Prius's spontaneously catching on fire?

Did they actually say "carburetor area"? I find this confusing b/c neither the Prius, nor any modern car (since the 90s) has a carburetor.

 

Before you pull a sikes, speak to any firefighter you know. All cars built after 1999 will have safeguards in place to minimize or eliminate the possibility of spontaneous fire. In most if not all cases of automobile fire, you are dealing with arson or insurance jobs. In two of the previously posted pics you can clearly see the discoloration patterns on the prius windshield, I would call that an accelerant poured all over the front of the car (gasoline or BBQ lighter fluid) Oh yeah it also took 3 years for someone to post a burning prius. The OP's dealership friend is a moron, call him up and find out if he is still selling cars, i bet he is not.

 

Sounds like your pretty car savvy - thank you for pointing that out.

Yes - they did actually say that. I think the FD was trying to point out the problem area to us. Actually this was their first prius incident. They couldn't find the battery till I pointed it out to them. The firefighter was surprised to find it under the back seat.

 

Thanks TheSpoils

 

i know from personal experience that firemen rarely can prove where and how a fire started but will always give you an answer.

 

Working quality assurance for aircraft maintenance I can agree with this 110%! A lot of times stuff happens, you do the reports, the big brains come in and tell you what they "think" started X event/mishap/fire... You are right though that they ALWAYS give some kind of answer, and then that answer forever changes the way we do business whether right or wrong. I am truly sorry to hear about your one Prius going up in flames though. I would not even want to hazard a guess as to why. For those on here who had the chance to own a 84' Fiero probably remember the warning inside the gas cap after the recall warning people that it may spontaneously burst into flames. Always made me chuckle when I was pumping in my 7 gallons and going on my merry way. Sadly that turned out to be one of the best, and most problem free cars I ever had other than me crashing it being stupid. Hopefully Toyota will get to the bottom of it so it can help someone else. After the runaway Toyota publicity I think they are eager to squash this stuff while they have an oppertunity out of the public forum.

 

There have been plenty of recalls for defects that caused fires. Here are the ones I could find quickly for Ford alone:

Defective cruise control switches, October 2009: "14 million vehicles in eight separate recalls over a 10-year period because of the problem."

Defective ignition switches, 1996: 9 million vehicles;

Defective body control module, 2011: 15,000 trucks and SUVs;

Corroding strap can let gas tank fall, 2011: 1.1 million pickup trucks;

 

Yeah, but they were Found On Road Dead!

 

I agree - FORD sucks.
My wife had a ford focus that would randomly shut off while driving and would loose power steering.We took it in to the dealership various times and they never found anything. The last draw was when she was driving South 101 California over the grapevine (big curvy hills) and it shut off on her as she was headed down the hill and she had no control until it decided to turn on as she approached a turn. The next day we went to by her the prius that was recently lost. So yeah - FORD SUCKS.

 

One lesson learned is the alarm really helped out here ( I do not have one). Was it standard Prius alarm? I am happy no one was hurt.

Intriguing mystery re: fire. In my (very limited) experience with car fires, usually some kind of fuel leak, when the car is running. Hard to imagine a delayed fire. But if there was a fuel leak, extraneous static or spark could set it off, but it would be rare bad luck.

 

My old truck got recalled because there was a defect (flimsy and poorly insulated contacts) in the *steering column* that had caused several parked vehicles to spontaneously burst into flames.

That's the kind of thing that'll help you sleep well at night...

 

Mine turned into a donkey

 

Might also be from oil due to mechanics spilling when they refill? In various cars I have owned I have found pools of oil in my spark plugs when I pull out the plug leads in DOHC motors.. Maybe something like that happened, and it was able to light on fire? Oil is hard to catch but once it does that is all she wrote..

 

Many of the fires in the recalls I listed were delayed electric-only fires. Some buildings burned when unattended garaged vehicles ignited.

I come from a Ford family, and would still rather push a Ford than drive a Chevy.

As in past threads, I must challenge this "no control" claim, both from considerable experience with engine stalls in the older Fords I once drove, and from a basic safety regulatory stance.

Many of us older drivers grew up with some vehicles lacking power steering and brakes, and these vehicles were still controllable, albeit with more muscle than most younger drivers have ever had to apply. Power assist make things easier, but when the systems failed -- engine quit, power steering belt broke, brake vacuum hose fell off -- they still worked, just a bit stiffer than cars without power assist.

In a past thread we already discussed the federal regulations for power brakes. In the event of complete power failure, the vehicle is required to stop within a certain distance, from a certain highway speed, with a certain brake pedal pressure that nearly all able-bodied adults can apply. A type failure to achieve this during an engine failure will almost certainly trigger a vehicle recall.

I haven't searched for similar requirements for power steering systems, but would be shocked if they didn't exist. Loss of power steering is not a real problem at highway speed, it gets tough only at parking lot and slow-residential speeds.

 

We have a relative who's kids were staying at grandpa's farm one night because both parents had to leave early the next morning. At about 1:00 AM, a passing duputy sheriff noticed the attached garage on fire. He pounded on the door and kicked it in when there was no answer. He ran upstairs and found the two kids asleep in the first bedroom. Holding a sleeping kid under each arm, he encounted grandpa in the hallway and informed him that the garage was on fire. Everyone exited the house safely. The garage and both vehicles inside were total losses and the upstairs room adjacent to the garage was heavily damaged. The fire department was able to save the rest of the house and the family will be out of it for about 6 months. The fire started under the hood of the car belonging to grandpa's girlfriend. (unknown make and model)

 

My favourite is that one of cars puts the venting battery directly below the main relays and fuses in the passenger cabin. Over time it corrodes the connectors and makes them heat more for the same current passing through them. Eventually, they cannot carry the load you need. I had a recent event where it was definitely smoking...

 

Those requirements still exist yet almost nobody is familiar with them. If they cannot turn the wheel with 1 finger, then it is "broken". You can do it in the Prius even. Get going, hold down the power button to force it to shut off, then brake and steer. It works just fine, but no power assist.

 

For Prius steering, readers should also try it when parked and shut off. In fact, every driver of every passenger vehicle should do this, especially those with full size SUVs, in order to get an idea of how much muscle may be required in an emergency. This is the hardest steering one should ever face from ordinary system failure, much harder than when the car is moving.

My Prius is easier to turn in this situation than the last manual steering car I drove. (Higher trim levels and newer models have a different steering ratio, so will be a bit stiffer.) And we had to turn the wheel this way when parking / backing / turning around in very tight spots.

 

Just also a side note, it is usually advised not to turn the steering wheel with the car stationary as it puts undue stress on the steering system. If you have a little bump in your driveway or something, putting it in neutral so you just barely roll will be better. Less force required, but in this situation you will be moving anyways.

I still have a manual steer and manual brake vehicle and it gives you a workout when you drive it. It would be nice if people realized that not vehicles have brakes that stop on a dime or a steering wheel that will get them out of a tight spot instantly. I leave 3-5 car lengths on the interstate with this car and even that is pushing it close. The 2 times I have had to panick stop, the heavy rear-engined back end tries to keep on moving and starts to swing around. Just slamming on the brakes is not advised, you have to feel the car and adjust constantly which means you wont brake quite as fast and the guy with ABS.

 

I do avoid turning the wheel while stationary except in special circumstances -- the very tightest turns a handful of times per year, and this sort of testing.

The vast majority of times when backing out of parking spaces, there is sufficient room to do all the turning while moving. Yet I see most other drivers -- spouse, past car pool partners, strangers in parking lots -- use the power steering to turn the wheel while stationary nearly every time.

It is such an ingrained habit for so many people that cars obviously need be designed to handle it, so suggesting they try it once with power turned off will add very little to overall wear. In fact, I hope it wakes up some drivers to the forces involved, giving them a hint to not do it regularly with the power on.

Yes, that is pushing it. 3 car lengths is just 1/2 second, which is pushing it extremely hard even with the very best brakes in clear dry daylight conditions.

The common 2 second rule, which should apply to the best cars in the best driving conditions, is nearly 12 car lengths. Unfortunately, common roadway congestion turns this rule into a fantasy.