Almost lost the car to fire, help needed to restart it.

[mussy]

So, just had a bit of a moment... had to jump start the green 80 with the blue one.

Left the jump leads on for a few minutes while the 2 engines where running. Realised that on the blue 80 the battery was on fire!!

Luckily I managed to put it out with what a first sight looks to be only cosmetic damage.

I have put a new battery in and unfortunately all I get are whirring noises and disco lights on the dashboard.

Any ideas before I get a French mechanic to get me to refinance my house to fix this???

Thanks as always.

 

[froggy Steve]

zoiks! Could the Alternator / starter motor be damaged through the battery shorting? unlikely, but........

I think you were lucky more damage wasnt done!

 

[mussy]

zoiks! Could the Alternator / starter motor be damaged through the battery shorting? unlikely, but........

I think you were lucky more damage wasnt done!

Totally agree... lucky I caught it in the first minute with the bonnet open......

 

[Derek]

Those terminals will need to be re-done.

I know what you mean about the buzzing noise, mine did that when the negative terminal wire worked loose and only a few strands were joining it on.

Shouldn't think it's worked itself further down the line, fingers crossed.

 

[mussy]

Those terminals will need to be re-done.

I know what you mean about the buzzing noise, mine did that when the negative terminal wire worked loose and only a few strands were joining it on.

Shouldn't think it's worked itself further down the line, fingers crossed.

Thanks Derek, did a tidy up and clean and managed to start. Tomorrow off to get new terminal connections.

I hope nothing else is affected.....

 

[StarCruiser]

Crikey Mark that's a bit too close for comfort!!
I'm guessing that battery suffered an internal break and arced across as you were starting. You did nothing wrong to cause this (as I assume you were only connecting RHS battery to RHS battery). It would have only shown up on start, not at any other time. Get some good quality bolt type terminals, those look a little on the weak side.
You'll also want to remove that fibreglass or cover it/paint it with something as it gets in your skin just by looking at it! It's probably best to replace both the batteries with some good ones.

By coincidence I was doing exactly this with my wife's Mitsi Space Star last night…in the rain! Thankfully no brown trouser moments were encountered. Interrestingly the new battery, a Varta, is identical to the LHS Bosch battery in the cruiser in all but name and number. I'm reliably informed Varta don't exist any more which may indicate a connection with Bosch.

 

[MarkW]

Lucky you caught it Mark especially seeing first hand how quick Byron’s went from a small fire to raging inferno

 

[mussy]

Exactly what went through my mind when I saw the 50 cm flames....luckily the garage hose was only a few metres away.

 

[mussy]

Crikey Mark that's a bit too close for comfort!!
I'm guessing that battery suffered an internal break and arced across as you were starting. You did nothing wrong to cause this (as I assume you were only connecting RHS battery to RHS battery). It would have only shown up on start, not at any other time. Get some good quality bolt type terminals, those look a little on the weak side.
You'll also want to remove that fibreglass or cover it/paint it with something as it gets in your skin just by looking at it! It's probably best to replace both the batteries with some good ones.

By coincidence I was doing exactly this with my wife's Mitsi Space Star last night…in the rain! Thankfully no brown trouser moments were encountered. Interrestingly the new battery, a Varta, is identical to the LHS Bosch battery in the cruiser in all but name and number. I'm reliably informed Varta don't exist any more which may indicate a connection with Bosch. View attachment 136685

Tomorrow off to get some proper connections and replacement batteries, replacement battery tray is already ordered...

 

[StarCruiser]

Tomorrow off to get some proper connections and replacement batteries, replacement battery tray is already ordered...

I didn't think you'd mess about Mark.

 

[StarCruiser]

Exactly what went through my mind when I saw the 50 cm flames....luckily the garage hose was only a few metres away.

It's a horrible feeling!

 

[Michael Montgomery]

Oh my thats a close call!! So happy for you Mussy it wasn't worse. I guess changing the battery & terminal will yield a true test to the damage uncured. Hopefully all will be good.