Stonejag 10 Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) Heading home from my gf's in London late last night, the oil temperatures were a little off - both higher than normal and continually rising rather than warming and cooling with demand. It hit 114 so I pulled into a garage to check the oil level, thinking it might be on the low side and needed topping up due to a slow leak I've been keeping an eye on. Popped the bonnet and got out to see quite a lot of steam escaping around the wings. Lifting the bonnet I realised it wasn't steam, just lots of white/grey smoke... I've been carrying an extinguisher around for over a year now so I gave it the lot. That bought me enough time to get the battery disconnected (just in case...) and use one of the petrol station's for backup since it was still smoking a bit. They weren't best pleased at the mess I made of their forecourt :lol: [edit: Cause determined to be that my cooling fans had shorted internally, seized solid and caught fire. Nasty!] Obligatory snowstorm picture: So, if you haven't got one yet, why not? The less of these on the Internet the better... Stone Edited August 21, 2012 by Stonejag Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Bowen 1 Posted August 21, 2012 Think i'm going to buy a new extinguisher, i do have one but its a bit small and old now. Think i'll keep small one in footwell and a bigger one in the boot. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted August 21, 2012 Yeah they're handy for sure! I've not heard of leaking oil from a sump igniting before though. Hot oil did catch fire on me once though, and that was caused by a ruptured turbo oil line spraying oil onto a red hot manifold. I didn't have an extinguisher at the time, but luckily it was winter, so I pulled over next to a big puddle, scooped up water with my hands (complete with twigs, leaves and fag ends) and showered the engine with it. Not as graceful as your fix, but it worked all the same :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stonejag 10 Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) In retrospect my 2kg one was a little on the small side - don't forget you have to use it all in one burst (once the seal is ruptured the gas comes out whether you squeeze the handles or not, if you stop for two long you run out of propellant before you run out of powder). Fitted nicely in the rear passenger footwell though. For 11 quid it's mad not to have one in the back. link Yeah they're handy for sure! I've not heard of leaking oil from a sump igniting before though. Either that or my fans were on fire... I like your fix too :D Edited August 21, 2012 by Stonejag Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Bowen 1 Posted August 21, 2012 I just did a google aboot the place and now i'm thinking of getting a powder one and a foam one. Seems the powder is good for putting the fire out and the foam good for stopping it re-igniting. Just been looking around the office and quite suprised how small the 6kg powder one is, might get 2no 2kgs ones Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tentonhammer 10 Posted August 21, 2012 Genuinely have a morbid fear about this happening to me one day so I clean my engine bay as often as I can! - Good job man, at the very least by letting rip with your extinguisher you've drastically reduced the amount of (potential) damage to your motor. Sounds like it was definitely about to go Funny, I'm always amazed by the amount of people that don't have an extinguisher in their car even though you're sitting on gallons of highly combustible fuel?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aide 0 Posted August 21, 2012 agree with this, its madness not too have a few for the price of them in every car, and keep a big one in the garage as well, i had to use one when weld spatter ignited dust/ hair/ fabric/ rubbish which had gathered between the inner and outer panels, car filled with smoke and could have ignited the seats/ lining so I emptied the whole lot down the cavity! my car was on axle stands so I couldn't roll it out, it could have taken the garage and contents with it :/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Portent 0 Posted August 21, 2012 I'm convinced. I'm going to see if I can get a puddle and hand scoop from Halfords at the weekend. Or an extinguisher ifthey don't sell puddles. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Bowen 1 Posted August 21, 2012 Do you reckon it will come premixed with the fag butts, twigs and leaves? or do you have to add them yourself? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
seanl82 23 Posted August 21, 2012 Honestly, get a foam one if you can. The dry powder will blanket the flame temporarily, but there are no cooling agents in it, So its very likely it will reignite. Foam is obviously water based so will cool the affected area, and the foam does the same as the dry powder by blanketing the flame. Foam is used on oil based fires, with dry powder and co2 on electrical, but as long as you have no exposed wiring and power has been isolated (ignition off) then foam is safe regardless. You will have to clean all surfaces and electical contacts regardless as well, so foam is deffo the way ahead! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bristolbaron 10 Posted August 21, 2012 wowzers.. that was lucky. although sad to see the red one with the flames running underneath is a cracking photo! :lol: must remember to put one in mine, it does seem crazy not to. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted August 21, 2012 I've heard it's best practice not to lift the bonnet? Instead they recommend just popping the bonnet and spraying the extinguisher through the small gap. Something along the same lines as opening a door in a housefire causing a massive oxygen feed to the fire....or something.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stonejag 10 Posted August 21, 2012 Honestly, get a foam one if you can. The dry powder will blanket the flame temporarily, but there are no cooling agents in it, So its very likely it will reignite. Foam is obviously water based so will cool the affected area, and the foam does the same as the dry powder by blanketing the flame. Foam is used on oil based fires, with dry powder and co2 on electrical, but as long as you have no exposed wiring and power has been isolated (ignition off) then foam is safe regardless. You will have to clean all surfaces and electical contacts regardless as well, so foam is deffo the way ahead! Foam's not ideal if the battery's still connected (you risk damaged wiring as the liquid shorts across the battery...) but stops fuel fires better than CO2 extinguishers. If you have a puddle of burning fuel you have to let the foam flow over the top of the pool (don't just spray it in the middle, it will make the pool bigger) - the usual tactic is to aim at a flat surface behind the pool so it rolls down the wall etc and spills onto the pool from one edge. Dry powder forms CO2 when heated so they work in a similar way, it just settles and forms the gas when heated so lasts a bit longer than CO2. Very messy by comparison though..! wowzers.. that was lucky. although sad to see the red one with the flames running underneath is a cracking photo! :lol: More pics of that car here: (link[/link]) Amazing quality but I very much doubt I'd be taking photos while it was happening to mine...especially if it was a VR6T with as much effort as was put into that one! I've heard it's best practice not to lift the bonnet? Instead they recommend just popping the bonnet and spraying the extinguisher through the small gap. Something along the same lines as opening a door in a housefire causing a massive oxygen feed to the fire....or something.... You're absolutely right. Remember I didn't know it was on fire, I was expecting to have to top the oil up, it was a bit of a shock... Anyway, the garage rang me back after washing the snowstorm away. Basically it was nothing to do with the sump at all, the coolant fans had shorted internally and were actually on fire :shock: It's all seized into one solid lump, the belt between them melted, the works. Even damaged the radiator. The best part is that it should all be covered by the AA parts cover I added last renewal so I pay £35 excess for up to £500 of parts and labour :dance: New OEM fans are £300! Absolutely chuffed to bits considering what nearly happened. Stone Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
seanl82 23 Posted August 21, 2012 The fire will be sucking in enough oxygen from underneath for it not to make much difference really. As long as its not blustery and likely to spread a naked flame to a fuel source, theres no real problem with doing it. Tbh, your not likely to think much about it when there are flames leaping from the sides of the bonnet and grille, you just brick it, whip the bonnet open and empty your load (extinguisher you dirty buggers!) all over the source of the fire. Figure eights from top to bottom. Don't try to spray it directly into the centre as it may spread. Ideally do it off the bonnet as the spray will spread out containing it as much as possible. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stonejag 10 Posted August 21, 2012 I'm still waiting for a replacement grille after the last one broke so I shouldn't even have needed to open the bonnet! Probably for the best - if I'd had one fitted it would have melted anyway and it probably gave me an extra couple of seconds warning of the smoke. Needless to say I'm feeling pretty lucky now! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaded2882 0 Posted August 21, 2012 I saw a few horrible pics and stories of burning rados and bought an extinguisher a few years ago. I think it's especially important with the VRT, the temperatures are scary! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
floppyman 0 Posted August 21, 2012 One day my g60 started a fire on the engine minutes after comming from a garage that was welding the exhaust without disconecting the battery... Luckly i was near a water fountain... But after that ive allways carry a small extinguisher in my cars Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Portent 0 Posted August 21, 2012 Yay, floppyman is back :cheers: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
floppyman 0 Posted August 22, 2012 Yay, floppyman is back :cheers: Hey.... Im back... But im back to the corradoless country... The only corrados ive seen is on this forum :banghead: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
emu 0 Posted August 22, 2012 Lucky you had one in the car, so fa I never had to use one on my car but helped once one lady who catch fire in her scirocco mk1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stonejag 10 Posted August 22, 2012 Current tally on the damage is approx £460 for replacement parts and another £500 for the labour to fit them :( AA parts insurance is paying £460 towards it but my motor insurance has a £450 excess so I'll end up just paying the difference. Which has put a huge dent in the respray fund, but then there's not much point in having it resprayed if it's been written off so feeling a bit less chuffed but still counting myself as pretty lucky... Beans on toast all this month then! Stone Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Bowen 1 Posted August 22, 2012 Bit worried about my fans now, any idea how they broke? Or it, is only one motor. Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dude VR6 0 Posted August 22, 2012 Got me worried now. What extinguishers have people got ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
craigowl 0 Posted August 23, 2012 (edited) IMO Lidl and Aldi sell the best value extinguishers. No ripoff prices and probably reasonably good quality from the German-backed businesses. So reasonably priced you can afford to replace them with new ones after a few years. Forget the tacky bling - buy an extinguisher now. I have done so for 40 years. Never needed it so far, but $h!t happens. Edited August 23, 2012 by craigowl Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy 0 Posted August 23, 2012 Got me worried now. What extinguishers have people got ? Shall we do a group buy of two on Saturday at Aldi ? !! ;-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
