Down In A Blaze Of Unglory - 914s on FIRE!, It can be pretty common, unfortunately. What causes the 914 to catch fire so easily, how to prevent it from happening and what to do if it does happen Options

[tumamilhem]

Has this ever happened to you?





Video of car on fire: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151125433882341


This is an unfortunate, serious reality and real danger for us 914 owners that tragically happens all too often. But why and how can it be prevented?

I'd like to propose three talking points that could help educate other 914 owners to make necessary precautions to preserve their cars - and their lives:


1. What causes fires in the 914 and why are they so common?

2. What precautions may be done to prevent a 914 from catching fire?

3. If your 914 does catch fire, should you try to put it out or should you stay away in case of an explosion?

[montoya 73 2.0]

It looks as though they used foam on that Teener. I personaly had my teener catch fire but it was in the steering column. Back in 1998 when my pops owned the car, I was driving it because my bus wasn't working. The wipers didn't work at the time due to a bad motor. I must have accidentally turned the wipers on when making a turn and never turned them off. As I was a block away from home i smell burning plastic and then smoke started pouring out of steering column. Luckily the p.o. before my pops installed a halon 2.5 lb extinguisher in the cab. I reached over while driving grabbed the extinguisher, reached down under the dash and squeezed the trigger a few times then brought it up in front of me and squeezed a few times. Luckily it was a warm day in san jose california that day so I had my window down cause it got cloudy and halon sucks the o2 out of the direct area. It went out and I had reached home and turned it off. We had it towed to the shop in fremont and thats when we found out it was due to a electrical fire. So it is not always a gas fire.

Also, back in the 80's we would go to boney dunes near santa cruz and use a old 36 horse vw motor block that is magnesium in the center of the wood pile and light it up! That block would glow and you would have to stand a good 15 to 20 feet away. I bet it could turn some of that sand into glass. Magnesium won't light up in solid form unless it in a prolonged very hot fire but it will in shavings or dust form as in a machine shop situation. Atleast thats in my experience.