Petclub's Cerbie on Fire!

[Barkychoc]

Dave Matthews (Petclub) asked me to post these pics of the dying moments of his old car - to act as a reminder to carry a fire extinguisher and a life hammer - one of those pointy hammers that can break toughened glass & cut seatbelts.

The pictures speak for themselves.

Chris

Edited by Barkychoc on Friday 7th December 16:10

[kevin63]

When was this, it is not his new one he picked up this week is it, well I hope it isn't.

[Barkychoc]

No its the old one - Dave being Dave has only just figured out how to get the pics out of his phone!
I've edited it to say his old car.

Edited by Barkychoc on Friday 7th December 16:11

[BLUETHUNDER]

A life hammer definitely.Dont know about an extiguisher though.I diont think i would want to save it if it went up in smoke.Getting trapped in the car with an electric door release has always been a concern.Must make sure the Billy Smart handles work.

[TT Tim]

I'm inclined to say, fit a plumbed in extinguisher. You can get one for around £100 with all the pipework and handles.

If you suspect a fire, pop the door, pull the extinguisher handle and run away, if the extinguisher works, great, if not it may have given you a few more moments to get a safe distance away from the car.

Lifeline do an MSA approved kit which is very neat, Peter Lloyd Rallying sell them at an excellent price.

As for the life hammer, you can also use an auto centre punch, small useful bit of kit and only £3.50 from Maplins. Link Here

Tim

Edited by TT Tim on Friday 7th December 16:43

[kevin63]

Barkychoc said:

No its the old one - Dave being Dave has only just figured out how to get the pics out of his phone!
I've edited it to say his old car.

Edited by Barkychoc on Friday 7th December 16:11

Thank god for that, I know he didn't have the old one long and thought the new one was the same, anyway lets hope he can enjoy the new one now, I'd like to see the size of fire extiguser he has now after that fire.

[petclub]

Hi Guys, yes it's the old one. I'm not into this IT witchcraft thing so it took a while to find the film in my phone (only to find it takes 30 seconds to email a photo from my phone - mind you I didn't know it could do that!).

As I said to Chris, we were lucky and the fire was fierce, if the pics make someone think about safety more, then that'll be good.

The new ones lasted me some time now!

[FarmyardPants]

Hmmm....fire extinguisher.

[350Matt]

Once again a timely reminder to check the condition of the petrol pipes running down the tunnel I'd say..

Matt

[petclub]

Quite right, in this particular case no ordinary extinguisher would have worked the fire was too quick, however they are still a great idea as most fires will not be so fierce and they can be used ti help others if need be.

[Mrs_T]

Costco do some brilliant fire extinguishers. I wouldn't drive any of my cars without one tucked in behind the drivers seat. A TVR turned up at a meet recently producing a little too many flames from the back end. Luckily my other half had our fire extinguisher to hand and a few seconds later, problem solved and no/minimal damage done.

I seem to recall that spark plugs make short work of windows too! Please correct me if I'm wrong as i don't have an ASBO ;0)

[Deva Link]

Mrs_T said:

I seem to recall that spark plugs make short work of windows too!

Tricky to remove when the engines on fire, though.

[Mr M]

350Matt said:

Once again a timely reminder to check the condition of the petrol pipes running down the tunnel I'd say..

Matt

Yes I'd be more inclined to do that really. Was this car regularly serviced and impecably looked after ? If so then we've all got cause for concern. Seems to have happend to quite a few now.

[Ffirg 005]

IIRC that's 6 Cerbs that have been reported here with engine fires, you can perhaps double that figure for ones not known about. Out of a total population of only 1996 Cerberas... with those odds, definitely have them checked.

[TT Tim]

If you have A/C fitted, check the hoses going to the fuel cooler at the front of the engine. When I renewed mine, I removed the jubilee clip and the fuel just squited out! Not the best quality hose. When renewing don't skimp, use decent hose.

Tim

[Byker28i]

Mrs_T said:

Costco do some brilliant fire extinguishers. I wouldn't drive any of my cars without one tucked in behind the drivers seat.

Now I have a problem with that.

1. I don't fancy a 2-4kg lump loose in my car
2. I use the rear seat/seats and don't want to restrict foot/leg space.

So mine is in the boot. Not ideal I know if mine catches fire but it might be around for someone else.

The plumbed in ones look interesting...

[morebeanz]

Mine is in the cubby hole,so can be fixed down and is out of the way.

No good if you have a sub-woofer fitted, of course!

[petclub]

Mr M said:

Was this car regularly serviced and impecably looked after ?

Good question, she had just been serviced and MOT'd and was driving brilliantly. I think there was (another) electrical fault somewhere.

[cerdad]

I had a fuel leak on my 4.5 where the pressure relief valve bolts onto the injection rail,I found the O ring behind was damaged and replaced it but it leaked again even worse,On closer examination the O ring were to big for the hole so i used a piece of petrol proof pipe which was a perfect fit and have had no more problems. I also replaced to pipe from under the wiper motor with a slightly lomger armoured one .It looks better and i had it made at a local shop for about half the price of the unarmoured tvr one .Its sad to see another one die

[alderley]

TT Tim said:

If you have A/C fitted, check the hoses going to the fuel cooler at the front of the engine. When I renewed mine, I removed the jubilee clip and the fuel just squited out! Not the best quality hose. When renewing don't skimp, use decent hose.

Tim

Mine is starting to leak from the same hose. It actually looked OK but developed a pin hole. This hose should be a service item. Petrol hose is cheaper than a new car. I (meaning my car not me personally)also had a petrol smell which I and a garage could not trace. Eventually, I found it was a very minor seapage from the connections to the fuel filter.