Oh my god, my beetle caught fire today.

(Before you say anything - I had my beetle regularly serviced at a reputable VW workshop. And the mechanic there had recently put in a "new" 1641cc engine and transmission costing $5000+.)

I noticed a strong smell of petrol after I drove off from the diner restaurant. I pulled over to a bus stop but before I got there - the car started stalling - then BANG. I looked in horror as the engine bay erupted in flames. I ran outside fearing the worse. Flames were pouring out of the engine bay and off the road where petrol had leaked - it was like that movie scene from "Back to the Future".

I rushed back into my Beetle and dragged out my old small fire extinguisher - placed under the rear seat because I would never have to use it - right? (Bugger!) It was night and I couldn't see anything. It took me a few seconds - which seemed like an eternity - to find the safety pin. I sprayed the flames licking from under the engine - then I opened the engine bay - very BAD move - flames shot out straight at me - I somehow managed to avoid getting incinerated. The engine lid slammed back and somehow the fire got put out. The fire engine came 10 minutes later - but there was nothing for them to do.

I called up RACV, and towed it to the mechanics place which was over 25 kms away. The truckie kept on pulling my leg by saying its gonna cost you a f@@@ing fortune mate. In the end it was only $78 - thank God. I've got fire&theft from Shannons Insurance and hopefully that will cover it. Plus, the engine is still under warrenty.

So please - everyone - carry a (chemical)fire extinguisher in your car.

Very very lucky there.

Once that magnesium alloy catches alight there ain't no putting it out!

When you find out what caused it let us know will ya. (maybe a fuel line wasn't connected properly)

Yeah, I went to see my mechanic today but the dude now takes the first Saturday off. Fortunately, I managed to get hold of his home number and he sent Boris to open up the shop and put it inside for the weekend.

It actually doesn't look so bad in the daylight. The electronic ignition seems slightly burnt but altogether undamaged.

The paint at the edge of the engine lid has bubbled. The left top side of the lid shows a burnt mark. It must have been very hot. Even the fuel hose line is intact. All the fuel clamps are in place.

There is no leaking petrol even though the tank is still half full.

Boris said its looks alright - all thing considering.

Odd. You noticed a strong smell of petrol just before the fire, yet you say the fuel lines are intact and ther's no petrol leaking. Maybe a line has a split that's not visible, and the petrol only gets squirted through the split when the fuel pump is pumping. Whatever the cause of the fire turns out to be, it sounds like a good opportunity to replace the all fuel lines anyway!

Like 56astro said, please let us know exactly what the cause was, so we can all check, breath easy and relax.
Regards,
Mark

My car recently had a seeping gasket from one of the carbies. The car stunk of petrol and it was very hard to see the leak. Hope that may help.

Don't give up!!! When you get it fixed by your mechanic, take it to another GOOD mechanic to check over. It will cost a little but it'll make you feel better knowing that everything is intact.

I probably said it before - but the smell of petrol came only during that fateful drive.

It was not an ongoing problem.

Going to sleep now... zzzzzzzzz:alien

Aw, what the heck? The mechanic took a good look at the engine with me and all the fuel lines are intact. The main one leading to the carbie is even untouched.

The one on the left side is scorched badly though.

But there is no petrol dripping anywhere.
The fuel tank is still 60% full.

Later in the afternoon, he'll look under it and examine it from there.

I called up Shannons and they are going to send an assessor out to check it out.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Spiliotopoulos" <REMOVEbspili@vlsi.ee.upatras.gr>
Newsgroups: rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 12:38 AM
Subject: Re: Oh my god, my Beetle caught fire tonight.


> Because you said that fuel was burning on the road, it means that you had a
> massive fuel leak. Since you said that the fuel tank is still 60% full, it
> means that fuel is dripping only when the engine is running. The main
> suspect is the line from the fuel pump to the carb, where fuel is under
> pressure. Allthough you said that it may seems intact, the brass fitting on
> the carb may have come loose and fuel leaks from there. Try to pull the fuel
> line from the carb to see if it comes out with the brass fitting. The
> fitting to the end of the pump is a suspect too. It is very common for these
> fittings to come loose -- especially if you have a filter between the pump
> and carb -- due to vibration of the hose (bad place to place a filter, place
> it next to the tranny).
>
> Other common thing that causes fires on bugs (but not what happened in your
> case) is the wire going to the heating element of the carb. This wire
> usually falls behind the carb and rubs against the fan housing and the seam
> of the carb's body casting. Eventually it will wear and cause a
> sort-circuit, just next to the carb. To prevent this, you have to smooth the
> casting seam in the front side of the carb, and protect the wire by rolling
> it with electric tape.
>
> Bill,
> '67 bug.
>
>
> "Jerome Morrow" <REMOVETHIS_jerome_morrow@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:YghXa.8204$bo1.2106@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> > Aw, what the heck? The mechanic took a good look at the engine with me and
> > all the fuel lines are intact. The main one leading to the carbie is even
> > untouched.
> >
> > The one on the left side is scorched badly.
> >
> > But there is no petrol dripping anywhere. The fuel tank is still 60% full.
> >
> > Later in the afternoon, he'll look under it and examine it from there.
> >
> >
>

My mechanic thinks hes found the problem. The pin in the 30 year old fuel pump came loose. That would explain why the fuel was sprayed so vigourously all over the back and onto the road.

The car kept on going because of the fuel in the carberator. But once the fuel ran out - it would have backfired and caused the fuel to ignite.

It also explains why the bottom of the engine was so badly burnt.

My mechanic had the same problem with his Beetle 10 years ago. Except that he managed to stop in time.:alien

glad to see you may have found the cause of the problem, so who is going to take responsibility for the damage?
Rob......

Good insurance against this problem is to wire all fuel lines onto the fuel pump body/carby. Clamp the hoses with hose clamps at each junction and use enginers wire to secure the lines positvely to the bodys.
Hope all works out for u Blue 65.

Hello there,

The insurance assessor came and according to the mechanic - he seemed OK. And told John to fix it as good as new - so it will get a repaint, a new engine lid, new carbie, wires, new gromits, rubbers etc..

At the moment it seems that the insurance company will pay for all of the repairs - but I can't confirm that until I see it in "writing". Verbal agreements are only worth the paper they are "printed" on.

As for the cause of the damage - John (the mechanic) simply says its one of those things - the pin from the old fuel pump came loose. It can't be prevented it seems.

I just got my car back. It took me awhile to get someone to give me a lift to Thomastown.

I had to pay $400 in excess. But the repair bill came to be a whole lot more. Haven't got a quote on the full cost - but they had to rewire the engine, get a recon engine lid and paint it, put new gromits and rubbers for the engine, new fuel pump, new air filter, new hoses, repainted engine, new firewall, etc..

Only thing that bugs me at the moment is that the color of the engine lid should be blue to match the front (but can't complain because the old engine lid was a greenish blue color).

The engine also sounds a bit sore- but I'll drive it around for awhile before passing it back to John.

That was bad luck.... You must have a kicked a chinaman... (old saying) to have that much bad luck... I have replaced My old fuel pump with an electric fuel pump under the fuel tank... I have replaced My flexible fuel lines with steel braided fuel line with good hose clamps... VW should have used screw in pipes in the Carbies and fuel pumps... as push in pipes just aren't good enough, when using Fuel in a hot enviroment.... even though not many of them pop out.... over 30+ years...
I'm trying to think of a way to make sure the inlet pipe in the carby doesn't pop out.
I think they are just interference fit....
Lee

after all You problems Blue65, its great to see that Your Beetle is roadworthy again.....
Bad luck on the $400, good luck with the fire extinguisher....
It is best to have them on hand....
What size fire extinguisher did You have..
The standard size in cars etc is usually .9kg. sodium bicarbonate...
Best of Luck from now on.... Lee

hey there - its one of those things I guess. This year has been a series of unfortunate events. I crashed my mum's Volvo in March ($3,000 damage). And now the Beetle tries to kill me after I spent nearly $10,000 it.

The Fire extinguisher is about the size of a 1.5 litres bottle. Quite handy size!!