Dixonmatco wrote: I am putting my vote in for a piece of debris on the road that cut the tranny cooler line. This would explaing the "feeling" you had before the fire. Trans fluid spraying on the brakes would also have the effect of making them fairly useless. Did the brake pedal go to the floor or did they just seem ineffective? There is even a possiblity that a brake line got cut at that same time. A careful inspection by a qualified person should determine the cause of this.
The pedal went to the floor and stayed there. If you look at the photos, you can see there is nothing to inspect. The radiator even melted from the heat.
I agree the symptoms suggest transmission line failure.. You said: "Then the trans went, the car revved like it was in neutral."
This is, in fact, diagnostic
Had a fuel line failed the engine would not have reved, it would have sputtered and stopped, but a transmission cooling line failure would pump all the fluid out onto the exhaust (in your case, mine too for that matter, more on that later) and when that happens the Torque Conveter (Which needs that fluid to convert torque) will fail and drop you into the equivlent of neutral. Which is exactly what you reported happening.
So that is what happened.
In my case, years ago, when that happened, It did not catch fire, but it sure smoked!!!!!!!! All I needed was a length of hose, some clamps and some ATF.
But just so you know, save for the fire.. Been there, Done that.
OH, and the tranny cooler lines.. On my car they ran on the Passenger side, (I think that's here they are on my current ride too w/o looking)
Now, a suggestion.. Re: That useless (As it turns out) Fire extinguisher
Transmission line failure or if they get too hot a transmission can boil over too. This sprays the transmission fluid back under the car and catching fire if it hits the catalytic converter. The heat and flames blowing back under the car melts the hoses going to the back breaks causing break failure.
The engine revved after the brakes failed. First was the hesitation, then no brakes, then no trans. I was told that a pinhole would still feed the engine gas, and when idling, which i was doing, an engine will run a few minutes on the fuel in the lines.
FantasticFauna wrote: The engine revved after the brakes failed. First was the hesitation, then no brakes, then no trans. I was told that a pinhole would still feed the engine gas, and when idling, which i was doing, an engine will run a few minutes on the fuel in the lines.
This would lead me to believe that the vacuum hose from the engine to the power brake unit may have been one of the first things to go once the fire started. A large vacuum leak would cause the enging to rev up and the lack of vacuum to the booster would make it feel like the pedal hit the floor.
Ok let me be more clear in the order of events. I felt the hesitation/jerk, let off the gas and looked in the mirrors thinking a blew a tire on the trailer. I saw the flames. I started pulling off the freeway, touch the brakes, nothing. Then I touched the gas, and it revved. I did that to see if the tranny was good, I was thinking of engine braking. Then I applied the parking brake, which didn't even slow things down. The engine was idling, I turned it off and took the keys when I got out.
As for the insurance question, I only had liability coverage as per my agents advice, since the car wasn't worth much for its age. So I lost on the car, it's contents, even the cash we had in it.
FantasticFauna....do you have homeowner's insurance? Believe it or not, that MAY pay for the contents. It's definately worth a try. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss but am thankful you are all safe. How's your wife doing with the burns?
"I tried sniffing Coke once, but the ice cubes got stuck in my nose"
Dee & Bob
1990 Fleetwood 5er
2 cats - Donner and Dasher
12 grandkids
Quote: I don't understand the loss of brakes other than I don't think split brake systems became mandatory until 1998 in the US (I don't know about Canada) so if it didn't have the split system a burn through of any line could mean a total loss of braking.
About three decades off--dual-circuit brakes were mandated for 1968.
My money is on road debris taking out a trans cooler line.
John
1984 Ford B-700 school bus conversion, Thomas body
A bunch of other vehicles
3 nutty cats (Maya, Vierna, Briza)
One lazy dog (Marmaduke)
One wife (Liz)
"A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age"
-Jim Steinman
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