I'm not going to say that being apathetic is the solution at all. What I am saying however is merely to have the right tool for the job. Which in all fairness, this may not be. Even killing the fuel is a terrible idea. I've had a blowout in my F150 where the tread slammed into the wheel well and triggered the inertia switch. Suddenly being without power in the middle of the Interstate is pretty damn terrifying in itself. I love my cars and trucks, but I can buy another. I'd rather coast safely to the side of the road and let the car burn, than get stranded in the center and get into a collision...where I am now crippled...and possibly burning to death.
There are thousands of DeLoreans left in the world, and millions of other cars. But there is only one me. I can get another car, but not a second chance at life. And that is something that applies to all of us.
I would refer back to my previous comment about the inertia switch. But look at the vehicle we're testing this in. It's rear-engined, and in this case is also hidden well below the floor of the van. There is absolutely no way in the world that you're going to know that there was a fire that got put out, let alone if it starts up again. How many DeLorean owners who have gone through fires actually noticed smoke before odors or flames? It's a whole lot different when you've got a front-engined car where you see and smell smoke immediately.
Again, I would refer back to having the correct tool for the job. Everyone should be driving around with an easily accessible fire extinguisher in their car. That doesn't mean the trunk, that doesn't mean the rear cubby. That means mounted on the parcel shelf, or in between your seats and the door sills. Like the time machine car we saw here, I'd be willing to bet dollars to donuts that a fire extinguisher is precisely what saved this car. Chances are that with a properly maintained vehicle, YOU might not ever need the fire extinguisher. But others may, and you can help them. Especially in a parking lot where your own car might be at risk, or someone might be trapped inside.
I'm not going to say that this product doesn't work as advertised, but I absolutely would say that until there is testing to prove otherwise, I wouldn't trust it to be the end-all, be-all, last line of defense that is going to save your car. Because while it is helpful, I don't believe that it's going to be 100% effective. Simply put, it doesn't appear to work in the way that everyone really wants it to.
No, you got lucky. Gasoline is actually hellaciously flammable. It has an autoignition temperature of 530°F, whereas your manifolds right below your fuel source (injector or carb) are running at a minimum of 900°F
https://www.conncoll.edu/media/websi..._All_Types.pdf
There tends to be confusion about this because of the old match test in a can of gasoline that science teachers use. But that is just in terms of proving variable levels of flammability (ie a 4" cube of coal has 96in² of surface area that can catch fire. Split the cube in half parallel to an edge and you have the exact same volume of coal, but now you have an additional 28in² of exposed surface area to catch fire. Thus why coal dust is more dangerous than a nugget) in order to prove an increase danger of vapor to condensed liquid gasoline. But both are highly flammable. I don't know what happened in your case because I don't know the factors involved. But gasoline is NOT something you want to mess around with, and you were very lucky indeed.
Originally Posted by louielouie2000
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Dave M vin 03572
