| What’s the cause of air cooled engine fires? |
| Brass Carburetor Nipple |
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34% |
[ 11 ] |
| Plastic Fuel Filter |
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18% |
[ 6 ] |
| Poor condition fuel lines |
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46% |
[ 15 ] |
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| Total Votes : 32 |
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Spezialist
Banned
Joined: July 01, 2005
Posts: 1941
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 Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 11:08 am Post subject: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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I’m shocked! After all these years I’ve seen many posts regarding engine fire burning cars to the ground. The culprit I’ve read here is always the plastic inline filters.
My experience in 35 years of customer work is most always the brass nipple that pops out of the top of a solex carburetor or sometimes the fuel lines are just terrible beyond inspection, aftermarket clamps can make them worse if too tight.
So what do think is the most common cause of engine fires?
This thread is packed with good stuff
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=266181&highlight=
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Last edited by Spezialist on Fri Jun 08, 2018 3:53 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Q-Dog
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Joined: April 05, 2010
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Location: Sunset, Louisiana
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[email protected]
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Joined: May 17, 2003
Posts: 4863
Location: Harmony, PA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 11:38 am Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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| I've never seen the issue of a plastic filter melting to cause a fire, but I have seen the weight of a filter installed in an excessive length of fuel hose pull out the pressed in barb on the carb. Usually with deteriorating fuel hoses, they start weeping for a while before they develop a break, or catastrophic leak. |
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Krochus
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Joined: January 01, 2017
Posts: 892
Location: NW Arkansas
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 11:43 am Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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VW owners outright enjoy lambasting their comrades if a plastic fuel filter is seen over some nebulous concern of fire.
But I’ve gotta wonder. If a Volkswagen self immolates how do you know the fuel filter caused it when looking at the charred melted mass?
I would say that there’s two causes of most fires. A primary and secondary.
The primary after pulling a couple out to replace them with a npt threaded barbed nipple is the fuel inlet tube coming out of the carb. These are in my experience BARELY stuck in.
The secondary which exastorbates the primary is a general sloppiness of fuel hose routing and care. Not securing hoses, allowing a full fuel filter to hang on the fuel inlet, poor maintenance, questionable ethanol compatible “German” fuel line and the BIGGIE connecting a smooth piece of metal hose to rubber line. All these can start a fire on their own or make the primary far more likely.
I do not fell the fuel filter being plastic significantly increases the fire risk. Only VW people seem to flip out over the notion every other car genre is fine with them. This said I don’t know what the fascination is with seeing your gas. I buy WIX metal 1/4” fuel filters. |
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vwjetboat
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Joined: May 11, 2017
Posts: 1732
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 11:57 am Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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| rephrase to the MOST COMMON cause of engine fires.. |
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74 Thing
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Joined: September 02, 2004
Posts: 7394
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 12:41 pm Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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| You should add lack of maintenance to that list. |
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Max Welton
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Dale M.
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 12:55 pm Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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I actually had a brass barb pop out of output of fuel pump...
Dale
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Max Welton
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Spezialist
Banned
Joined: July 01, 2005
Posts: 1941
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 1:57 pm Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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| Max Welton wrote: |
Instead of a pole, it might be worth asking people who've puts several hundred thousand fire-free miles on their cars and asking how they did it.
Max |
Every one of them with a clear plastic filter. The carb barb literally drops to the distributor and shoots fuel on the ignition wires. But you knew that.
I’m pretty sure I’ve logged +1,000,000 air cooled miles of my own. Customers cars not included.
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Max Welton
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Krochus
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Location: NW Arkansas
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 2:11 pm Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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| Max Welton wrote: |
What if anything did you do with the fuel line where it passes through the front tin?
Max |
1/4 inch barbed bulkhead fitting |
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Spezialist
Banned
Joined: July 01, 2005
Posts: 1941
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 2:43 pm Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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| Krochus wrote: |
| Max Welton wrote: |
What if anything did you do with the fuel line where it passes through the front tin?
Max |
1/4 inch barbed bulkhead fitting |
I’d wrap the line with rubber fuel line to kill the vibrations.
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Max Welton
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mark tucker
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 3:27 pm Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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| Max Welton wrote: |
Instead of a pole, it might be worth asking people who've puts several hundred thousand fire-free miles on their cars and asking how they did it.
Max |
I have 2 of those plastic filter thingy's...dam the good luck. even a smart moron can put a hole in a steel filter..... |
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Krochus
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Joined: January 01, 2017
Posts: 892
Location: NW Arkansas
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 3:38 pm Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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| Spezialist wrote: |
| Krochus wrote: |
| Max Welton wrote: |
What if anything did you do with the fuel line where it passes through the front tin?
Max |
1/4 inch barbed bulkhead fitting |
I’d wrap the line with rubber fuel line to kill the vibrations. |
Like this? The line coming from the car under the package tray was also protected. The other end has a compression fitting and another brass 1/4 barb
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Spezialist
Banned
Joined: July 01, 2005
Posts: 1941
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 6:35 pm Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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| Max Welton wrote: |
| Spezialist wrote: |
| I’d wrap the line with rubber fuel line to kill the vibrations. |
Why wouldn't that dry up and fall out like the stock grommets do?
A metal pass-through is a permanent solution.
Max |
True, but I failed to mention the hose clamps securing it. It only has to last until the next engine r-n-r.
Yes Krochus
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Max Welton
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Krochus
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Location: NW Arkansas
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 8:17 pm Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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| Max Welton wrote: |
Simple, effective, permanent.
Even if the next RnR isn't needed for another 20 years.
Max |
Good use of the lamp pipe.
Unlike my bulkhead fitting it cuts out a splice which I like.
However there’s still an edge there albeit a rounded one that I don’t like.
Nice approach! It just goes to show that there’s more than 1 way to skin a cat |
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air-h2o-air
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Joined: January 25, 2015
Posts: 579
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 8:48 pm Post subject: Re: Burn your ride to the ground! |
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back in history when there were millions of these things on the roads(60s-70s)....there was always seemed like 1 a week on side of highway burned.....seeing all ive seen thru the years with stock fuel hoses all cracked and seeping....id blame the fuel hoses...which in turn means lack of maintenance....everyone wants to blame ethanol and modern fuel for fuel hose failures...but lets face REALITY....the german hose is crap(always has been)....and has a 3 yr safe working life...IMO
now...have fuel nipples and fuel filters cause some fires? sure....id bet bad fuel hoses cause tons more |
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