True story!!!

[Specialk]

My story starts with me convincing my dear old dad (76 yrs) to pass-on the torch and allow me to take over his car (for the right price). He's had the car about 7 years, my sister about 10 before him, so as you can see, it's almost in the blood. After several years of cajoling and nagging he finally relented. So he passes the summer without the car and regrets his decisions, moping and sighing every time a convertible drives by......to the extent that, having found an opportunity to buy an identical model (81FI), he jumps at it.

Fast forward to next spring, I call him up to help me get my car out of storage. It's a perfect day, with the sun out and spring is in the air. For those of us who have to put the car away for the winter, it's a big deal and we await the moment impatiently, pushing the limit to when (at least in my case) I can kick my wife's car out of the garage and bring my baby home!

So, we hook up the battery and my starts without a hitch! My Dad follows me home then races off to his house to start his car where my brother is waiting to help. Having kept it in his garage all winter, they push it out half-way, connect the cables and turn the engine. The Fiat starts fine. But a second later, the Fiat's engine explodes!!! Flames start climbing the walls, inside and out. My brother, inside the Fiat, jumps out and calls 911. My Dad tries to get to the fire extinguisher but it's in the garage, blocked by the burning car. Even worse, they forgot to shut the fire door. Flames quickly run inside the house. It took 7 minutes for the fire department to arrive, in which time his house was declared a total loss! Luckily, nobody was hurt....even the cat was saved, but everything else was gone.

A year later, the insurance companies are still at it, trying to figure out whether it’s the car insurance, or the house insurance that will replace the house......

[mdrburchette]

What a terrible experience! I'm glad to know there were no injuries. I guess the best thing to do in a case like this is to keep your cars and house with the same insurance company. Any idea what caused the car to just explode?

[Danno]

bummer about the Fiat! oh, and the house, too. (ok, that was a little dry, even for me....) Hope insurance works it out and he gets a new house and a new Fiat.

[Foster48x]

Oh man that's horrible! Any ideas what may have caused it? A leaking fuel line maybe?

Rick

[azygoustoyou]

That's the problem with these insurance companies. They have no problem taking our money but don't want to pay up when it's time. Then they add a surcharge onto your bill till you pay them back what they give you.
Hope everything turns out fine soon.

[Zippy]

Thank you for sharing your story. I will have to modify my procedure for starting my Fiat when I go to the storage place. I usually go over once a month and start it up in place just to keep things lubricated and fresh. If the weather is nice I will take it out for a quick spin up I-5 and back. I have it backed into the space and my fire extinguisher is in the trunk. I will get another extinguisher and keep it by the front door and I will open the hood so I can get to a fire should one start. I certainly don't want to set the storage place on fire.

This reminds me of the time I was at Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix in 1973. I was in the parking lot of the PX when a guy came out and got in to his 67 Corvette. It wouldn't start so he opened the hood and was tinkering with it. He tried to start it again when all of a sudden it burst into flames. I grabbed my fire extinguisher and ran over to help him. Just as I got there he reached up and slammed the hood shut thinking it would stop the flames I guess. Now there were flames coming up all around the hood and we couldn't get it opened. I tried to shoot the fire extinguisher up under the front grill but it didn't do any good. I just kept spraying until it was empty. We had to walk away and watch it go up in flames until the fire department got there. What a shame. If he had left the hood open I probably could have put it out.

[katsi]

I had my 69 Scout catch fire once. I was trying like hell to get it started and it was flooded and you know the story. Anyway, got a backfire using starting fluid and boom - big fire. I ran arround like a chicked with no head for a few seconds. Then, I soaked the flannel over shirt I was wearing with the hose, threw it over the engine and sprayed the rest of the burning bits with the same hose. Pretty fricken scarry. If it were in a garage, I'm pretty sure the same would have happened.

[rlux4]

Does this mean you don't get the car? Bummer!
I'll bet there was a leak at the fuel rail rubber lines to the injectors. These are right over the starter and a leak there is a fire waiting to happen. I make it a habit of checking for leaks frequently just because of horror stories like this that I've heard. Good thing I do too, because I found one last year on my way out of town to the Mirafiori "Oregon 09" campout.
Ron