Is It True ? A P38 Is A Fragile Car To Get On Fire After Accidents !?

I Heard And I Read That P 38 Is A Fragile Car To Get On Fire After An Accident .. I Know That Any Car Could Have Fire After Road Accident , But What I Saw Last Sunday It Wasn't Normal : A P38 Had An Accident With A Little Car , I Think It's A Renault Clio , So The Little Car Was Safe , But The P38 Had A Fire In The Front Side , And The Airbags Were Out ..
Was That A Unique Situation ? Or It Could Happen ?
Any Information Please ...
I Love My P38 , But I Love My Little Family More Than It .

Regards
Charbel .

I wouldn't say its a fragile car but as you said, any car can catch fire in a smash. Drivers front corner is where the battery lives so if that got hit in such a way as to cause a short circuit then yeah, it could go up in flames.

so there's a possible danger more than other car !?

chabrolly said:

so there's a possible danger more than other car !?

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No not really, 90% of cars have the battery under the bonnet. It could happen to any car.

All vehicles go through stringent crash testing and if there was an issue with the range rover it would have been dealt with, either in production or recalled at a later date, thats why the "new" range rover (2002>) has a battery disconnect device which works in conjunction with the air bags, LR obvoiusly felt it was necesary to have it after the results of crash testing.

I think the rangie you saw was just unlucky. The owner may have done some dodgy electrical work on it? who knows? I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks ..
You Have Really Great Informations ..

Chabrolly,
I've been a Firefighter for 16 years now. In all that time, I've only ever been to one RTA where the car caught fire, and that was a mercslk which got hit HARD direct on the battery, had a ruptured fuel line, and arcing off the battery ignited the fuel vapour.

PS Thats 16 years in London Fire Brigade, at busy for RTA stations, and riding the ET/FRU's which are ordered onto ALL RTA's.

Hope this re-assures you,

Neil

If it aint reassured him its made me feel better as i do 60k miles a year on our ever more congested roads.

A P38 Had An Accident With A Little Car , I Think It's A Renault Clio , So The Little Car Was Safe

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What’s unusual about it is the Clio, it should have been crushed in the accident with nearly 2.5 ton hitting it, the fire could easily be a result of a battery terminal coming lose, and someone has previously smeared the terminals with grease (which is flammable) instead of Vaseline or petroleum jelly, and the spark could ignite the grease, a P38a is one of the safest cars built in the world (ok not the most stable ) and i would rather be in a P38a in an accident than any other car, and im sure most would agree about this!! so like has been said DON'T worry about it, your in a very safe car, fires happen, like ^^^ said you never know what a PO has done to the electrics etc, so thats why its important when YOU service you car yourself you follow the recommended guide lines as to what parts and lubricants you use (for e.g. in brakes what type, and what DOT you use) etc

Forgot to say folks, we've been called quite a few times to " car alight following RTA", nearly always turns out to be steam from the busted radiator, or oil/water/screenwash etc hitting the (hot) engine/exhaust and steaming off. I know the Gaylander has an unlock tied into the airbags/crash switch whereby the central locking disengages if either trips. Potholes can cause this on the GL....WRT the airbags going off, if we're working around a car after an RTA where they HAVEN't gone off, it frits us to death.We strap the bleeders down so that if they do go off they don't inflate fully. Not being daft, but a 10mph impact on the sensor is plenty enough to trigger an airbag. WRT the Clio being 'relatively' undamaged, more than likely the rangey just pushed it in front of it without squishing it, as you sed, two ton versus 'bout 2/3rd ton, no contest..

i really appreciate your experience
thanks
regards
charbel

No worries Charbel, I'd sooner be in any Landy in a crash, not just a p38..Thats one reason me missus loves our GL, I found some piccys on one site where a GL had got t-boned by a ten ton truck and rolled by it(in the states i think). Every panel was dented but not a mark on the inside of the passenger compartment-your average hatchback would have resembeled a banana after that kind of biff...I'll try & find the site for info...

thank you .
regards
charbel

i just took a leather trim from a gas p38 that caught fire after a medium front ender im going to fit a gas cutout switch on mine they are on ebay now about £30 no im not the seller just a worried lpg driver

alarmfitter said:

i just took a leather trim from a gas p38 that caught fire after a medium front ender im going to fit a gas cutout switch on mine they are on ebay now about £30 no im not the seller just a worried lpg driver

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You're now talking a different kettle of fish, in that an LPG fuelled motor has different considerations to a 'normal' motor in that you have potentially two igniteable fuels on board( assuming you disregard brake fluid, hydraulic oils, power steering fliud etc). However two things to bear in mind, LPG, diesel, petrol, other flammables, none will ignite without an ignition source. By that I mean a spark or flame. It is not true that a hot exhaust will ignite vapours/fluids, the most it will do is turn liquids into gas and thats it. Secondly, I think I'd spec in a gas cut-out into the lpg line, or expect the set-up to come with one already fitted in. Also make sure you have a makers/installers certificate for the lpg install, and please for the sake of us smokeeaters out there, please put a 'cylinders' warning diamond in the window of your motor, just so that we can see immediately that you've got an lpg install aboard...it makes a difference should your motor be on fire...Them lpg cyls do like to go bang in fires...

gas cut-out into the lpg line

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there should already be a cut off valve integrated within the tank itself. the idea is that should the lines become severed resulting in a flow greater than 'normal' this valve should cut the supply immediately. the reason this valve is integral to the tank is in case the crash is so severe that the tank parts company with the chassis (yes it has happened !) it will effectively self-seal.
the main problem with lpg is if the tank becomes exposed to heat from the vehicle being involved in fire it will vent via the blow off valve to keep the pressure from rupturing the tank.then it all gets a bit more scary.
if you really want some security from a fire started by shorted electrics then one of those kill switches the rally cars used to have is the go. they are like a big red key that you fit to a prominent external position. one flick and the battery is disconnected.
i recently attended a really nasty RTA and the crash damage to one of the vehicles prevented access to the under bonnet area so we could not isolate the battery. even though we were short handed on the job one firefighter had to be dedicated to standing between the team doing the extrication of the critically injured person in the other car with a charged line ready to protect us in case it brewed up.

incidentally it is mandatory here in aus. for any lpg equipped vehicle to have red warning markers on it's number plates to alert emergency personnel. the same principal now also sees green markers on the plates of hybrid cars.

Totally agree Pom, If your install is done correctly, you should have no problems, wrt batteries, agree about front end shunts causing access problems is a headache, however finding whether the battery is in the front or not is a problem in itself, certainly a lot of top end BM's & Mercs have the battery in the boot, and thats only off the top of my head...

Nice to hear from a fellow smoke eater, keep safe Bro...