On Thu, 9 Feb 1995, Steve Johnson wrote:

> So Brian Zigler-Geis says:
> > 
> > >and there on the other side of the carraigway was a
> > >nice red bug with an engine fire.
> > 
> > This may have been covered, but what exactly causes the infamous Beetle
> > engine fires that consume so many?
> > 
> 
> I'm not sure why it's a stigma with VWs.  All cars catch fire.  Maybe the
> Beetle/Buses are labeled because those vehicles sold the most over the
> years and so it goes that they should have the most horror stories.  I
> really don't think it's anything to do with the design.  The fact that
> it sold to people with minimal incomes and typically would hold off
> or completely ignore replacing things like the fuel lines would tend
> to be a factor too.

Failure to replace aging fuel lines is certainly one reason, but I have
two other theories, first, many VW's are on their 2nd/3rd carbs and many
of theses replacements are "Hecho in Mexico/Brazil".  I had a bad scare
with one of these when the tube that the gas line attaches to on the carb
came out of the carb casting and sprayed gas all over the engine.  No fire
but quite scary.  I believe the quality controll on these carbs is low
enough that this may happen more frequently than is realized, but since
"carb meltdown is inevitable in any engine fire, seldom found in the post
mortem. 

The second reason engine fires are more of a threat in VW's is that being
aircooled the temperature of the engine is higher on the outside, thus any
spilled fuel is more likely to hit a hot area and vaporize.  In any event,
the one thing every car owner ought to have under the front seat is a fire
extinguisher. 

					H Steven Dolan
					dworkin@netcom.com