A recent show had a guy that had an engine fire,& had to dump water from a beer cooler on it. Years ago I had an engine fire in my 70 mgb, & had to rewire & rehose everything under the hood. Since,I’m never without one onboard. Can anyone think of a reason why every car shouldn’t?
I agree. Every car should have a beer cooler!
;-))
Let’s be safety conscious: a FULL beer cooler and an extinguisher!
Combine those ideas: an extinguisher filled with BEER!
Oh, okay.
I guess that your idea is a good one (in addition to being able to have a cold one).
I carry an old bedspread in the trunk. It serves the dual purpose of keeping my clothes clean if I have to change a tire. It’s also great to douse a fire with. Some years ago I had an underhood engine fire caused by the mechanic not tightening the oil filter which was located under the exhaust manifold (Ford Straight 6). The blanket smothered it instantly, although I burned a hole in it.
My company requires me to carry a small fire extinghuiser and a First Aid kit, so I comply, but still have the blanket.
Extra weight will cut into fuel efficiency and performance. Otherwise usable cargo space will be lost. You best be sure it is fastened down properly or it will do some damage.
Balance this with the chance it will be used.
I had to use a fire extinguisher once to put out an engine fire (after is miss-adjusted one of my carb’s and caused a pretty large backfire, lighting off an oil soaked air filter). It saved some damage, but I did melt one of the velocity stacks on a weber. It’s probably a good idea to carry one. I would love to find the correct fire extinguisher bracket for my car (rare factory option).
I had one fire (a US made fuel hose broke) I used an old army blanket to put it out just a the fire truck turned the corner. I carried a fire extinguisher until I used it to put out a fire in a stranger’s car in a parking lot.
I think I will pick up a new one.
There’s a swap meet in Carlisle, PA that is huge. The spring event is April 22-26, 2009. I know it’s a long drive for you, but you do seem to make them frequently. You might try to combine one of your business trips with the Spring Carlisle event.
http://www.carsatcarlisle.com/
If you can’t make it, maybe there is something similar closer to home. I understand that Barrett Jackson has vendors in addition to the auctions. You might find something there or at another auction.
Thanks, that looks pretty interesting; every once in a while I happen to be in the area of a good car show/meet. I caught a pretty interesting auction/show in AZ (not B-J) about a year ago.
You talking about one of these? : http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/attachment.php?s=3f40b9083282ef3e2600dcc56a1584c9&attachmentid=47236&d=1187845421
Sure am, any idea where to find one for a W123?
Do you ever visit any of the Mercedes boards? That picture I linked to came from this one: http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/index.php
Here is another one you might like: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/
According to one of those guys the extinguishers are common on the euro cars but the D.O.T. in it’s infinite wisdom outlawed them on the U.S.-spec cars. But that’s just what I read, in a thread where the subject of gray market cars came up. This thread: http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=197661&highlight=big+red&page=6 the picture is in post #86. Then, in post #87 Jim B. goes off…
Yup, I have about 6000 posts on mercedesshop (craig), almost all in the diesel section. I don’t really hang out in benzworld (not my style). I haven’t been actively looking for the extinguisher/bracket, but I’ve always thought it would be cool to have the correct one installed. I guess I could probably find one on a euro ebay site if I put some effort into it, but they don’t seem to turn up in the U.S. very often. Thanks for the link, maybe I’ll hunt around and see if I can find one for sale someplace.
If you don’t like your vehicle and have comprehensive insurance on it 
I would think it would be smarter just to get everyone out of a vehicle and let it go. I have watched a few cars go up in flames really engulfed likely due to a leaking fuel line. No hunk of metal is worth my life or injury. Working with burn victims a short bit at a hospital job in college when I thinking of health career made me always think anything with fire a few times over.
One reason they don’t make them mandatory on all cars is that Craig58 would cry about another “useless” piece of safety equipment that he must go through the trouble of circumventing. Another reason is that very few people would check them to make sure they are still charged for when they are needed. Then if it didn’t work after not being inspected for five years, the car owner would sue the car manufacturer for installing a defective fire extinguisher.
I suppose this might be the one piece of safety equipment Craig likes, but I would bet that even that has not convinced him to make it mandatory.
They certainly don’t need to be mandatory in private vehicles (we have too many mandates now and most people probably wouldn’t know how/when to use them safely - apparently americans can’t be trusted to safely operate a cup of hot coffee either), but I do like to have them in my cars. Not every “good idea” needs to be a mandate, it’s really OK let people decide some things for themselves (I understand that’s a radical concept for some folks). My car also contains a first aid kit in the passenger compartment, probably a good idea too, should we make them mandatory?
IMO, they could be offered as an option in new cars without excessive risk of liability. I’ve used them twice, once to put out a carburetor that I had stupidly miss-adjusted, and once to put out an electrical fire in the basement of a house I was renting (no fire extinguisher in the house). In both cases, it might have been smarter to run away. If it was my kids or wife in that position, I would rather have them leave and let it burn. The biggest “risk” of a fire extinguisher is not knowing when to give up.
I do make a distinction between useful safety equipment (either passive or controlled by me) and the automatic “features” that are currently mandatory on new cars. The real reason I want one for my W123 is that it was a rare factory option that I don’t have yet. It is useful, because it mounts the extinguisher in the passenger compartment where you can actually get to it if necessary.
I do make a distinction between useful safety equipment (either passive or controlled by me) and the automatic “features” that are currently mandatory on new cars.
Of course you do! I should have known. My bad.
LOL I had one loose in my trunk, and it dischrged while rolling around. What a mess !!
You just need to understand how “control freaks” think; never trust anything that is not under your direct control.