Remeber: Always carry a fire extinguser!

[crankin]

[JackIIA]

WOW! Great post. I guess always carry a fire extinguisher or a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper.

[AU_88]

What started the fire?

edit: Transmission oil fire.

[amcordo]

... or just don't drive a Land Rover.



Don't everyone jump on me at once for that comment.

[RoverForm]

so what i'm seeing is that the most common way for these fires to start is by way of tranny fluid overflowing from the dipstick tube, which then runs over the exhaust manifolds or engine block. correct?

other causes?

prevention methods?

[morgant]

so what i'm seeing is that the most common way for these fires to start is by way of tranny fluid overflowing from the dipstick tube, which then runs over the exhaust manifolds or engine block. correct?

I knew there was a reason there aren't dipsticks in in the Series Land Rover gearbox & transfer case!

[Mercedesrover]

... or just don't drive a Land Rover.

Hahahaha!! EXACTLY!!! Coil sprung Land Rovers are among the biggest pile of crap ever built. Believe otherwise and you're delusional. Did I mention I had to change a water-cooled, $900 alternator in a new Range Rover the other day? No, not mine, thank you very muchsucks, I'm sure

Lesson: Carry two fire extinguishers...big ones. I don't give a hoot about the Rover, just the woods.

Sorry for your trouble, but jeeze, the tranny gets a little warm and pukes out the fill pipe on to the exhaust? Brilliant!



EDIT: Really, I'm sorry about the fire...It sucks I'm sure.

[bmohan55]

WOW! I carry one in the Series....I'll get another one tomorrow for the Disco.
Scary!

[czenkov]

I think I heard about this one. The owner just bought it and this was the first trip out. If this is the one I heard about he just got back from a deployment. IF this is the same truck he spent $7k on it - and now has nothing. I belive at least one business may have donated a bit of kit to outfit the next truck - as a thanks for serving his country - and for his bit of bad luck.

[Terrys]

so what i'm seeing is that the most common way for these fires to start is by way of tranny fluid overflowing from the dipstick tube, which then runs over the exhaust manifolds or engine block. correct?

other causes?

prevention methods?

I'm not sure I'd clasify it as the most common. In fact, going back through Sadisco stats, P38 fires aren't a common occurance. Classics and Defenders are well known for going up in smoke because of the proximity of the engine oil cooler lines to the right hand exhaust manifold.

Don't mind Jim, he's biased. Compared to his series trucks, any coiler is junk, but with inteligent changes, and some $ commitment, the coilers can be made quite reliable. Want to know the difference between a complete meltdown, and a small, repairable engine fire in MANY cases? The Moment you detect smoke, KILL THE ENGINE, BLONDY. If the initial fire started from an engine fluid, kill the source of the fluid and you won't end up with a Kuwaiti oil well fire.
If you like the cute little red Kidde extinguishers, buy 2 or 3. I love the guy who won't buy a proper sized extinguisher, but has a winch, roof rack, High lift, a scuba tank for airing back up (which he refills from the compressor under the seat), more candlepower than London during the Blitz, and enough onboard tools for a frame-up restoration, but won't buy a proper extinguisher because they're too heavy

[mrdoiron]

I'm not sure I'd clasify it as the most common. In fact, going back through Sadisco stats, P38 fires aren't a common occurance. Classics and Defenders are well known for going up in smoke because of the proximity of the engine oil cooler lines to the right hand exhaust manifold.

Don't mind Jim, he's biased. Compared to his series trucks, any coiler is junk, but with inteligent changes, and some $ commitment, the coilers can be made quite reliable. Want to know the difference between a complete meltdown, and a small, repairable engine fire in MANY cases? The Moment you detect smoke, KILL THE ENGINE, BLONDY. If the initial fire started from an engine fluid, kill the source of the fluid and you won't end up with a Kuwaiti oil well fire.
If you like the cute little red Kidde extinguishers, buy 2 or 3. I love the guy who won't buy a proper sized extinguisher, but has a winch, roof rack, High lift, a scuba tank for airing back up (which he refills from the compressor under the seat), more candlepower than London during the Blitz, and enough onboard tools for a frame-up restoration, but won't buy a proper extinguisher because they're too heavy

lol....too funny, and too true.

mike

[I Leak Oil]

Don't mind Jim, he's biased. Compared to his series trucks, any coiler is junk, .......

That's the most accurate statement I've read on the 'net yet!

Car fires have been around long before Land Rover ever was born and they'll be around for quite some time. Carry an extinguisher no matter what you drive....

[Tim Smith]

What a shame. Sorry to see it happen.

I was glad to see that the club and VFD cleared the mess from the trails though. If that were left out there, it would have been a huge mistake.

[Rineheitzgabot]

Hahahaha!! EXACTLY!!! Coil sprung Land Rovers are among the biggest pile of crap ever built. Believe otherwise and you're delusional. Did I mention I had to change a water-cooled, $900 alternator in a new Range Rover the other day? No, not mine, thank you very muchsucks, I'm sure

Lesson: Carry two fire extinguishers...big ones. I don't give a hoot about the Rover, just the woods.

Sorry for your trouble, but jeeze, the tranny gets a little warm and pukes out the fill pipe on to the exhaust? Brilliant!



EDIT: Really, I'm sorry about the fire...It sucks I'm sure.

I couldn't agree more. I owned a DII for 6 years, and it never caused me any huge problems, but I worked on many of them that did. After working on many of them, it really contributed to me getting rid of mine (that, and the fact that I was going to have to do the $2500 head gasket job on it; you know, the one that ALL DII's have to have done eventually). I think the coilsprung Land Rovers are an engineering work-in-progress. Rangies, Discos, and Freelanders. It never ceased to amaze me the goofiness, from an engineering standpoint. From the "flower-delicate" coolant system, to the 400-metric ton, rear door, to the location and orientation of the oil filter, my DII was evidence of an automobile that was clearly rushed to the marketplace without the proper amount of "peer review" over the design. I love Land Rovers, but sometimes I think they rested on their laurels(sp?) in their engineering department.

I also, am sorry about the fire, to whoever experienced it. Must have been horrifying.

[Firemanshort]

Ditto on other comments:

Firemanshort has seen lots of types of cars burn. There are no real standouts for more fire prone makes save for air cooled VWs (most of which have solved the fuel line problem or burnt up by now). I burnt a lot of those when I was a rookie in the 80's (love the magnesium engine )

Ditto on the turn the car off advice. Is is not a panacea but it is a good first step. At a minimum - it does not hurt.

One the philosophical side - after a car burns for even a very short time - most insurance adjusters will write the whole thing off (rightly so). Even a small fire can cause so much wide spread multi-system damage that it will take a herculean effort to sort everything out. The car was probably a total write off about half way through those guys sucking smoke and throwing dirt at it. The real shame is if he lost any contents (gear) as this gets into a tricky area with some insurance policies.

Back to the Fire Extinguisher - yes - ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. But back to previous point - if this was an engine fire and you shot a dry chemical extinguisher at it and put it out early - you may still be looking at a total engine rebuild / replace (plus wire harness). The dry chemcial powder is fine, gets into everything, and is very corrosive. Even it I suspected a puff of this got in the intake then its a total tear down. Do not miss understand - I highly recommend the fire extinguisher - I just want to set expectations.

Ultimately, I am glad those fellows wised up and gave up on the fire fight and backed off before any of them sucked up any more of that smoke and got hurt. Figure how long it took to get fire resources to the truck - then think about how long a medical resources.