how can a car catch fire on the parking lot?
Discussion
... a few days ago, my car burnt down in a private gated parking lot. It happened a few minutes after I parked it there, and went away. How can this happen? The fire didn't start in the engine (the front half was untouched by the fire), and it also didn't start at the battery (in the back, no damage there). Look at some more pictures here...
I can't see the pictures on that forum, looks like you need to be a member.
This almost happened to an old car of mine, it turned out to be bodged wiring from a previous owners attempt to install electric rear windows. Whilst it was parked there was a torrential downpour and the rain found it's way in through the weather seal on the door and shorted out the wiring. The whole wiring harness melted together.
This almost happened to an old car of mine, it turned out to be bodged wiring from a previous owners attempt to install electric rear windows. Whilst it was parked there was a torrential downpour and the rain found it's way in through the weather seal on the door and shorted out the wiring. The whole wiring harness melted together.
AndrewW-G said:
catalytic converter could have overheated / blocked and set fire to the underseal underneath the car . . . or there could have been an electrical short . . . . or somebody could have set fire to it
... it appears to have started in the dashboard or near the front seats. Fine. That's all inside the passenger area. But how can the petrol then start burning (I believe that should be shielded by the floor panel for more tan 5 minutes)??? Wouldn't a leak in the fuel pipe, or ctalytic converter, rather cause a fire BELOW the floor panel?amzamz said:
AndrewW-G said:
catalytic converter could have overheated / blocked and set fire to the underseal underneath the car . . . or there could have been an electrical short . . . . or somebody could have set fire to it
... it appears to have started in the dashboard or near the front seats. Fine. That's all inside the passenger area. But how can the petrol then start burning (I believe that should be shielded by the floor panel for more tan 5 minutes)??? Wouldn't a leak in the fuel pipe, or ctalytic converter, rather cause a fire BELOW the floor panel?
had it had the exhaust done recently?
when I bought my '99 diesel mondeo at about 6 years old the previous owner had fitted a new exhaust a couple of months prior. after a 'high speed run' (in quotes because it had 80bhp), i parked up and went to bed. 30 mins later i'm being called by the plod cos the car is reported on fire, the fire brigade are on their way and may need access
turns out the cars underbody insulation had been disturbed during the exhaust fitting and was hanging down on the (as a result of driving fairly hard) hot exhaust. It had started to smoulder putting out a load of smoke. The boys in, erm, dark blue reckoned that given another 5 minutes it'd have caught fire, I was lucky that someone was passing the end of the road at 2am to catch it
when I bought my '99 diesel mondeo at about 6 years old the previous owner had fitted a new exhaust a couple of months prior. after a 'high speed run' (in quotes because it had 80bhp), i parked up and went to bed. 30 mins later i'm being called by the plod cos the car is reported on fire, the fire brigade are on their way and may need access
turns out the cars underbody insulation had been disturbed during the exhaust fitting and was hanging down on the (as a result of driving fairly hard) hot exhaust. It had started to smoulder putting out a load of smoke. The boys in, erm, dark blue reckoned that given another 5 minutes it'd have caught fire, I was lucky that someone was passing the end of the road at 2am to catch it
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