Really should get a fire extinguisher!
Discussion
How many times have I thought to myself, 'I really should get a fire extinguisher sometime!'
Well today, started the car for the first time in about eight weeks, and thought I would make the most of the sunny day. Drove about five miles out, and after about four miles back, pulled upto a junction with an over-powering smell of petrol. Thankfully I was about half a mile from work, so floored it all the way there through my sleepy little town! (Sorry everyone!) Got there, worse smell of petrol, grabbed an extinguisher from inside and then stood there for a hour until everything cooled down with a puddle of fuel under the car! LUCKY!!
With the reputation Cerb's have for bursting into flames, I WILL buy an extinguisher before I use it again.
I would suggest everyone else does the same!
Well today, started the car for the first time in about eight weeks, and thought I would make the most of the sunny day. Drove about five miles out, and after about four miles back, pulled upto a junction with an over-powering smell of petrol. Thankfully I was about half a mile from work, so floored it all the way there through my sleepy little town! (Sorry everyone!) Got there, worse smell of petrol, grabbed an extinguisher from inside and then stood there for a hour until everything cooled down with a puddle of fuel under the car! LUCKY!!
With the reputation Cerb's have for bursting into flames, I WILL buy an extinguisher before I use it again.
I would suggest everyone else does the same!
I'm not sure if I mentioned my experience here or not, but after a couple of weeks on hols I came back and started the car up to go to the gym, to cut a long story short, when I pulled over 10 miles later, the fuel line had ruptured and was spraying large amounts of fuel all over the alternator and left bank of the engine. I was impressed that the thing hadn't erupred into a large fireball on the A42 
Now i'm one of those people that says "and i was meaning to for ages" usually after the catastrophic event has already passed. However i bought a fire extinguisher within the first week of ownership. Already had a car go up in flames on me but thats another story. There's no way i'm gonna let my TVR go the same way. By the way i keep it in the boot. If i have a fire it will be sods law its electrical and it wont let me open the boot! Lol!
peteA said:
so where was the leak from...?
sorry to hear of your misfortune by the way...sounds like you were lucky ...if you know what i mean.
Lucky aint the word! The fuel seems to be coming from a fuel pipe across the top of the engine block under the inlet trumpets. Figured I would take a look next week!sorry to hear of your misfortune by the way...sounds like you were lucky ...if you know what i mean.
Not being funny here but seeing as alot of our cars are kept in garages for a while could this have something to do with Rodents gnawing at the pipes ; though I am aware that my fuel lines look fine in the bay but are slightly cracked where they go into the fuel pump so they do seem to perish easily
Whitey said:
Do people replace the fuel lines with braided hose lines?
Some do, but it's not a good idea. Braided hoses protect against external mechanical damage but are no help for heat and vibration. However, the braiding stops you from seeing what state the rubber is in. An extra problem with DIY braided hoses is that it's easy to assemble them so that they look fine but the rubber is not clamped properly. Unless you're expecting them to have stuff bouncing off them I would go for good quality rubber hoses, inspect annually and change say every five years as a precaution.Old Geezer said:
Same here, only a few weeks after buying my Cerb I got one.
I found two holes behind the drivers seat, in the upright below the rear seat with bolts in doing nothing!!
My 1KG fitted there perfectly!!
Someone had removed the previous fitment me thinks!
hehe same here.. someone had removed mine by the looks of it!I found two holes behind the drivers seat, in the upright below the rear seat with bolts in doing nothing!!
My 1KG fitted there perfectly!!
Someone had removed the previous fitment me thinks!
TVR Moneypit said:
After seeing the rather poor state of my under bonnet fuel lines, the thought of my pride and joy going up in flames did become a major concern of mine. Assuming that they are exactly the same material on a Cerb as they are on a Chim, perhaps you should be equally worried.
The one advantage that a Chim / Griff does have over a Cerb is the ability to quickly pop the roof if needed in the event of a fire. Not something that could be done with a Cerb.
I did look into getting Goodridge / Earls braided hoses fitted, but my god, there expensive
In the end I went for this; http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDeta...
It's a 4.25 litre mechanical system. 4 jets fitted under the bonnet, 1 pointing at the battery / ECU, and 1 behind the dash. At £250, I think that it is worth it for the peice of mind, especially when you consider that the poxy little hand held things from Halfords are £40+, and would struggle to extinguish a cigarette, let alone a proper fire.
Heres a couple of picces to give you an idea what it is like fitted;
Bear in mind that motorsport extinguisher systems are designed to give the driver more time to escape a burning vehicle. They are good to have, but do not rely on one of these systems to put a fire out.The one advantage that a Chim / Griff does have over a Cerb is the ability to quickly pop the roof if needed in the event of a fire. Not something that could be done with a Cerb.
I did look into getting Goodridge / Earls braided hoses fitted, but my god, there expensive
In the end I went for this; http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDeta...
It's a 4.25 litre mechanical system. 4 jets fitted under the bonnet, 1 pointing at the battery / ECU, and 1 behind the dash. At £250, I think that it is worth it for the peice of mind, especially when you consider that the poxy little hand held things from Halfords are £40+, and would struggle to extinguish a cigarette, let alone a proper fire.
Heres a couple of picces to give you an idea what it is like fitted;
As an aside, I wouldn't recomment the OMP system. Very few places can service and/or refill the Ecolife extinguishant which means that prices are quite high.
Secondly I had a new steel system, sent it off for service after 2 years and was told that the inside of the bottle was found to be corroded and I would have to pay for a new bottle. Neither the supplier (a well known mail order motorsport equipment supplier) nor OMP would make any form of contribution to a steel extinguisher bottle that could not even make it past the first service date.
I now use SPA systems which can be serviced by local suppliers.
A plumbed in system and a second bottle in the boot would give you best protection.
trooperiziz said:
Ok, so your response to an overpowering smell of petrol was to open the throttle even wider for the next half mile?
Good man!
More going into the engine less squirting out! Good man!
I'm about to fit an extinguisher system to my chim. A total loss due to a fire is the worst insurance situation to be in if you have a highly modififed car. My car is also cat D rated and i would never be able to replace the car if it were a total loss.
TVR Moneypit said:
Heres a couple of picces to give you an idea what it is like fitted;
. . . I assume you remove the pin every time you drive it otherwise it'll be no good to you at all in an emergency It's easy to forget which is why it's one thing the marshalls always check whilst we're in assembly prior to racing. Also make sure you test the movement of the cable regularly as they're prone to seizing up (unless of course its a teflon type jobbie) Gassing Station | Cerbera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff