Date:         Fri, 21 May 2004 11:42:52 -0700
Reply-To:     feedle@FEEDLE.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "C. Sullivan" <feedle@FEEDLE.NET>
Subject:      Re: Preventing a fire in your vanagon
In-Reply-To:  <005501c43f5f$d7fbc160$d9032a45@ttowerdef17>
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1

> Well I went to Bens site and read about the engine fire stories and boy
it
> sure gives me pause.
>
> I would like to do all I can to take precautions against having an
engine
> fire.

The best way to make sure you don't have an engine fire is to keep your
engine clean and free of oil on the outside. (Oil goes on the INSIDE of an
engine, not the outside!)  Yeah, I know that's a real problem, especially
as your engine gets up there in mileage (you should see how oily mine
gets).  Get down there with some engine degreaser, and do the best you
can.  As with most things in life, neatness counts.  This counts double
for you fellow aircooled's out there: oil also acts as an insulator when
it's got road dust and dirt caked on it, preventing the air from cooling
the engine like it should.

Also, your on the right track with replacing the fuel lines BEFORE they
develop a leak with quality rubber.   I just spent last weekend going
through the fuel lines and replacing all the rubber parts, whether they
needed it or not (and, in reality, they pretty much all needed some love).

Third, and this is an often-missed source of engine fires in all cars, is
to keep your alternator well maintained.  I lost a 1989 Chevy Blazer (a
Blazer?  Catch fire?  You're kidding, right?) when the alternator
literally caught fire after losing a bearing on I-10 outside Banning,
California.  The cause of the catastrophic failure on the alternator?  The
mechanic (a Chevy dealer of all things) who recently replaced a manifold
gasket over-torqued the alternator, causing the bearings to overheat and
fail.  A very nice car, in great shape (with low mileage), declared a
total loss in minutes along side I-10.  And trust me: you certainly don't
want to get stuck in Banning.

There's no substitute for good maintenance and housekeeping in the engine
compartment.  Keeping things clean and well maintained will probably be
the best bet to prevent engine fires.

But, just in case: there's also no substitute for a well-maintained 10:ABC
fire extinguisher bolted somewhere near the engine compartment.