greenslade

tow truck just delivered my new car from about 10 miles down the road,the eng was running when he pulled into driveway,so I drove it into
the garage shut it off and saw smoke and flames comming from under the hood.it started up again/thank god/ backed it out and looked for hood release,found it and popped the hood flames 2 feet high lucky we have lots of snow, started shovling ,got fire out phew! there is a ehhaust leak at manifold/exhaust pipe must have caused the fire burnt the rubber inner fender.This is my first olds and my first attemt at a restore,this is going to be a LOT of fun,It has started out " very" exciting !

Olds64

Welcome. We look forward to seeing pics. It is good to hear that nobody was hurt when the engine bay caught fire. Hopefully it didn't cause too much damage.

Cecil Anderson

Great thinking reversing it from the garage and not running for the fire bregade and burning the house down. Andy

Oldsguy

Welcome to CO. Just wondering why the engine was running while they were towing it? Seems kind of odd...

Bluevista

Welcome.

This snow is good for something.


If it was on the passenger side make sure you didn't
have any leaky tranny lines near that exhaust.
I've seen that happen a few times, does the same thing.

Buy a fire extinguisher and keep it inside the car just in case there isn't snow on the ground if something should happen again.

greenslade

fire was on left side,not much damage ignition wires and rubber upper control arm sheild ,as for why the eng was running ,the car was towed with rear wheels on the ground and drive shaft was connected,trans in neutral driver figured it would be better for transmission if it was running??I'll try to get some pictures up this weekend. Next stop 4 ignition wires 1 fire ext.

jaunty75

This sounds weird. Is it possible that the fact the car was running while it was being towed was the CAUSE of the fire? If the front was just hoisted off the ground and tilted at that odd angle while gasoline is pumped through the carburetor, and then the car is lowered to the ground, maybe gasoline spilled out of the float bowl or something. I don't know. I know that the angle the car would be tilted at while connected to a tow truck would be fairly steep but not necessarily any more steep than the could car would be at if it were being driven up a steep hill. On the other hand, there is some reliance on gravity in the fuel feed system, isn't there? At least once you get to the carburetor? Fuel CAN spill out of the float bowl if the carburetor is tilted too much, can't it? Keeping the car at that steep angle for any length of time with the engine running might have set something up to happen.

Olds64

Apparently that guy is a moron!

If you are towing a car with the rear wheels on the ground all you have to do is put the car in neutral.

Glad to hear that the damage wasn't that bad. You probably would have replaced the spark plug wires anyways. FWIW, I suggest a set of Taylor spark plug wires. I ordered a set of their 8.5 mm wires from Summit and I am very happy with them.

greenslade

Hi. Checked out "lucky 98" today,looked around for rust and damage don't look too bad.Car was stored inside a barn from 85 untill 07 t,hen sat in drive way till now.very little rust except rear bumper,rusted an sagging,check rear frame it is good has a welded on hitch which stiffens the rear frame.Car was zibarted it is flaking off now and showing good paint on frame and body.Rust is a killer here in eastern canada.

Danny Boy

I think you should paint the flames on the hood not have them under the hood

Enjoy your new ride!

1ATony

Welcome to the site.It's great to have you here.

That happened to a friend of mine. He bought a nice Duster mini tubbed and the fuel filer above the darn carberator cracked pouring gas on the hot exhaust.

He had a fire extinguisher so it didn't get damaged to badly.

1969w3155

Don't use that towing service again, there is no reason for the car to be running while being towed.

Red Delta

When you tow a vehicle for long distances, you should remove the driveshaft. There are a bunch of gears that need lube that don't get it, if the pump, driven by the engine isn't on. If you don't do this, potential damage to the transmission could occur.

For ten miles, it would have been unnecessary.

It always makes me laugh when I see people towing their little front drive cars behind their RV's. When they suffer premature transmission failure, they still will not understand.