Fire Hazard!

A cautionary tale. Well yesterday I was off again on one of my cross country trails. Going fast over loose surfaces, trying to average 80kmh so going up to 120 - 130 and lots of use of the gears to keep in the power band. Car was flying, in its element really. No noises, aircon ice cold, engine temp normal. Then smoke started filling the cabin, pulled up fast, opened the bonnet and could see flames, basically under the driver's footwell (looking down the gap between the manifold and all the brake bits, behind the steering linkages). Very very very luckily I'd pulled up in front of a shop (in the middle of nowhere) where the assistant had the quick reflexes to rush over with an extinguisher and we put it out in a sec. I was shaking I tell you because quite frankly, I don't carry an extinguisher and if I hadn't stopped exactly where I had nothing would have stopped those flames from spreading and consuming the car.

Here's what happened. The heat shields on the underbody just over the cats are basically a cardboard base material overlayed with glass wool and covered in a kind of metal foil. I don't know what conditions yours' are in but I had noticed that the foil was discoloured on mine and had gotten brittle. Clearly my driving had knocked one loose and it was hanging down, touching the cat. The foil was sufficiently heat damaged to crumble off, the glass wool didn't ignite but melted and smouldered and the cardboard base eventually ignited.

So please check your heat shields and think about keeping an extinguisher. To end the story on a happy note I let the car cool down, got under, yanked off the remains of the heat shield and carefully checked everything else and found absolutely no damage, not even to the plastic air breather hoses from the gearbox that go above there. Drove the car back without incident after having run the engine for an hour in front of the shop, extinguisher in hand. Just another day of P38s!

rasheed said:

A cautionary tale. Well yesterday I was off again on one of my cross country trails. Going fast over loose surfaces, trying to average 80kmh so going up to 120 - 130 and lots of use of the gears to keep in the power band. Car was flying, in its element really. No noises, aircon ice cold, engine temp normal. Then smoke started filling the cabin, pulled up fast, opened the bonnet and could see flames, basically under the driver's footwell (looking down the gap between the manifold and all the brake bits, behind the steering linkages). Very very very luckily I'd pulled up in front of a shop (in the middle of nowhere) where the assistant had the quick reflexes to rush over with an extinguisher and we put it out in a sec. I was shaking I tell you because quite frankly, I don't carry an extinguisher and if I hadn't stopped exactly where I had nothing would have stopped those flames from spreading and consuming the car.

Here's what happened. The heat shields on the underbody just over the cats are basically a cardboard base material overlayed with glass wool and covered in a kind of metal foil. I don't know what conditions yours' are in but I had noticed that the foil was discoloured on mine and had gotten brittle. Clearly my driving had knocked one loose and it was hanging down, touching the cat. The foil was sufficiently heat damaged to crumble off, the glass wool didn't ignite but melted and smouldered and the cardboard base eventually ignited.

So please check your heat shields and think about keeping an extinguisher. To end the story on a happy note I let the car cool down, got under, yanked off the remains of the heat shield and carefully checked everything else and found absolutely no damage, not even to the plastic air breather hoses from the gearbox that go above there. Drove the car back without incident after having run the engine for an hour in front of the shop, extinguisher in hand. Just another day of P38s!

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That is why vehicle with cats should never be parked in long grass, they get very hot even glow and can ignite anything they touch.

rasheed said:

A cautionary tale. Well yesterday I was off again on one of my cross country trails. Going fast over loose surfaces, trying to average 80kmh so going up to 120 - 130 and lots of use of the gears to keep in the power band. Car was flying, in its element really. No noises, aircon ice cold, engine temp normal. Then smoke started filling the cabin, pulled up fast, opened the bonnet and could see flames, basically under the driver's footwell (looking down the gap between the manifold and all the brake bits, behind the steering linkages). Very very very luckily I'd pulled up in front of a shop (in the middle of nowhere) where the assistant had the quick reflexes to rush over with an extinguisher and we put it out in a sec. I was shaking I tell you because quite frankly, I don't carry an extinguisher and if I hadn't stopped exactly where I had nothing would have stopped those flames from spreading and consuming the car.

Here's what happened. The heat shields on the underbody just over the cats are basically a cardboard base material overlayed with glass wool and covered in a kind of metal foil. I don't know what conditions yours' are in but I had noticed that the foil was discoloured on mine and had gotten brittle. Clearly my driving had knocked one loose and it was hanging down, touching the cat. The foil was sufficiently heat damaged to crumble off, the glass wool didn't ignite but melted and smouldered and the cardboard base eventually ignited.

So please check your heat shields and think about keeping an extinguisher. To end the story on a happy note I let the car cool down, got under, yanked off the remains of the heat shield and carefully checked everything else and found absolutely no damage, not even to the plastic air breather hoses from the gearbox that go above there. Drove the car back without incident after having run the engine for an hour in front of the shop, extinguisher in hand. Just another day of P38s!

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bugger that,depending where i was,let the thing burn.

'Ere Our B.O.B. aint bin out in Germany has he ??????


Ooooooo AAAAaaarrrrrrrr BURN IT, BURN IT I SAY ......

wammers said:

That is why vehicle with cats should never be parked in long grass, they get very hot even glow and can ignite anything they touch.

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:doh: Bit daft for an offroader! And absolutely ridiculous to use cardboard in the heat shield in my opinion. Anyone know if its an item that LR recommends replacing like seatbelts or airbags every 10 years cos I've never heard it.

I'm wondering whether you can buy upgraded replacements or should I try making a set. Would still use glass wool but will sandwich it in some wire mesh and put a thin steel sheet on the cat-side to reflect some of the heat. Welcome everybody's suggestions.

that reminds me i have no cats, no need for an extinguisher then eh!!!

yeah but you've a home made diesel furnace in there.

One if mine partially fell off a while ago and got tangled up in the prop shaft. Made a horrific noise.

They're only held on by stupid clippy things.

I assume replacements are available, but I just stuck mine back on with big washers and M6 nuts for the time being.

Rasheed, how much did the shop owner charge for the extinguisher? Bet his profits gonna be good this month!
Lucky escape tho` and good advice.

gtland said:

Rasheed, how much did the shop owner charge for the extinguisher? Bet his profits gonna be good this month!
Lucky escape tho` and good advice.

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Nothing! What a nice guy I tell you. I offered but he'd have none of it. Even sat me down and offered me a cup of tea and rung me up the next day to ask about the trip back. Rural folk are so friendly sometimes. Or maybe I was the most interesting thing to happen out there all month and he'll be dining out all week on the story!

Mine were damaged/falling down so ripped em off and put them in the bin....

Seemed pointless to me.:flame2::flame2: I guess time will tell:flame2:

that's the other option certainly and i've considered it but operating temps are pretty high out here anyway so worried about heat damaging something else.

lowfat said:

Mine were damaged/falling down so ripped em off and put them in the bin....

Seemed pointless to me.:flame2::flame2: I guess time will tell:flame2:

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The first Rangie with underfloor heating.