My Wifes car just burst into flames.

[quakerboy]

Ok. I exagerate. It did that some time ago. In the interviening time, it slagged the whole engine compartment, melted the windshield, raised flames high enough the neighbors called 911, was doused in enough water and fire retardant to make sure it was done burning, and has sat a while cooling and steaming.

I cna report several things. First, Ford makes a solid window. Reports are that it took the firefighters several trys to break a side window to get into the car. Second, ford makes a solid firewall. The whole engine compartment is slagged, but the interior is melt free. Smokey, but melt free.

So, how was your day today?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

1. Smmmmokin'!

:evilgrin:

[quakerboy]

2. Gonna go check in a bit and make sure it isnt.

[pokerfan]

3. Third, Ford makes cars that burst into flames

Fourth, aluminum melts at 660°C.

Fifth, glad everyone is safe and the fire didn't spread.

[quakerboy]

5. We normally park across the street under the trees

today, when we got home, she was annoyed with leaves falling on the car, and parked around the corner. Which is part of why the neighbors noticed it, when we didn't. The other part is who looks out their window into the dark to see if their car is on fire? Otherwise we would have burned the trees. Which would have been far from a tragedy in my mind, given how they destroy cars and make an unnecessary mess. And they are not even useful or native trees.

[Drunken Irishman]

4. I don't think that's supposed to happen.

[quakerboy]

6. I didnt use to

Fireguy says it happens. Who knew?

[pokerfan]

9. We had a car fire at work once

maybe fifteen years ago. FD was johnny on the spot and put it out but not before it slagged the engine.

[quakerboy]

11. you would think

that an engine compartment, being a normal place for a great deal of heat, would not be so flammable.

[pokerfan]

12. I think that while there's a lot of heat

it's not hot enough to cause anything to spontaneously ignite which takes hundreds of degrees. The catalytic converter reaches such temps but it's located away from the engine. My guess would be that most car fires are caused by an electrical spark or short.

[pokerfan]

7. Dozens of cars spontaneously combust each year.

It's just not really widely reported.

[bluesbassman]

8. Glad you guys are all safe. Car fires are extremely dangerous and unpredictable.

I put out a coworkers car fire years ago. It happened in an underground parking garage, and I had quite a bit of smoke inhalation. In hindsight I probably shouldn't have attempted to put it out in the first place as the car was totaled anyway, and the fire department got ther within a minute after it was out.

[quakerboy]

10. I cant even imagine

By time I saw it, they were just hosing it down to make sure it was all cool. It was still burning plasticariffic, though. Still stuck at "what the hell". It was our only car, my last one was destroyed back in February, if I remember right, when I loaned it to my MIL.

[seemunkee]

13. Traffic reporrts around her refer to those as Car-B-Ques

Glad no one was hurt.

[LeftyMom]

14. My Dad had a car spontaneously combust once. Also a Ford.

It was a Grenada with no reverse gear he picked up for what change he could find in his sofa or something, so no loss really. Story is, he went into a fast food place to get a breakfast sandwich on his way home from work (he works nights) and came out and the car was on fire. Some guy said "hey man, is that your car?" Dad said "Nope, sure isn't" and just headed out of the parking lot and walked about five miles home. I guess the fire was hot enough to melt the plate with the VIN on it because he never did get billed for disposing of that piece of crap. :rofl:

[quakerboy]

17. strangely, I am finding

that more people have had combustible cars than I ever would have guessed. And everyone who has reported a make has been a Ford. Whats up with that?

[Mopar151]

23. Add in Diamond Reo and Marmon trucks

And some log skidders have fire systems like a race car - the twigs and brush build up around the engine, and "poof", you're on fire in dry pine woods...
I've seen a Porsche 911 Turbo start a leaf fire - a very minor "off" into dry leaves with a glowing red turbo under the car. An Audi rally car torched off 'cuz the super trick anti-freeze leaked onto the hot turbo. VW Sirocco and Dodge Shadow, burned from high pressure fuel leaks.

[LeftyMom]

24. Iirc, they had a big recall for it a few years back.

[mnhtnbb]

15. I worked with a woman whose daughter died in a car fire many years ago.

She was 17. Her boyfriend had just bought the car used (don't remember the model) and they were driving
on the Ventura Freeway in SoCal. Engine started smoking, he pulled over, car was in flames, he got
out but she didn't. Very tragic.

Glad everyone is ok.

[emilyg]

29. How sad.

[quakerboy]

31. that would suck.

I can't see staying inside a burning anything.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. Is she a DA prosecuting powerful organized crime bosses? -nt

[quakerboy]

18. Not to my awareness

Though she may or may not be a masked crusader by night... How would I know what happens after I fall asleep? She is regularly tired in the daytime.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

19. Glad everyone is OK --

shit like that is scary.

My Mercury Sable's engine compartment burst into flames the day before Xmas around 5 years ago. I had just gotten out of the car and whoosh!, up it went. Had just enough time to pull out my purse and the bag with presents in it. :scared:

As big as the fire was (it totaled the engine compartment) the fire never made it into the passenger compartment or effected the gas tank. :shrug:

[LibertyLover]

20. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your car and glad that you all are ok

Several years ago my best friend and I were driving down to Richmond, VA from New York so that her kids and she could participate in a karate championship tournament. We pulled into the Clara Barton rest area around 12 pm (it's the last one heading southbound on the NJ Turnpike before you get into Delaware) for gas and lunch. It was a nice day in early July so we decided to eat at one of the picnic tables outside. Directly across the Turnpike is another rest area, John Fenwick, the first one heading northbound. As we watched, a car pulled up to the gas pumps and almost immediately burst into flame. If I recall correctly, the fire started in the engine compartment and quickly worked its way back. We were a bit concerned that if the fire hit the gas tank it might cause problems, especially as the car was in close proximity to larger amounts of gasoline (although I'm sure that somebody must have hit the "off" switch for the pumps - at least I hope they did), bit since a few days later when we were driving back home, the Fenwick rest stop was all in one piece, obviously nothing awful happened, well, except that somebody lost their car and whatever was in it.

[MrScorpio]

21. My wife's Ford Tempo almost burst into flames

BTW, after we fixed it. it never caught on fire again

[Awsi Dooger]

22. I read it as cat

Funniest mental image of the year

[Duer 157099]

25. You guys are freaking me out!!

I have a Ford, and I park it inside my garage, so it bursting into flames could be a really big deal.

What causes this?????

[CC]

27. The cruise control in some

F-150 have taken down a few houses with the vehicle fires.

[Mopar151]

28. Old Fud wiring

A lot of the problems with older Fords has to do with poor design and lousy materials in the wiring harness. The 70's Found On Road Dead had unplated steel electrical connectors, primitive voltage regulators, and a bunch of "push-on" wire terminals which are a breeze to assemble, look neat, and crap out completely at random. Merely replacing the push-ons with ring terminals and nuts fixes this pretty effectively, and does'nt cost much.
I replaced 8 (count 'em, 8!) alternators on my F-350 before I wised up and converted it to an internal regulator GM alternator, and ditched the old regulator.(notorious for burning up the plastic connector at the regulator) It's an easy conversion, at least on V-8's, and seems to cure other electrical maladies.

Newer Fords have other issues. The alternator connector tends to burn up (when you buy a reman alternator, it comes with a new, improved connector, and the warranty on the alt. is void if you don't change it)
Second (and the subject of the recall, IIRC) is the coil pack mounted to the a/c bracket - they failed from engine heat, and the failure mode got a little smoky at times - when it wasn't crapping out in traffic.
Third is pretty simple, and common to more than Fords. The battery hold-down gets lost, broken, or rusted into junk, and when something jars the battery, the positive terminal shorts out and starts a fire. Dirty terminals can do the same thing, or may just quit.. And a poor or intermittent ground or + connection may damage the alternator diodes.

Finally, those stupid felt washers that go under the battery terminal? THEY REALLY WORK! Spring for the big $1.29 when you buy a battery or are doing your pre-frostbite maintainence - you'll be happy.

[baldguy]

26. I didn't think there were any Pintos still around.

[quakerboy]

30. 03 focus

My aunt had a pinto for many years. We gave her hell about it, but it ran well for them. Till they had a kid and didn't want it to burn.

[astral]

32. I recently saw a recall notice on Fords

but I didn't pay attention to which kind of Ford. Something about the tendency to leak brake fluid which can cause a fire to start whether or not you are running the car. The fix? Take it into Ford and get it fixed for free.

er .. . before you burn the car down, I think!

[conscious evolution]

35. Fords also have a problem

in the circuit board for the cruise controller.
Two high amperage components were to close together and would create a serious heat build up which would ignite the plastic cover for the steering column.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[krispos42]

34. "Ford" was the first thing that popped into my mind...

...when I read your title. Sadly, I was right.

My dad's Ford custom van spontainously combusted a couple of years ago, in the middle of the night.


Ironically, he keeps getting recall notices asking him to bring it in to the dealer to fix a defective part that *may* cause a hazardous condition.

:rofl:


I hope you had insurance!