2001 Prius self-immolates

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by jbarnhart, Jul 27, 2007.

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  1. jbarnhart

    jbarnhart New Member

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    My friend Phil owns a 2001 Prius which he bought new. He and his family were eating breakfast last Sunday when a neighbor banged on his door and told him is Prius was "smoking." Sure enough, the interior of the car was on fire and smoldering badly. There was a burned electrical smell in the air.

    After puting out the fire, the FD said the source of ignition seemed to be the traction battery. It burst into flame and vented the flame into the interior compartment (since the 2001 has the battery attached to the back of the rear seat). The trunk did not burn and the interior fire basically smothered itself out since the windows were rolled up.

    Phil had not driven his Prius for at least 24 hours before the incident. It basically just decided to catch fire and burn itself to death in front of his house. We are both a little miffed at the Prius for doing this. I am considering installing smoke detectors in my garage to watch over my 2006 Prius.
     
    #1 jbarnhart, Jul 27, 2007
  2. PriusTouring07

    PriusTouring07 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jbarnhart @ Jul 27 2007, 05:35 PM) [snapback]486389[/snapback]</div>

    I don't think you have to worry about your 2006 Prius. I wouldn't be surprised if a 2001 started singing or dancing. It's like this with anything new - full of bugs and issues.

    [​IMG]
     
    #2 PriusTouring07, Jul 27, 2007
  3. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jbarnhart @ Jul 27 2007, 06:35 PM) [snapback]486389[/snapback]</div>
    Put the smoke detectors in to watch over your family.

    This is the type of thing you would really want to know the hard core facts. Every thing else is speculation, including the FD initial feedback.
     
    #3 FL_Prius_Driver, Jul 27, 2007
  4. jbarnhart

    jbarnhart New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FL_Prius_Driver @ Jul 27 2007, 04:16 PM) [snapback]486414[/snapback]</div>
    I tend to agree, even though my family consists mostly of Aibo robot dogs and myself. The problem is that the smoke detectors need to be wired into the detectors in the house so I'll hear it when they go off. Having something beeping in the garage won't wake up anybody.
     
    #4 jbarnhart, Jul 27, 2007
  5. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    Unlikely it was the traction battery itself. More like some piece
    of wiring connected to it. Don't rule out something on the *12V*
    side causing the problem, either -- plenty of car fires have been
    caused by miswired stereos, badly designed accessories, etc.
    .
    http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/trai...800/batcon2.jpg is a
    picture of a Prius module that a friend set to charging and then
    forgot about and went to eat dinner or something. It reached full
    charge and started getting warmer, swelled up, and burst the side
    of its own case off from the pressure -- but note that it did NOT
    catch fire, it just depressurized. That's why the modules are in
    between strong retaining plates with tension rods. NiMH is one of
    the safest chemistries out there, and all the facts in this case
    should be carefully examined before reaching any conclusions about
    the traction battery itself.
    .
    _H*
     
    #5 hobbit, Jul 27, 2007
  6. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jbarnhart @ Jul 27 2007, 08:56 PM) [snapback]486447[/snapback]</div>
    Why do the dogs sleep?
     
    #6 FL_Prius_Driver, Jul 27, 2007
  7. PriusTouring07

    PriusTouring07 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FL_Prius_Driver @ Jul 27 2007, 09:46 PM) [snapback]486497[/snapback]</div>

    Hey that's a great idea! Robot dogs which detect smoke/fire and wake you. Many people have been unable to wake up just by the beeps of their smoke detectors and a dog can certainly do a better job. You can have them bark, scream FIRE and bite your toes or something. That'll certainly wake you! ;)
     
    #7 PriusTouring07, Jul 27, 2007
  8. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusTouring07 @ Jul 27 2007, 07:56 PM) [snapback]486502[/snapback]</div>
    We used to have a real dog (Min Pin) that would go absolutely nuts if the smoke alarm went off (which it did semi often because of its proximity to our kitchen). No way anyone would sleep through that.

    Unfortunately she is gone now, and we have two new dogs. They do not seem to mind the smoke alarm sound. ;)
     
    #8 dogfriend, Jul 28, 2007
  9. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    the Classic has the HV battery in the trunk and it's seperated from the interior of the car by a solid steel panel behind the seat. The 12 volt battery is in the trunk just like the G2 Prius. Some thing is amiss here.
     
    #9 Frank Hudon, Jul 28, 2007
  10. jbarnhart

    jbarnhart New Member

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    Phil does not doubt the source of the fire originated in the traction battery. The point of origination is very plain, more so since the fire extinguished itself without burning up much of the car. It started in the back seat, where the battery is up against the seat back. I'll see if I can get some pictures.

    I've located two other 2001 drivers who have experienced similar fires. One had her car burn up after sitting idle a day, like Phil. Another had the car catch on fire (in the back seat) while she drove it. Actually, I think it is pretty encouraging that I've only located three Prius with this problem so far. It must be pretty rare.

    In one other case, the owner of a 2005 Prius was looking for others owners who have had their cars burn. He had a house fire which started in the garage, and he says it seems like it originated in the traction battery of his Prius. I do not know how solid his evidence is, however.

    Phil wants to get rid of his 2001 Prius "Flambe" edition... but he wants to replace it with a HyHy! He also believes this is a very rare occurrence and is not afraid of the technology.
     
    #10 jbarnhart, Jul 28, 2007
  11. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    did this car have the battery modification done to it? if not that might be the cause, not sure as it's mainly to do with the connector links on the individual cell modules.
     
    #11 Frank Hudon, Jul 28, 2007
  12. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon @ Jul 27 2007, 08:38 PM) [snapback]486541[/snapback]</div>
    It was not that way in my 2001 US Prius. Behind the rear seat were 2 slender sheet steel 'stiffeners' and a polyethylene panel.

    It may be that the Euro-available fold-down rear seat had a sheet metal backing.
     
    #12 tochatihu, Jul 28, 2007
  13. kenmce

    kenmce High Voltage Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Jul 28 2007, 03:53 AM) [snapback]486608[/snapback]</div>
    Same here.
     
    #13 kenmce, Jul 28, 2007
  14. brentmeister

    brentmeister New Member

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    A standard smoke detector may not work well in a garageor attic as dust will foul the detection element and it 1) will begin to give false alarms or 2) not detect smoke. The best option is to place a 'heat detector' in the garage/attic or a smoke detector specifically made for this type of enviornment. They are a little more expensive and hard to find, but I replaced our false alarming garage smoke detector with a heat detector after the third false alarm.
     
    #14 brentmeister, Jul 28, 2007
  15. naterprius

    naterprius Senior Member

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    There was another previous gen Prius battery which caught fire. Anybody have a link?

    Nate
     
    #15 naterprius, Jul 28, 2007
  16. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    #16 tochatihu, Jul 28, 2007
  17. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    I stand corrected on the panel, when I first pulled the cover off the battery in the trunk the panel looked like thin sheet metal, and I was running on memory from 3 1/2 years ago.
     
    #17 Frank Hudon, Jul 28, 2007
  18. jbarnhart

    jbarnhart New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Jul 28 2007, 08:23 AM) [snapback]486669[/snapback]</div>
    Well, I knew about ONE of those two... But I think you have just found a new one for me! I missed the 2005 message about the one that burned up at the dealership. So that makes four confirmed 2001 Prius that have gone up in flames.
     
    #18 jbarnhart, Jul 28, 2007
  19. auricchio

    auricchio Member

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    Let's put this into perspective. We have X thousand Priuses on the road. There have been literally a handful of fires.

    Now compare this "fire rate" to any other model car. How many Explorers per 1000 caught fire? How many Volvos? How many of any other model?

    Yes, having your car burn is terrible, but we really need some statistical perspective here.
     
    #19 auricchio, Jul 28, 2007
  20. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ Jul 28 2007, 05:12 PM) [snapback]486846[/snapback]</div>

    Actually, hasn't every VW Bug (the original) caught fire at least once by now? :p
     
    #20 dogfriend, Jul 28, 2007
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