My car almost burned down!
12-24-2005, 02:05 PM
#1
AudiWorld Super User
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My car almost burned down!
As of yesterday, I got this acrid smell in the cabin....didn't know what the heck it was.....almost too faint to be electrical.....
Well, it came back today, was over at a friends, then on my way home had the defrost on so a lot of air was blowing.....and smoke started rising out of the top of the Nav Plus unit....like it was coming from behind it.....the smoke was escaping at the gap at the top.....Holy *hit Batman!
Pull into a parking lot immediately, shut it off.....turn it back on again, the smoke starts up right away.....uh oh......
Then I take the faceplate off around the Nav Plus/climate control (I have a facelift dash in my 97), then turn on the interior lights so I can see, then turn on the ignition again.....then I see glowing back there.....wait....it's not glowing, that's a small fire!!!
So I'm thinking my car is going to burn to the ground....remove the key (whatever it is, it's switched power) and it's still burning!!!
I give it a quick few puffs on top of the Nav Plus and it goes out......
Get a phillips head, remove the RH side panel on the console, stick my hand back there and move the wires around, try it again and no more smoke.....
Drove it home about 4 miles, and I'll have to take it apart to find the source, I think it's a hot wire that is touching ground that is unprotected.....should be able to find it visually once I have everything apart!
Darn, I was so close to that S8!!!
:-)
Well, it came back today, was over at a friends, then on my way home had the defrost on so a lot of air was blowing.....and smoke started rising out of the top of the Nav Plus unit....like it was coming from behind it.....the smoke was escaping at the gap at the top.....Holy *hit Batman!
Pull into a parking lot immediately, shut it off.....turn it back on again, the smoke starts up right away.....uh oh......
Then I take the faceplate off around the Nav Plus/climate control (I have a facelift dash in my 97), then turn on the interior lights so I can see, then turn on the ignition again.....then I see glowing back there.....wait....it's not glowing, that's a small fire!!!
So I'm thinking my car is going to burn to the ground....remove the key (whatever it is, it's switched power) and it's still burning!!!
I give it a quick few puffs on top of the Nav Plus and it goes out......
Get a phillips head, remove the RH side panel on the console, stick my hand back there and move the wires around, try it again and no more smoke.....
Drove it home about 4 miles, and I'll have to take it apart to find the source, I think it's a hot wire that is touching ground that is unprotected.....should be able to find it visually once I have everything apart!
Darn, I was so close to that S8!!!
:-)
12-24-2005, 02:22 PM
#3
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Paul glad your Ok.!!!!!!!!!!!
Major save for sure. Might just we a wake-up call for all of us to start thinking about a small Halon bottle in the trunk just in case. What do you guys think??? Perhaps we need a quanity purchase for some 5 pound bottles. ?? John
12-24-2005, 05:07 PM
#5
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Insurance to the "rescue"
you could have had that S8.... should have "let it go".... comprehensive insurance would have paid you handsomely, then u could've used that as your "down payment"!!!
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12-25-2005, 09:12 AM
#10
WOW! That would scare the **** out of me! Electrical fires can be a major pain....
to repair depending on the extent of damage to the rest of the harness. I hope your damage is very limited and localized, so the repair will be easy. I always carry a fire extinguisher in the car, just in case. Turining the power off was the wisest thing you did. I wonder how many A8 owners would pull off the road and disassemble their dashes looking for the source of smoke? One? ;-) Just drive it to the dealer and have a car-b-que on the way! I'm glad you stopped it before it really caught fire in a big way! Enjoy your Christmas with your kids and GF, and get to the A8 on Monday!! Have a VERY Merry Christmas!!