Cause of Mistress\'s fire finally discovered - warning to all.
As you all know my car was caught up in a gas station fire a year ago. What happened was that the automatic gas nozzle did not stop when the tank was full and fuel poured all down the side and under the car. There have been several going theories as to why the gas ignited and seems like everyone has an opinion of how it could have happened.
Well, I had some repairs to do on the door and sill tonight so I figured I would try to gather some evidence while the panels were off.
I was truly horrified as to what I found. Behind the "emergency pull lever" up on the door stanchion rests the solenoid switch for the exterior knob (its opposite of the push knob.). Directly (I am talking within millimeters) of this switch is a molded steel plate that supports the window track. At some point in the cars life the small wire that runs to this switch became bared (what lead to this is beyond me.) I am now convinced that this was the ignition point. The power coated steel directly surrounding the wire is rusted (as if by fire or electrical zapping) and the plastic on the inside of the stanchion has been heat brushed (the same look as running a cigarette lighter across something plastic.) Nowhere else on the entire car did flames ********* through a panel - even on the bumper.
Now here's the interesting point: at some point someone rigged the switch into its place. It’s clearly obvious that there were repairs made to the door (nuts were scratched up and tape was used to hold the weather-strip in place.) I have temporarily fixed the problem now, but someone (either at the factory or dealership or previous owner) used a small zip tie to hold the switch in place. This caused the setup to bend outward and towards the steel plate even more. I worry that if it were someone at the factory this could be a problem to other GTS owners. Realistically, since I never heard of this happening to another car, I'm lead to believe a previous owner or shoddy dealership half-azzed the job.
Just in case though, please, if you ever happen to overfill the tank, think before opening the passenger side door.
As you all know my car was caught up in a gas station fire a year ago. What happened was that the automatic gas nozzle did not stop when the tank was full and fuel poured all down the side and under the car. There have been several going theories as to why the gas ignited and seems like everyone has an opinion of how it could have happened.
Well, I had some repairs to do on the door and sill tonight so I figured I would try to gather some evidence while the panels were off.
I was truly horrified as to what I found. Behind the "emergency pull lever" up on the door stanchion rests the solenoid switch for the exterior knob (its opposite of the push knob.). Directly (I am talking within millimeters) of this switch is a molded steel plate that supports the window track. At some point in the cars life the small wire that runs to this switch became bared (what lead to this is beyond me.) I am now convinced that this was the ignition point. The power coated steel directly surrounding the wire is rusted (as if by fire or electrical zapping) and the plastic on the inside of the stanchion has been heat brushed (the same look as running a cigarette lighter across something plastic.) Nowhere else on the entire car did flames ********* through a panel - even on the bumper.
Now here's the interesting point: at some point someone rigged the switch into its place. It’s clearly obvious that there were repairs made to the door (nuts were scratched up and tape was used to hold the weather-strip in place.) I have temporarily fixed the problem now, but someone (either at the factory or dealership or previous owner) used a small zip tie to hold the switch in place. This caused the setup to bend outward and towards the steel plate even more. I worry that if it were someone at the factory this could be a problem to other GTS owners. Realistically, since I never heard of this happening to another car, I'm lead to believe a previous owner or shoddy dealership half-azzed the job.
Just in case though, please, if you ever happen to overfill the tank, think before opening the passenger side door.
