Don't You Hate it When….

[Clone of the Mean]

I removed my intake plenum after locating a fuel leak. But before I made the repair I want to double check for any more leaks. I doubled up the offending fuel line and clamped it shut.

Not thinking about the fuel that had splashed all over the engine bay and never assuming the engine would actually run without the plenum on the intake, I turned the engine over.

Much to my dismay the engine came to life for a few brief seconds and then backfired igniting all of the gas in the engine bay. Luckily I had the hose running in a flower bed nearby and and got on top the fire before anything drastic happened (like my carport going up in flames). Somehow during the whole thing I had the sense to remove the positive battery cable. Other than a few curly qued vacuum lines there was no damage ( that I know of). All the electrical looked good and not burned.

I learned a valuable lesson today. Don't be in a rush to repair thing because you need to be somewhere else. I had football practice on my mind and almost lost my house. I could give a rats ass about the Runner…..

 

[airdreams1]

FYI: WATER SHOULD NOT BE USED TO PUT OUT A Put OUT A GASOLINE FIRE!
gas is lighter than the water & will float on top of it. It can still burn & spread making the fire much worse.


You got lucky! probably not much fuel was left...

 

[SV_Dude]

Being in a hurry can bite you in the arse if you're not careful. Good thing nothing bad happened.

 

[Clone of the Mean]

FYI: WATER SHOULD NOT BE USED TO PUT OUT A Put OUT A GASOLINE FIRE!
gas is lighter than the water & will float on top of it. It can still burn & spread making the fire much worse.


You got lucky! probably not much fuel was left...

It was all I had!!! I really considered pushing out into the street and letting it go just to save the house but all the doors were open. The back two couldn't be shut without moving it forward a little.

I just grabbed the hose and went to town on it. The matting on the inside of the hood went up pretty fast and was pretty dramatic. I honestly don't remember if the fire was that big or not. But THAT part was…..

 

[KidVermicious]

It was all I had!!!

Nope. Your best option is an ABC fire extinguisher, at least 10lb. No garage should be without one. Failing that, you should smother a gas or oil fire. Kitty litter, welding blanket, your pants, whatever you've got. Water is a horrible idea - water and gas don't mix, so not only does the gas float on top and maybe not stop burning, but it splashes wherever the water splashes and starts that on fire too.

You just used your get out of jail free card. Go get a fire extinguisher right now.

 

[hearno]

FYI: WATER SHOULD NOT BE USED TO PUT OUT A Put OUT A GASOLINE FIRE!
gas is lighter than the water & will float on top of it. It can still burn & spread making the fire much worse.


You got lucky! probably not much fuel was left...

this guy is absolutely correct. that was the first thing that came to my mind while reading your post.

 

[Clone of the Mean]

Well, hindsight is 20/20 and everyone has the right answer after the fact. Not being a trained firefighter I grabbed the first thing I saw. And no, gas and water don't mix.

First fire I've ever had, first reaction to it was to grab the hose with the water running out of the end of it that was 5 ft. away. Heat is a key ingredient to fire and water cools. The fire extinguisher was close by, but it wasn't going to put this fire out. In the time it took to get my pants over my work boots the fire would've been out of control. And where the fire was burning the pants wouldn't have reached….

I think the matting under the hood being on fire made it worse than it really was. It went out the second it got wet. The rest of it just took a little while

Given this situation again? I definitely won't crank the motor trying find a fuel leak without removing the spark. In the past I have had the boot going into the intake break and the engine refused to turn over. I figured I would get the same result. Didn't work out that way this time.

 

[KidVermicious]

I'm sorry, all I heard was

blah blah blah i still don't have a fire extinguisher

 

[airdreams1]

your in Arizona there is 10 milion tons of the best material for putting out a gas fire all around you!
Sand...... LOL (i know there isnt too much in the city) Lived in Tempe for 5 years.

 

[Clone of the Mean]

First fire I've ever had, first reaction to it was to grab the hose with the water running out of the end of it that was 5 ft. away. Heat is a key ingredient to fire and water cools. The fire extinguisher was close by, but it wasn't going to put this fire out. In the time it took to get my pants over my work boots the fire would've been out of control. And where the fire was burning the pants wouldn't have reached….

I think the matting under the hood being on fire made it worse than it really was. It went out the second it got wet. The rest of it just took a little while

When your stuff catches on fire cooler heads don't always prevail. The reason my Runner didn't go into a ball of flames is because whatever wasn't on fire already was soaking wet and unable to burn. Did I panic? Boy and How! If the hose wasn't right there, would I have made a run for the extinguisher? Probably, but time wasn't really on my side.

Fire needs three thing to survive. Heat, fuel, and oxygen. You remove one, the fire dies. Water removes heat.

 

[91'4bee]

Regardless of what happened and how it turned out glad you have a salvageable 4runner and no burnt house because I have seen it where that will happen to people and they will freeze, watch it go up in flames and do nothing.:doh: