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I came across this post over on LS1tech.com and thought I would share it here (hopefully not a repost). This is a local (to me) guy and the incident happened a couple days ago. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Copy/paste from "khaughton08":
Yesterday, while driving my Z06, my car caught fire. Here are some pictures and the news article about the incident. Is anyone else familiar with similar incidents? Or am I the only person who's supercar that was less than a year old bursts into flames for no reason?
Great. Now every jack hole with a Civic who wants to sound like he knows something is gonna start blathering on about how C7's spontaneously combust. Maybe we can tie this to the 'overheating' problem too so all the internet geniuses can repeat it like parrots and sound like brilliant engineering sleuths.
'Burst into flames for no reason'. Yeah, thats what you tell the insurance company.
Last edited by StreetLegalH2R; 05-23-2017 at 09:06 AM.
Just checked out the link. My favorite ridiculous theory so far is that the automatic transmission overheated, then took out a shock which severed a fuel line. What a load.
How about this theory; 'left car in garage for winter, animals made nest in engine compartment, cascading failures began when fire started'.
Last edited by StreetLegalH2R; 05-23-2017 at 09:04 AM.
Vehicles do catch on fire from various failures so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the report of a Z06 going up in flames just like I wouldn't be surprised to see a report of any other vehicle catching on fire. Certainly this is more likely with modified vehicles because frankly some people do very careless installs but it can easily happen with a stock vehicle. A fuel line can be compromised through fault of manufacturing, installation, or physical damage from the environment (impact, rodent, etc.) A leaking transmission line that gets to a hot cat will easily cause an instant large fire. Although multiple fuses are used to protect vehicle electrical systems they cannot protect against all failures, i.e. a moderate resistance "short" to ground on the high current line feeding the starter won't draw enough current to open the fuse but can easily create enough localized heat to start a fire.
I spent quite a bit of time doing consulting work with an insurance crime agency in the early 1990s and they had many files of auto fires and these files were only those for which individual insurance companies had some suspicion about accident vs fraud. They were a very small subset of the total number of vehicle fires. Anyone who travels a lot has likely seen many vehicles on fire and if you look at the large blackened areas seen frequently on the shoulders of interstate highways guess what: they weren't caused by UFOs or meteors
Vehicles do catch on fire from various failures so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the report of a Z06 going up in flames just like I wouldn't be surprised to see a report of any other vehicle catching on fire. Certainly this is more likely with modified vehicles because frankly some people do very careless installs but it can easily happen with a stock vehicle. A fuel line can be compromised through fault of manufacturing, installation, or physical damage from the environment (impact, rodent, etc.) A leaking transmission line that gets to a hot cat will easily cause an instant large fire. Although multiple fuses are used to protect vehicle electrical systems they cannot protect against all failures, i.e. a moderate resistance "short" to ground on the high current line feeding the starter won't draw enough current to open the fuse but can easily create enough localized heat to start a fire.
I spent quite a bit of time doing consulting work with an insurance crime agency in the early 1990s and they had many files of auto fires and these files were only those for which individual insurance companies had some suspicion about accident vs fraud. They were a very small subset of the total number of vehicle fires. Anyone who travels a lot has likely seen many vehicles on fire and if you look at the large blackened areas seen frequently on the shoulders of interstate highways guess what: they weren't caused by UFOs or meteors
I completely agree. This post is nothing more than a report of an incident, not an assignment of blame (to GM or the vehicle owner). There are a thousand variables that could have caused something like this.
If nothing, I have appreciated the awareness that people over the years have shared with the internet community on damage that has happened or potentially could result. It has helped me/others from making mistakes working on my own cars that may have been missed.
Could of ran over a rock...anything can start a fire. Leaving a wrench near the battery etc. That's why you should send that check to the volunteer fire dept, stop being so cheap!
15 years ago I was sitting in the family room writing up some research notes and I heard a crash. A beautiful blue C4 had tried to make the turn onto my rural road at too high a rate of speed and slid off the road shearing off a field fence post and was stuck on it with the remaining portion of the post under the engine compartment. The driver and passenger got out and were both OK but the passenger was obviously under the influence and the driver probably was also. The C4 wasn't damaged badly and the driver decided he was going to back off of the post. I told him to wait for a wrecker to lift it off but he insisted on starting the car and trying to back off which he couldn't do but he did manage to set the roadside grass on fire with his cats and very quickly the entire car was on fire. Enhanced 911 service was pretty new in the area then and the fire crew was dispatched to the wrong intersection 2 miles east but when they got there they could easily see smoke and quickly arrived at the right point but by then the C4 was totally involved and a total loss. What could have been minor damage and a car that likely could have been driven home turned into a total loss because of driver stupidity. There are a lot of reasons for vehicle fire and it generally isn't design.
Later that year a colleague with a 3 month old new Ford Ranger had it catch on fire as he was driving to the dealer for an oil change. The engine fire quickly melted the hood release mechanism and when the fire department arrived they couldn't open the hood to disconnect the battery and hopefully extinguish the fire. Vehicle fires happen and this reminds me I should mount an extinguisher in the Z06 like I have in my ATS and GMC 2500HD pickup. I have never had to use one on my own vehicle but I have stopped a couple of times to help contain other vehicle fires and once you need an extinguisher it is too late to buy one.
05-23-2017, 08:27 AM
2016 Z06 catches fire while driving
