Yesterday I was heading to Portland Oregon for the ABFM when the engine lost power and started cutting out. We got off the freeway and I proceeded to complete the typical checks, I started the car up again and it ran fine for about 30 seconds, started cutting out again, then smoke started pouring out of the dash from behind the instrument cluster. While waiting 3 hours for triple A, I removed the instrument cluster and tracked the melted wires back to one of the relays under the dash near the fuse box. Opened the relay up and it was very crusty inside which I assume shorted and caused the wiring to melt. What I don't get is why a fuse didn't blow? Unless it is the relay for the starter which it may be? As a side note few weeks ago the starter wasn't disengaging even though it had a new starter, so I went to the trouble of installing another new gear reduction starter. I went to start the car and the new starter was also staying engaged! So I grabbed a relay out of spares that looked reasonably good and plugged it in, which worked for a few weeks anyways. The only reason the car didn't burn down is I was able to quick disconnect the battery. I am now going to throw out all used relays and replace existing ones. That relay may have came out of a parts car and definately saw water at some point.

 

Yikes that's very scary. It's never fun to have a fire in a car. I've seen several burn all the way to the ground, as once it gets started if you haven't got a way to disconnect the battery or eliminate the source. Then your only hope is a fire extinguisher. And I just know everybody carries one. LOL

Hope it's all repairable.

Jack

 

Good news that nobody was injured, at least.

What are people using for a quick battery disconnect?

 

Actually I do.

I bought 3 of these, one for each rig.


Just behind Nix's seat for my easy reach.


Same for Trucklet. As you can see, these are not much bigger than a water bottle.

I've had these since a member of our former Jaguar club burned his XJS, which he called Phoenix, to the ground and had no extinguisher. I sort of thought this was a bit inexcusable as it was the Second time it caught fire (but he was 80 proof most of the time anyway).
(';')

 

You Elinor I knew would be the exception to what I said. As anyone who drives a Gasoline powered vehicle especially a carbureted one, definitely needs to carry an extinguisher. (but we don't for the most part) We've all been spoiled with fuel injection, as it is usually much less likely to go up in Flames! and then of course there is the V12 Jag ??????? Or should I say the V12 Flambeau !

Jack

 

On your 94 V12 6.0, it is not recommended since there are so many computers that rely on memory.

 

I've been carrying a 2.5lb Halotron extinguisher in each of my vehicles for many years. Have yet to need to use one (knock on wood). It was supposed to be the best option for a classic car because it leaves no residue (standard dry chemical agent often results in more hours/dollars worth of cleanup than the repair because it gets into everything and is caustic so you can't just leave it). But I recently read this Hagerty article about the Fire Safety Stick. They're cheaper than the Halotron, take up less space, the chemical reaction from solids generates much more inert gas than stored in a cylinder, they don't need to be inspected/refilled periodically and says it can be stored indefinitely. The Halotrons were expensive so I actually have fewer cylinders than I have cars. I leave one in each daily driver just for convenience, but for the classics, its part of my checklist, I load one along with my other supplies each time I'm preparing to go to a car show or something. Once in a while I think about ordering a few of these Fire Safety Sticks to just be able to leave one in each classic car all the time so I don't have to load one more thing every time, but then I get busy on something else and forget until I read another story like this.

 

Jack, I am the exception to nearly every rule ever written or conceived regarding what a (straight) women should or should not be.
That's how I know I'll be Eccentric when I get old (still driving Hard and Fast, but Eccentric).

 

Hang on LnR, you are eccentric now! As is everyone on here!

 

Until you can stop a red hot wire glowing red hot a fire extinguisher might not help that much.

 

If this was in response to my battery disconnect question, it would only be used in case of emergency - I figure that might be a better approach than hunting around for the right-size spanner!