FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jstilt]

so we had an alittle incident. came home from dinner to drop my family off, left the car running for maybe 5 min as I unlaoded some stuff, went to leave again and when I backed out of the driveway I saw smoke in front of me, went to pull back in the drive way and as i did the cabin filled with smoked, the car only made it half way into the driveway before it stalled and then I saw huge flames shooting out the front grill. as I crapped my pants I jumped out, opened the hood to see nothing but flames, luckly I had a hose about 5 feet away so I grabed that and just started spraying. after calming down I got help to get the car into the garage where I could inspect the damage and the cause. after searching I found a rip in the power steering line, I can only assume that it was spaying fluid right on to the hot down pipe causing it to ignite. as far as damage I was suprized that there wasnt more. the insulation on the hood and around the shock tower is toast, the coolant tank melted pretty good but is still holding fluid. it melted all the covering off the wires that are there on the fire wall plus there are a couple of little tubes that got toasted. thats all I that I could see visbly but I'm sure theres more I can't see. I did file it through my insurance so as of now the car is at the shop and they are going to go through every little thing, I am having every thing replaced that might be in question just to be on the safe side. wish me luck that all go's well. I am just glad that know one was hurt and that it happend in my drive way where I had a hose. if this had happened on the road some where.........well lets just say i could be car shopping right now.

[mioStile]

thankfully you are all right. add in the car being all right...and I'd say you had a pretty good day.[;)]

[beemercer]

Damn, these cars and power steering, eh? First everyone blows out the PS pumps, now we have leaking PS lines starting fires [o_o].

Glad the damage was minimal.

[MrPerfect]

That will certainly wake you up. Good job on the quick reactions/thinking. You probably saved your car from being totaled.

[Matt@EuropaParts]

Glad to hear you're ok!

[B6JoeS4]

I would've let it burn. then try to sue AOA

but, your quick reactions did save the car. most people would just run for the hills and soil themselves if they saw their car on fire

[BoostedA4tQ]

What model S4 do you have? This is not the first time it happens.

[Phantom RS]

Wow! How did you open the hood with flames shooting out of the front grill? I'm not sure I would have tried that, hose nearby or not.

[WhatADream]

"as I crapped my pants I jumped out"

haha thats funny!

well the fact that you opened your hood while flames shooting out was kinda dumb... you coulda burned your skin right off!!
next, you put the car inside your garage which was kinda dumb again... while the problem was still unknown, it could have ingnited once again, this time taking out your house in the mean time!
In the future, while spraying water on your car (hood still closed) just call 911 ~~ trained and experienced firemen would be there asap!

who cares if the car totals, you will get a new one from the insurance money!

Glad to hear your ok though none the less

[jstilt]

well the fact that you opened your hood while flames shooting out was kinda dumb... you coulda burned your skin right off!!
next, you put the car inside your garage which was kinda dumb again... while the problem was still unknown, it could have ingnited once again, this time taking out your house in the mean time!
In the future, while spraying water on your car (hood still closed) just call 911 ~~ trained and experienced firemen would be there asap!



so yes I know it was kinda dumb to open the hood when I wasn't sure what was going to come out of it but at the time I wasn't really thinking, I was just doing. as far as putting the car in the garage, it was close to an hour later. the car had cooled down so I wasn't to worried. I actually had to start the car to find out what was leaking, but I did have my brother with a fire extiguisher standing there ready to spray if anything was to happen, still stupid to do in the garage but we all do stupid things.

as far as an update of the car. it's still sitting at the shop, they haven't even looked at it yet[evilmad]. I have a call into my insurance to see if I can take it somwhere else, somwhere that will actaully care about having my business and at least get the ball rolling by finding out what parts need to be ordered.

[WhatADream]

so yes I know it was kinda dumb to open the hood when I wasn't sure what was going to come out of it but at the time I wasn't really thinking, I was just doing. as far as putting the car in the garage, it was close to an hour later. the car had cooled down so I wasn't to worried. I actually had to start the car to find out what was leaking, but I did have my brother with a fire extiguisher standing there ready to spray if anything was to happen, still stupid to do in the garage but we all do stupid things.

as far as an update of the car. it's still sitting at the shop, they haven't even looked at it yet[evilmad]. I have a call into my insurance to see if I can take it somwhere else, somwhere that will actaully care about having my business and at least get the ball rolling by finding out what parts need to be ordered.

This reminds me of a time at Hot August Nights in Reno, Some guys radiator was steaming, so he decided to pop the cap off! ... idiot!
I saw the whole thing! A Geyser of hot water shot up into his face with enough pressure to reach about 15 feet high... it literally melted his face off!
I Rushed to help him, I covered his face with a clean towel that I moistened up with water, and I called for an ambulance... once the ambulance showed, I just continued driving my fully restored 55' Chevy Truck down the classics drive...

[deviant-customs]

That is an insane story ! I can not imagine witnessing something like that

[jstilt]

update..................

they should be ordering all the parts on monday. I went in and talked to them about what they had found. there replacing the entire engine wire harness, along with a bunch of relays and clips that plug into the wire harness. basically all the little hoses on the back of the eninge, coolant tank and the coolant hoses that go off the coolant tank. power steering line (the reason for the fire). also replacing valve cover gaskets (both sides) which is saving me from doing it myself, also inner front cv boots which I also was going to have to replace my self. all the insulation thats around the shock towers and underside off the hood. he said there would probably be more but thats basically all he had on his list at the rime i was there. plus when its all done they said they were going to buff the car out and make sure the hood didn't suffer any paint damage. all in all this fire is going to save me money and time that I was going to have to spend in the near future so I can't be all that bummed about the fire other then the fact that I miss driving her.

[ronin152]

Remember reading this about another guy on the boards. I think he had a cabriolet.