Fire! (Design fault?!)

[PetrolTed]

Driving back from Scotland I noticed a bit of a burning smell after I'd been going for about 2 hours. Looked around the car as I drove and no smoke so assumed I'd just driven through a smoky area. Smell persisted so I checked all the gauges, checked the brakes looked in my mirror for smoke and nothing so carried on for a bit. Smell persisted so I pulled off the road and inspected the car. Brakes ok, nothing coming from under the bonnet. No smell outside of the car though. Carried on for another 20 mins or so and pulled off to take to the B roads. Decided to fill up with petrol first (gauge now totally useless!). Filled car up, got back in and could smell burning again. Even thought I saw a wisp of smoke from the passenger seat. Moved my jacket rather rapidly (parked amongst 24 petrol pumps!) and still nothing. Emptied all the rubbish from the passenger seat and footwells and still nothing. Checked under the bonnet again - nothing. Baffled! Started car up and moved about six inches before remembering that my sunglasses were in the boot and that they might be quite useful. Popped the boot open and smoke comes billowing out!!! I turn off the car, leg it around to the boot and pull out my bag of clothes which is now burning big time! I leg it to the side of the petrol station with the bag and opened it to see what was burning (nothing electrical in there). I realise then what has happened. I had set off in the morning with the roof off, sidelights on and my bags in the boot on top of the roof panels. My clothes bag was resting on the number plate light. This 'clever' design has the carpet cut away on the inside so that the bulb can double up as an interior light for the boot. Trouble is it's not shielded, it's just a bare bulb. My bag sat on that for three hours. It burned through the bag and set fire to my clothes inside. Had I not popped the boot then, things might have been a tad more dramatic (especially if the aerosol can had exploded on top of the petrol tank). So be careful when you're packing your boot! Edited by PetrolTed on Friday 24th August 01:39

[johno]

Ted, Unlucky mate ! Thats a harsh way to learn a valuable lesson. I've packed the boot that tight so many times, so I've been very lucky. Glad to hear that it's only clothes that got burnt and not you or the car. How did you manage to put it out ? Do you not carry a fire extinguisher ? Cheers Mark PS - Did you solve your coolant leak ?

[PetrolTed]

I filled the bag with water from the air/water point in the garage. I will be buying a fire extinguisher though! About to go have a fiddle with the cooling system again now...