have you ever watched your own vehicle go up in flames?

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-GZ-

Member (SA)
.....well i just did.
so im drivin my recently purchased (6 weeks) 2000 Range Rover 4.6 HSE back to milwaukee from my girl's parents' house in southern indiana...
im on 294 north goin around chicago....dashboard says ALTERNATOR FAILURE....ok so i drive over to the shoulder after going over a bridge.....temperature guage starts to redline....i throw it in neutral and coast down closer to the toll booth area...temp guage goes back to center....i turn off the ignition and get out to pop the hood...
it starts smokin and is too hot to even pop the hood... then it REALLY starts smokin...oh ****...so first things first.....i grab my clairtone 7978 and 7980 out of the back....then i grab my duffle bag.....then a small fire breaks out on the ground under the engine....oh ****.....forgot my phone in there....grab my phone and step back about 20 feet......then the entire engine compartment goes up in flames.....im just standing there helpless watchin my dream ride burn.....then the the cabin starts on fire.....oh ****...i left my wallet in there!!! too late..its completely engulfed in flames.....so im tellin the cop that i have no driver's license on me and i have a temporary license plates (paper) sooooo....he says "oh thats not good"....im thinkin NO **** MY ****IN TRUCK IS BURNIN, ASSHOLE!!!....
so after the firefighters put it out i go and look at the damage....everything melted and torched...if it aint torched, its black.....so i pick up my torched baseball cap off the front seat and low and behold...an unscathed beautiful piece of tan leather seat that hasnt been touched by fire...and on that spot...is my wallet...completely unharmed..just a little wet and smells of roasted range rover....
yada yada yada.....so all in all... i lost my vehicle, my ipod with all my music (the computer where the music was saved, crashed two years ago so thats all i had), my work boots, my nike air max 90s that ive had for 5 years, my milwaukee brewers hat, and my bowling ball. and several wires and cords for ipod-boombox connections, chargers, etc.

and no i didnt take any pictures or video....totally slipped my mind...im sure i'll get some from the insurance company or somethin.

but on a high note...myself and my cherished clairtones are ok....and the two broken knobs from my 7980 were in my center console,,,i saved those too.

what a crappy day.
 

redbenjoe

I Am Legend
nice save ....

but geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez

:'-( :sadno: :no: :sad: :'-( :'-( :'-(

very glad YOU are ok
 

Fatdog

Well-Known Member
Staff member
redbenjoe said:
nice save ....

but geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez

:'-( :sadno: :no: :sad: :'-( :'-( :'-(

very glad YOU are ok
I totally agree. Thank goodness you're okay. I can imagine you had a million thoughts going through your mind. I can't say if I would have had the clarity to grab everything like you did.
 

-GZ-

Member (SA)
Fatdog said:
redbenjoe said:
nice save ....

but geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez

:'-( :sadno: :no: :sad: :'-( :'-( :'-(

very glad YOU are ok
I totally agree. Thank goodness you're okay. I can imagine you had a million thoughts going through your mind. I can't say if I would have had the clarity to grab everything like you did.
thanks fellas.....
 

BMoney

Member (SA)
Dude, that sucks! :-O Like Ira & Bobby said, glad you're ok! :yes: Luckily, I've never had to watch my own vehicle go up in flames. :no: I have experienced an alternator failure, though. And it's scary because you lose everything. :blink: Just to satisfy your curiosity, I hope you find out why your Rover caught fire. I know I'd wanna know if it was my car. :yes:

Last year, I was driving down I-505 and saw a Mitsubishi Eclipse catch fire. It burnt to the ground before a firetruck could get to it. Everything plastic just melted off like butter. It looked like a scene from Fast & Furious so I had to pull over to watch it. If it's gonna burn, it might as well entertain! :lol:
 

stormsven

Member (SA)
Damn that suck :'-( . Glad you are ok. From bitter experience i know - the cars are repairable, people not so. So glad you are ok. Thats most important.
 

baddboybill

Boomus Fidelis
You saved the boomers and according to boombandament you did the right thing :thumbsup: :thumbsup: congrats and OH glad your good too :-) :lol: :lol:
 

jaetee

Member (SA)
:-/

That totally SUX! Glad you're okay and were able to save your boomers and wallet.

Don't worry about the music.... send me a hard drive up to 500GB in size and I'll be glad to fill it up for you and send it back. ;-)

My 1985 Benz had a major meltdown from a short circuit from the temp sensor that sits on the thermostat and sends signal to the A/C... it cooked off 3 feet of conduit from a couple of cables and fried three relays. I'm told that the car could have caught fire at any time and that I was very lucky.

On the car's last drive before taking it to an automotive electrician, I had my 2year old with me. That was a wake-up call and a half!

That was going on 3 months ago and the car is still in the shop as I had to piece together all of the part numbers to the plugs on the harness. The dealer could not provide those numbers as they only have the entire upper harness for sale for $800+. I have since compiled the necessary plug numbers from looking in other people's engine bays and writing them down. Ordered separately, the parts I need to fix what caused my meltdown cost around $15 total. And MB wants to charge $800 for the harness, basically just because they don't have the plastic connectors cataloged from all of the old microfiche.

I am selling the Benz when I get it back, and traded in my 1990 Legend already... Just bought a 2005 Acura RL. No more old cars for me until my son is old enough to turn a wrench. LOL!
 

-GZ-

Member (SA)
thanks everyone....i appreciate your concern and kind words. its just sinkin in now and it sucks.....that truck was beautiful. just waitin to hear back from my insurance.
redbenjoe said:
on that model ...

was the alternator belt in the same train as the water pump belt ??
yeah ira.....just one serpentine belt. i guess youre thinkin the belt snapped.....one of the firefighters that put out the blaze said the same thing....
 

-GZ-

Member (SA)
redbenjoe said:
for anything as dead serious as a water pump -
i think there should be a double belt//pulley set
i agree......had i heard the belt snap or the readout said SERPENTINE FAILURE instead of ALTERNATOR FAILURE...i would have slammed on the brakes and thrown it in PARK in the middle of the highway!
 

ford93

Member (SA)
Wow glad you came out of it without a scratch.

I never had that problem but just recently I had a fender bender with my 93 Crown Victoria. All parts are fixed and painted thank god.

But I also had to pay one citation and take a traffic school course online. :thumbsdown:
 
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