I lost it all....electrical fire high up in the dash - Page 5 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

pawoSD · #1 01-06-2009, 01:40 AM

I have a large Auto-extinguisher in my 300SD, and there's one of those little red "bottle type" ones in the 300D and in my wife's car. I might upgrade hers to a real one like mine now!

Sorry about your loss....its terrible that it had to happen to such a nice car.

I don't know what I would do if that happened to me....it would take a long long time to recover.

iwrock · #2 01-06-2009, 01:42 AM

I am going to mount my fire extinguisher tomorrow.

mobetta · #3 01-06-2009, 10:35 AM

I am so sorry.

I have a extinguisher in my car, I always have carried one. I remember when I was like 13 the neighbor was over and his car burned in our driveway. and then within a year a different neighbors car burned in his driveway after driving it thru tall grass in the fall- cat converter prolly lit that one off.
but ever since watching those 2 cars burn, I have been reminded to carry one. although I may add a halon unit if I can find one local. also makes me want a sprinkler system behind the dash?

also I recall once on a work truck- we sprayed pesticides under the power lines-
we were using the winch to get unstuck, and the wires shorted out, causing the winch to continue winding as smoke was pouring off the wiring. co-worker grabbed an extinguisher- dead. got the other one- dead. I managed to get the battery cable off before anything got toally out of control, and before the winch pulled the truck right thru the power pole we were foolishly using to get unstuck.

so if you already have one in the car, check it. if it is old,(5yrs?) replace it.

Diesel911- brown is ground. you may have been getting a false reading thru the brushes/armature on the motor windings? also- 1 amp seems to be sufficient.

here is a pic of the ACC unit in the 85 when I bought it. luckily all it did was leave a foul smell in the cabin. the aux pump on this car was seized.

vstech · #4 01-06-2009, 11:02 AM

listen to my plight... I had a 1990 ZR1 catch fire the fire was under the fender behind the front tire. we had a fire extinguisher... it was a standard kitchen abc... it did nothing... could not use the fire extinguisher upside down... could not get it to spray on the fire under the fender. make sure you have an extinguisher that sprays upside down!!!!! all my cars have them.

oldsinner111 · #5 01-06-2009, 11:34 AM

Let me to says I'm sorry for your loss.I hope you will get another one,even better.
What I have learned is to make sure all after market wiring is sound,and fuse the aux. water pump.

DeliveryValve · #6 01-06-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobetta

......
here is a pic of the ACC unit in the 85 when I bought it. luckily all it did was leave a foul smell in the cabin. the aux pump on this car was seized.

Same burnt location on board as my friend's CCU.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vstech

listen to my plight..... make sure you have an extinguisher that sprays upside down!!!!! all my cars have them.

Good tip!

.

Hatterasguy · #7 01-06-2009, 12:10 PM

Halon is really want you want for your car, thats what I'm looking into getting.

funola · #8 01-06-2009, 12:12 PM

Very sorry for your loss.

Are you guys saying the aux coolant pump and the blower motor is not protected by a fuse as designed by Mercedes? That is hard to believe! Are those the only 2 and what else is not fused?

mobetta · #9 01-06-2009, 12:27 PM

they are fused- kind of- but they need a fuse between them and the ACC unit, or a short could start a fire.

I had issues w/ a blower motor a while back- worn brushes, squealing bearings- it did burn out the fuse.I later discovered that it also took out one speed in the resistor group under the hood. luckily that was all.

I think I will add a fuse to it, right at the blower I reckon.

rrgrassi · #10 01-06-2009, 12:30 PM

So sorry about your loss, it was such a pretty car!

The blower is fused w/a 16 amp on the w123. Some put in a 25 amp though (dumb move). The aux water pump is not fused.

I added the 1 amp fuse protection on the aux waterpump two years ago. Fuse still has not blown, and yes it is on the power feed, not the ground connection.

funola · #11 01-06-2009, 12:39 PM

Sounds like the CCA does not have heavy enough traces on the PCB to blow it's own fuse when the aux coolant pump stops working (shorts out)? The traces get hot and start a fire? Brilliant!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrgrassi

So sorry about your loss, it was such a pretty car!

The blower is fused w/a 16 amp on the w123. Some put in a 25 amp though (dumb move). The aux water pump is not fused.

I added the 1 amp fuse protection on the aux waterpump two years ago. Fuse still has not blown, and yes it is on the power feed, not the ground connection.

MBNRA · #12 01-06-2009, 01:13 PM

Get yourself a master cutoff switch and install it on the + battery terminal between the terminal and the feed wire!!!! In an Emergency such as this, it is a lot easier to pop the hood and throw the switch and cut off ALL power to the entire vehicle! I think, IMO, you spent too much time trying to isolate the source of your electrical fire and with the power still on, your battery was feeding the monster you were trying to put out!

I actually carry a small pair of battery pliers under the hood next to the batterey with a hole drilled into the handle and bolted to the inner fender with a small chain! I love all my Benz's and you never know what can happen. A good fire extinguishwer would be one with "Purple K".

An inline 1 amp fuse in the AUX water pump circuit is a great idea too and an easy to install safety feature!

Sorry for your loss man! But the motor and tranny will be salvageable and still run if you extracted them! Worst case scenario: A few new gaskets!

DeliveryValve · #13 01-06-2009, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBNRA

And I'm suprised no one mentioned this..........

Actually babymog mentioned this on Post #30.

In any event, still a good idea to add on.

MBNRA · #14 01-06-2009, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeliveryValve

Actually babymog mentioned this on Post #30.

In any event, still a good idea to add on.

Thanks. Master Battery disconnects are available at Autozone and Napa.

cphilip · #15 01-06-2009, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBNRA

Get yourself a master cutoff switch and install it on the + battery terminal between the terminal and the feed wire!!!! In an Emergency such as this, it is a lot easier to pop the hood and throw the switch and cut off ALL power to the entire vehicle! I think, IMO, you spent too much time trying to isolate the source of your electrical fire and with the power still on, your battery was feeding the monster you were trying to put out!

I actually carry a small pair of battery pliers under the hood next to the batterey with a hole drilled into the handle and bolted to the inner fender with a small chain! I love all my Benz's and you never know what can happen. A good fire extinguishwer would be one with "Purple K".

An inline 1 amp fuse in the AUX water pump circuit is a great idea too and an easy to install safety feature!

Sorry for your loss man! But the motor and tranny will be salvageable and still run if you extracted them! Worst case scenario: A few new gaskets!

This is a good idea if you do it BEFORE a fire. real good idea. However remember the fire had started, and the car was cut off and, in that state, there is no thinking that there might be a live unfused wire that could be or even should be disconnected. The car was turned off and the fire already erupting at this point in time. All this activity occurs in less than five minutes. If your not aware of whats feeding it, or that such a thing could even feed something un-fused with key off, your not going to spend all your time trying under the hood trying to take your battery cable off. If you had time you would... but there was and is little time. My attempts to put it out may have spanned a minute or so of that time... and it was probably too late to disconnect the battery because by that time the fire had found fuel. And was consuming that fuel.

But its all hind site. Sure you and I can debate all day which things I should have done. Given time I would have done all sorts of things that raced through my mind.

I doubt the motor and tranny are salvagable. Remember... it started up on its own and ran and then raced on its own until it died. It puked its guts out as it died. It probably ran hot I would imagine. If it had sat there and let the fire wash over it, it might have been fine. But it decided to crank up on its very own and run itself in a harmful situation. Nothing I could do about it. Standing 50 feet away with my keys in my pocket....