Originally Posted by
DrJeff
This thread (or a new thread/sub-topic) related to preventing fires or catastrophic failure in Deloreans is a great idea. If the goal of the discussion of causes is to get to a specific list of checks, parts, changes to the design, etc., then I believe we'll need to get as close as possible to specific causes (as opposed to the "it's usually fuel or electrical"). We'd need to get to the "wire X runs past sharp edge at position Y" level of detail if we're going to develop a set of preventative actions that go beyond "be careful and check everything". (Rather like the "place a split rubber hose between the rear door brackets and the torsion bar" type of guidance.)
Since the occurrences of fires is relatively infrequent and has the tendency to destroy the obvious evidence in the process, I think for fires we are going to have to list and rate the risk from 'likely failure points'. We might start by listing out the sources of risk (which is started, fuel lines - age and heat stress, electric wire runs, etc.) and then look for the places on the car where these occur (e.g. fuel lines in the engine bay, points of greatest heat stress or pressure in the lines, etc). Thought... any evidence of fire risk when the flexible fuel hoses go at the fuel tank?
"Thankfully" for physical breaks, like TAB failures or lower ball joints, there is a better chance of determining the cause, and thus working towards the corrective measures.