Note To Self - How to start your Spridget on fire.

[Jim_Gruber]

Note to Self:

When trying to feed a new metal jacketed heater air valve control through the firewall, it is not a good idea to keep it away from the battery and chance of shorting out, by placing it in close proximity to the solenoid.

I had the experience of being upside down in Bugsy on Friday night trying to fish a new metal jacketed heater control cable through the firewall by myself. Now when I pulled on the cable and saw sparks flash I should have known somethin was wrong. My brain did not interpret that correctly as "this should not be happening!"

When I saw smoke and then flames a few seconds later and was still upside down I definitely knew this was not supposed to be happening. Scene changes to dumb ass LBC amateur garage mechanic in super speed, reaching in to pull extremely hot metal jackets cable out of the firewall with one hand, while blowing out burning wiring that caught on fire due to shorted out control cable touching the solenoid.

Fortunately my voluminous amount of hot air was able to blow out the burning wire insulation. A fire extinguisher should have been at hand and next time I'll disconnect the [censored] battery cable and get an extra hand to help fish the cable.

About 2 1/2 hours to replace melted and burned wiring and Bugsy is back good as new. Fortunately only the headlight relay wiring got toasted. I replaced it all rather than splicing in a section to replace the I charred. Oh and the metal control cable, burned clean through in 3 spots where it touched the solenoid for a few seconds. Hopefully I can keep some one else from making the same dumb ass mistake I did.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

I've had a similar experience. Now I not only disconnect the battery, but I cover one terminal with a insulated battery post cap.

Glad everything turned out OK.

 

[Bruce_B]

I enjoy a good electrical spark when a screwdriver/or wrench touches something it shouldn't. Makes such a good sound and a spark.

Glad the damage was minor.

 

[bugimike]

All too common a story with these cars I'm afraid! I'll bet just about everyone here has had a similar "moment"!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

 

[drooartz]

Took out the starter solenoid and coil in my old Land Cruiser once -- a quick repair "no need to disconnect the battery" -- one dropped wrench and it became a much larger repair. Thanks for sharing your reminder, and glad it didn't turn out worse than it did!

 

[jlaird]

It is called a learning experience. yep we have all done it, me many years ago.

 

[sparkydave]

Glad it didn't get too far. My recent experience was having to disconnect the battery in a friend's car which had the battery cable colors swapped. Guess which one I accidentally shorted to the frame with my wrench? Note to self: Assume DPOs are colorblind and love to change battery cables for some reason.

 

[Speedy_Pete]

I managed to short my wiring on Baby Bertha just after I got her... meddling with the wires under the dash. All because I forgot to disconnect the battery! Fortunately I had an extinguisher close by so I yanked the positive lead off the battery and shot back into the cockpit. I flipped myself upside down to see under the dash and set off the extinguisher, forgetting all about how gravity works. It did put out the fire, but it also shot straight back in my face! I'll never forget just how bad the powder extinguishers taste!!!
Live and learn...

 

[RickB]

Re: Note To Self - How to start your Spridget on f

oh yes, that stuff tastes terrible!!! And the flavor lingers too!

I remember the time I was out hunting Moose up outside Talkeetna Alaska.

We drove out into the bush in my Jeep Commando.
All was well until one day it started raining hard and we decided we had better try and make it back. There were water crossings involved.

So it was going OK right up until smoke started pouring out from under the dash. It didn't take much of a glance to see the wiring was glowing orange hot under there. Pretty quick a fire broke out, people pulled stuff and the fire went out and so did the motor.

Yours truly fiddled with the wiring until it would start again and we tried again to get out. The rain hadn't let off and we eventually came to a spot where even granny gear wouldn't move us forward.

So we left her there and piled into a friends big honkin' Alaska Pickup Truck. You know, what they call a Monster Truck here in the lower 48.

Well we tooled right along until his front diff broke.
Then it was like pushing two great big sleds up front, we had no choices really - we could leave it there and try to walk out (it had turned to night at this point) or we could get that truck out to the road.

Bozo with the $750 (each) tires didn't have a winch. We had a hand operated come along.

So we pulled the thing out about 50 feet at a time, finally made it out of the woods at about 3AM.

That was just one of my many memorable hunting & fishing expeditions while I lived in Alaska.

There were others when I truly though I would die before making it out.

 

[DrEntropy]

Re: Note To Self - How to start your Spridget on f

Winches are "first order of business" up there, aren't they?!?! Even if you don't go "out" it's considered a 'fashion accessory'! That whole region is Life-Threat.

...I'll stick with sun, sand and the occasional chance of hurricane... all I need is good sunblock. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

 

[RickB]

Re: Note To Self - How to start your Spridget on f

I think it was something like - he broke it & hadn't gotten it fixed before the trip.

Crappy come-along in the mud at night in the rain is what I remember best. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/pukeface.gif

 

[JPSmit]

Re: Note To Self - How to start your Spridget on f

Obviously a Midget is a much better choice - just pick it up and carry it out