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9 reasons why car fire happens
Car fires hardly happen due to a single cause. More often than not, it is a combination of factors that complicate things and can make a dangerous situation. To avoid that, the first things you need to know are the common reasons why car happens. This way, you’re more likely to consciously avoid it.
Fuel system leaks
Never underestimate fuel leaks no matter how small they may seem. Otherwise, you could be leading yourself to critical engine damage in your car or worst a fire hazard that can put your life in danger if it happens while you’re driving. If you started noticing blue smoke coming from your car, a burning smell or saw the brown stain on your garage or pavement, time to pay attention and take it seriously before something worse happens.
Electrical system failure
Faulty or loose wiring can produce sparks that can quickly ignite a fuel drip or leaked vapor which then can lead to a car fire. This doesn’t even have to be under the hood. Electrical wiring that runs throughout the entire car can cause a fire.
Spilled fluids
A car requires a bunch of fluid to run, from gasoline or diesel fuel, engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid, and even engine coolant. You have to remember that all of these are flammable and can ignite a fire easily. So whenever you get a sign that any of them spilled, stop checking it out. Don’t risk driving in this condition.
Overheating engines
When your car overheats, it’s easy to panic. But if you want to keep the damage to a minimum, here are things you can do until you can take it to the mechanic for a thorough car repair.
It’s natural for your car exhaust to smell because of the catalytic converter. However, you should be alarmed once the smell becomes too strong, considering that it’s one of the consistently hottest parts of your car. That may mean there’s leaking fluid, your catalytic converter is failing, or there’s something off with your air/fuel mixture.
Arson
Well, not all car fires are due to the car itself. There are cases where people would deliberately set a car on fire. This happens for plenty of reasons like to cover up a theft, or to cover up the evidence of another crime. It could be old-fashioned vandalism, too, wrecking something just for the sake of wrecking it. Or it could be insurance fraud. So when you can’t seem to find what went wrong with the car to cause the fire, it's pretty reasonable to look at this angle too.
Car crashes
It may not be apparent right away, but once you got caught up in a car crash it’s best to move away from the damaged car as soon as you can. The impact, fuel leak, and heat can all create a perfect condition for a fire.
Poor maintenance
Falling to keep up with your car’s regular maintenance is like setting yourself and your vehicle up for future trouble. Just do a run down once awhile, check how the tires, lights, is there any kind of strange sound when you drive it, or anything out of ordinary at all. Spotting irregularities early on could save your car from serious damage in the future and a lot of money on car repair.
Design flaws
Design flaws can make conditions really ripe for a fire, and sometimes even create conditions in which an eventual fire is inevitable. Usually, the manufacturers catch on to these situations before incidents become widespread. They issue recalls to get the dangerous cars off the street and fix the problems because no carmaker wants to be known for combusting its customers.
Fuel system leaks
Never underestimate fuel leaks no matter how small they may seem. Otherwise, you could be leading yourself to critical engine damage in your car or worst a fire hazard that can put your life in danger if it happens while you’re driving. If you started noticing blue smoke coming from your car, a burning smell or saw the brown stain on your garage or pavement, time to pay attention and take it seriously before something worse happens.
Electrical system failure
Faulty or loose wiring can produce sparks that can quickly ignite a fuel drip or leaked vapor which then can lead to a car fire. This doesn’t even have to be under the hood. Electrical wiring that runs throughout the entire car can cause a fire.
Spilled fluids
A car requires a bunch of fluid to run, from gasoline or diesel fuel, engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid, and even engine coolant. You have to remember that all of these are flammable and can ignite a fire easily. So whenever you get a sign that any of them spilled, stop checking it out. Don’t risk driving in this condition.
Overheating engines
When your car overheats, it’s easy to panic. But if you want to keep the damage to a minimum, here are things you can do until you can take it to the mechanic for a thorough car repair.
- First, you should not attempt to drive an overheating car.
- In case you’re already driving shut out of the air conditioner and open the windows immediately. This should help lessen the temperature.
- If didn’t work, pull over on the side of the road, turn off the engine, open the hood carefully, and wait until your car cools down.
- Do not try to open the radiator cap while the engine is shot because the coolant can spray and burn you.
- Once the vehicle cooled down, drive directly to the mechanic to have it assessed properly.
It’s natural for your car exhaust to smell because of the catalytic converter. However, you should be alarmed once the smell becomes too strong, considering that it’s one of the consistently hottest parts of your car. That may mean there’s leaking fluid, your catalytic converter is failing, or there’s something off with your air/fuel mixture.
Arson
Well, not all car fires are due to the car itself. There are cases where people would deliberately set a car on fire. This happens for plenty of reasons like to cover up a theft, or to cover up the evidence of another crime. It could be old-fashioned vandalism, too, wrecking something just for the sake of wrecking it. Or it could be insurance fraud. So when you can’t seem to find what went wrong with the car to cause the fire, it's pretty reasonable to look at this angle too.
Car crashes
It may not be apparent right away, but once you got caught up in a car crash it’s best to move away from the damaged car as soon as you can. The impact, fuel leak, and heat can all create a perfect condition for a fire.
Poor maintenance
Falling to keep up with your car’s regular maintenance is like setting yourself and your vehicle up for future trouble. Just do a run down once awhile, check how the tires, lights, is there any kind of strange sound when you drive it, or anything out of ordinary at all. Spotting irregularities early on could save your car from serious damage in the future and a lot of money on car repair.
Design flaws
Design flaws can make conditions really ripe for a fire, and sometimes even create conditions in which an eventual fire is inevitable. Usually, the manufacturers catch on to these situations before incidents become widespread. They issue recalls to get the dangerous cars off the street and fix the problems because no carmaker wants to be known for combusting its customers.
