So, still breaking in the Caddy...resolving or documenting any bugs that I have (so far has only been a blown fuse). Well, tonight, I decided to take her up the Suncoast Parkway to a little (200-300 car) cruise-in in Brooksville. As I am driving up there, somewhere around SR52, she starts to smoke. I pulled over, saw that the car was leaking a little bit of tranny fluid, and decided to turn her around and head home. A few seconds later, smoke comes pouring out from under the hood. I immediately pull over, jump out, and open the hood, to be greated by 2-3 foot high flames. Luckily, I had prepared for this moment, as i normally keep a fire extinguisher right behind the drivers seat (and today, I actually had 2). I grabbed it, and put out the fire before any damage was done. Must say, this was not installer error, but rather a failure of the part. The lower line coming from the transmission to transmission cooler popped off at the cooler. It was a new style barbed fitting that doesn't require hose clamps. Needless to say, old style fitting are going on now. Had I not had the fire extinguisher, she'd be a crispy critter on the side of the road. Always keep a fire extinghuisher in your car if you like modifing it. You never know when you will need it. Charles (sorry, no pics...of course, no real damage either!)<!-- google_ad_section_end --> <!-- no inline ads for registered members --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
Pleased you and the Caddy are both ok. Always an excellent idea in any Vehicle , modified or not. The newest vehicle we (wife and I ) own is her 1969 Capri and there are fire extinguishers mounted in ALL our vehicles. Its the cheapest form of insurance you can get! .
I'm glad it was under control. I carry one in all my cars. If it doesn't save my ass, it might save someone else's.
i'm glad you got things under control before it got worst. i have never trusted those fittings and always used a hose clamp on them. a fire extinguisher is a good idea in any car, even your daily driver...i have one in every car i own
Bummer but al east ya got it put out fast. My car had a similar failure and I bought it as a burnt hulk. It's going on three years now getting it into shape.
they may not be , but they make a lot of sense to me in ANY car. they are within easy reach of all my cars..hot rods or my daily driver
I don't know about that non trad stuff. I bet if you look in some of the old mags you'll spot one or two in a car.
You are very lucky sir. I almost lost my mustang in highschool to a tranny line popping off(however was my fault). It douched the headers down really well and all of a sudden we had a fire, with no fire extinguisher. Sand and my shirt kinda did the trick. The girl i had with me wasnt very impressed haha. Congrats tho on still having a car!!!
yeah,...fire ext are good. A buddies OT Camaro caught the air cleaners on fire one day and we had to dump 2 gallons of apple juice on it. good thing it only had two carbs....one gallon each. coulda been alot worse.
Yup! Totally agree with you guys....I had a valve seat drop and hang up an exhaust valve once. Ignition in the wrong place at the wrong time! It set the air cleaner on fire. Thankfully I had a bottle of soda to hand. Got off lightly with just a melted filter. Went out straight after and bought a proper extinguisher! (Halon) That was a close call!
Four or five years ago I had my Dads truck running errands and pulled up at a light behind an SUV. They had just popped the hood, and when I walked up to help with their engine problem the fire had just started to rage up one side of the engine bay. By pure luck I had just filled my oversized coffee mug when I picked up the truck and had it in my hand. When I saw the flames, I let it fly, and caught a lucky break when it went out. Bought a fire extinguisher later that week.
Glad you saved the car and didn't burn your ass. I always carry a fire extinguisher in the truck and old cars... I had a cough*Mazda RX-7*cough that caught fire after an oil metering line got brittle and sprayed oil & gas mixture all over the exhaust manifold and lit it up. Extinguisher saved a very expensive motor.
I feel naked in a car without an extinquisher. I put a new torque converter in my '46 truck last week and took it out for a test around the neighborhood. I got about a block away and realised I had taken the extinquisher out of the truck and put it in my '46 Chevy a few days before to go to a cruise night thing. I went right back home and grabbed the extinquisher and then resumed my test drive. Guess i gotta get another one now. Have one in my daily truck too.
Well I have to totaly disagree. In the 40's the Grand Parents always had the old brass pump type fire extinguisher in there 47 chev mounted on the passenger side kick panel area. Don't get any more traditional than that.
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