Bugeye rear-ends another car, center console catches FIRE
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Bugeye rear-ends another car, center console catches FIRE
OK, So I derped it big time and rear-ended a friggin SUV on 880 at about 40 MPH. Nose of my car dove under his bumper and crushed my hood/radiator back into the engine (battery shorted out- fried ground cable to fender). Airbags deploy, all people are OK, but I notice a lot of smoke inside, some from the center console immediately.
Figured it was airbag related, as windows were up. Left the car to check on other car and return a minute later to see center console and seats fully enflamed. CHP extinguisher FAILED so flames kept going until 2nd bear shows up. Seats are toasted, console gone, headliner and sun shades toasted too. Car totalled by insurance.
Any thoughts on WTH happened?
Center Cat pushed into center hump, lighting carpet/plastic?
Figured it was airbag related, as windows were up. Left the car to check on other car and return a minute later to see center console and seats fully enflamed. CHP extinguisher FAILED so flames kept going until 2nd bear shows up. Seats are toasted, console gone, headliner and sun shades toasted too. Car totalled by insurance.
Any thoughts on WTH happened?
Center Cat pushed into center hump, lighting carpet/plastic?
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Thanks to all for words of concern, I needed that! yes, was fully insured, and luckily only a few thou damage to the other car (he drove away, my baby will never be the same again). Well, at least now I have an excuse for the wife (she loved the car, just not it's level of acceleration 
) to mod it's replacement back to what I had...and more.
Fuel: nope didn't smell any and no apparent leaking underneath; barely even lost any coolant. It was a smoldering, slow overheat kinda fire, not one with lots of accelerant.
Wires?: I buy that; that short could be what toasted the batt's GND cable. Odd that it overheated *there* and not at the battery or elsewhere.
) to mod it's replacement back to what I had...and more.Fuel: nope didn't smell any and no apparent leaking underneath; barely even lost any coolant. It was a smoldering, slow overheat kinda fire, not one with lots of accelerant.
Wires?: I buy that; that short could be what toasted the batt's GND cable. Odd that it overheated *there* and not at the battery or elsewhere.
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eventually they wind up attached to the injectors on the head/intake manifold, it's between there and here that things can happen, although if there was no smell or evidence of fuel, more likely that either engine/exhaust heat and or electrical arcing just set combustible stuff on fire.
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After my exhaust manifold caught on fire the next night I had a dream my car caught fire. The next day I bought an extinguisher from Pep Boys. I keep it in the trunk of on the floor in the backseat in case something like that happens to me now
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Accident at 40mph? Or you were at 40 and slowed to impact? Either way I'm glad to hear no one was hurt...
I'm on my mobile phone, are there pictures?
I'm on my mobile phone, are there pictures?
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It all happened so fast; I probably popped him at something like 35 MPH-ish, he was stopped or nearly so. Sorry, no pics. too painful, images are burned into my memory.