[Pc_Support] I love Walmart ...

[Bryan J. Smith]

On Fri, 2006-02-03 at 17:23 -0600, William A. Mahaffey III wrote:
> Well, as a degreed ME (Mech.Eng. MSME Ga.Tech, Fall 1984, specializing 
> in prime-movers (Carnot- (gasoline) & Diesel-cycle piston cylinder 
> engines, gas- and steam- turbines), and more recently, solid-fueled 
> rocket motors), I'll provide any informed speculation I can if needed 
> :-). Could you be a bit more specific on where the fire was & what was 
> burning (oily rags, oil/gas/other-fluids spilled on or leaking from/on 
> engine, etc.) ?

According to the Mazda dealer, there's no permanent damage to the engine
compartment.  They couldn't tell much from the rags, but when the rags
fell, they fell into a puddle of water at the 7-11 (it's been
overcast/raining for the last 36 hours or so).

The best guess now is that the rags I picked up off the ground after
throwing water on the fire and knocking them off of what looks like the
exhaust manifold was the cause and sole "fuel" for the fire.

So, in a nutshell, we thing it was rags left on the exhaust manifold.

It looked like the starter was engulfed in a fireball, which is right
next to the exhaust manifold.  After I came out from getting a couple of
jugs of water from 7-11, the fire was down a bit, and what I initially
thought was some hanging/burn insulation, wire or some other material
was the clearly charred rags I picked up.

Again, when I threw one gallon underneath, one of those rags fell down.
Another fell down after I threw the other gallon at the back of my
engine near the start/exhaust manifold.

I drove ~15-20 miles home without incident.  I'll keep my eye on it.


-- 
Bryan J. Smith   mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org
http://thebs413.blogspot.com
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