:19:23 PM

Alright man. Just busting your balls anyway. :D

it ain't so bad...

Reply #8 – October 30, 2006, 10:08:23 PM

Well, today I got a good look at the bottom of the car, and the only thing that really suffered was the fuel lines.
I pulled the ones from my first Tbird, but when I pulled the 3.8 from it, way back when, the "genius" helping me cut the lines on the outboard side of the connectors.
So I guess I will just try to find some decent lines from an '87-'88 5.0 Bird or Cougar.

I was actually amazed at how easy they can be removed, 3 bolts, and a few little plastic rivet-looking things, and it's off.
(the tank had already been removed)

got a fire extinguisher?

Reply #9 – October 31, 2006, 09:14:31 PM

Geez, melted fuel lines - Another reason to make me think about nice metal fuel lines...

I accidently put a small nick in the main fuel line when I replaced the brake lines, and the vision of that fuel shooting out at 40 psi toward the exhaust gives me nightmares.

The 60's cars all had metal, sure seems like a better way of going.

Definitely agree in keeping an extinguisher in every car.

got a fire extinguisher?

Reply #10 – October 31, 2006, 09:58:59 PM

Quote from: bondocougar;111024

The 60's cars all had metal, sure seems like a better way of going

All the more reason to buy a box cat-bird, all steel

of couse I had to replace mine in the 1980 cause they rusted through...

So how about some pics? I assume it is salvageable?

got a fire extinguisher?

Reply #11 – October 31, 2006, 11:46:00 PM

took pics, just a big ole sooty spot on the door, pass. side.
ruined the fuel lines, was about it.
In my excitement, i guess all excited, and assumed the worst, that, and after the fire was out, I guess my eyes were used to the brightness. The next day, when I took pics, and got under neath it for a better exam, just the fuel lines were burnt.
I need 5.0 fuels lines anyway..so... exciting thing though, seein my ride ablaze :hick:

If I'd used some sense, I woulda poured some gas on it an ran like hell :pbb:

Yeah, it's ok, and gonna continue with it