With a couple of horrible posts the past few days of projects going up in flames I'd like to here everyone's thoughts on the most common preventable causes. For example, I'd never heard of the horizontal coils popping being a thing.

On my list are plastic fuel filters after the pump. I had one pop on my Karmann Ghia years ago and burn the rear half of the car to a crisp. I don't want to repeat that again.

One thing is for sure... I'm going out and buying a fire extinguisher.

 

I wonder if the "new" crappy ethanol laden gas has anything to do with it?

Luckily I live near Lake Fork so there are a few places that carry ethanol free gas that I keep in ours until it becomes a daily driver.

From what I have heard, and correct me if I am wrong, in modern cars the ethanol issues really don't have time to develop because we use and refill the tanks on a regular basis.

I got a fire extinguisher last week.

 

Don't use low pressure fuel hose from the pump to the carb, either use hard line across and terminate to carb barb to barb with FI barrier hose ( don't use worm drive clamps. They must be shielded clamps to avoid cutting the rubber)

Don't use fuel hose or single wall hose for the transmission lines or power steering return lines. Use tri ply oil resistant hose cooler hoses.

Don't mount any oil filled coils horizontally

Any wires, hoses or lines that are close to heat or abrasion should be in silicone heat tube or abrasion sleeves.

Don't use switches without relays, always make sure the circuits are fused, instead of running hots to the switches run the negative side of the coil through to ground. Makes shorting out less risky and removes arc potential.


Those are my basics.

 

Were these oil filled coils not a problem in the 70s?
How do I know if I have one?
How would you mount it if not in the horizontal position on the intake manifold?

 

Keep in mind a certain amount of juice flows through the primary ignition circuit, the primary winding of the ignition coil, no way around it they get hot.

Many OEMs have mounted coils horizontally over the years with no problems. However, they weren't bargain basement junk POS coils AND they had a ceramic wire-wound resistor or ballast wire in series with the circuit to knock down the current flow (heat). If you want to know how much current is flowing through your ignition use OHMS LAW. Lots of people throw coil and distributor ignition systems together without understanding fully the whys and wherefores. Points type ignition is limited to about 3 amps. Electronic ignitions can handle more, but make no mistake there is a number on it that can't be exceeded, or it will fail. Low ohm coils and straight battery or alternator voltage is a recipe for some heat, with the wrong combination it won't matter a whit what way it is oriented, it's going to fail guaranteed.

The preferred method when a coil is mounted horizontally is that the + and - terminals are aligned with the 3 and 9 o'clock position. This keeps the wiring bathed in the oil.

One thing that has me kind of puzzled. In the older points type ignition if the engine is not started but the ignition key switch were to be left in the RUN position, and if the points just happen to be closed - it won't be very long before the coil gets VERY hot and spews oil and wire everywhere under the hood, and the points will burn up too. Great way to get stranded back in the day I bet.

The reason this happens, is because of excess current (heat) through the primary circuit, through the primary winding in the ignition coil. When the engine is actually running, the coil isn't "on" 100% of the time, it's operating at about a 66% duty cycle in a V8 (as the points open and close). This drops the current flow or amperes to an acceptable level. This is a well known problem, and it's why the ACC switch position was invented.

Except, nowhere have I ever seen this mentioned. Not in my Ford publications anyway. Not in the Operator's Manual, and not in the Shop Manual. This is an important enough "feature" that you'd think they would have had a WARNING about that.

ALWAYS have a fire extinguisher in your truck, in your garage, ready and available. Especially once you've seen the pics on the websites of nice old rigs crispy crittered, what's your excuse? And no, not one of those cute little jobs that fit on your keychain. Get a real fire extinguisher and mount securely.

Another wise practice is to disconnect the battery - the NEG terminal on the battery, especially whenever acquiring a "new" old truck or, whenever any truck is not in regular use. Particularly if you have an attached garage. Old wiring, old splices, rodent damage, any electrical short is bad stuff.

 

The problems were not as rampant, the OE coils were packed in a much better fluid ( Most contained PCB's) and they were done and sealed under vacuum. That is no longer the case with the new coils, all of them have a unknown fluid and almost all have air trapped in them. You can shake a new coil and often hear the slight slosh inside. The air bubble ends up at the highest point so when mounted horizontal the windings start to overheat ( made worse with improper resistor) and the heat builds inside and the pressure blows the lid. If you want to keep a horizontal coil use one that is rated for horizontal service such as a epoxy coil or do a dry firewall mount coil.

 

On my 76 F250 it wasn't a coil. The PO had just had some work done on the truck. Speedo cable, oil change and fuel filter at wally world. They installed a fuel filter made for flared fittings and just clamped the hoses on the ends, did not install barbs. Needless to say at a local gas station, one end started to spray, and we all know what happened next.
Luckily they had fire extinguishers handy. Bubbled paint on the hood and all the wiring and hoses melted underneath.

So to pose a question. What is everybody running for extinguishers? What size? Where is it mounted?
I'm at a point I need to get one.

 

The larger one lives in the Garage. Have another one just like it in the Kitchen. The smaller one is mounted in the truck passenger side foot panel. It's important they are installed securely, they are hazardous in a collision if they start flying around the cabin. Baking Soda is good on grease fires too, I think it helps smother flames by producing CO2, it's not just the powder. Maybe that's what the "dry chemical" inside these is too? It's really corrosive stuff, so clean it up fast.

One thing I read by a fireman is they have to be put out early, or forget it. He said it's not unusual to roll up to a car fire completely consumed, with 4 or 5 empty extinguishers laying around. So don't delay, familiarize yourself beforehand with how an extinguisher works, and make sure anyone who operates your truck understands where it's at and how to use it as well.

 

Preventative maintenance is your first line of defense. This includes following the manufacturer's installation recommendations such as always mounting oil filled coils vertically (never horizontally b/c that fails to sufficiently cool all components). Someone suggested coil failure as a likely suspect in these recent fires. There is little to no evidence that this was the case, at least not at this date. Maybe more factual info will be posted in the near future.
Fire extinguishers and other tools for reacting to unanticipated emergencies are your second line of defense.

 

One thing I'm familiar with is how to use them. We carried two 20 pounders on the trucks when I drove for TSMT. I'm looking for the best size and place to mount it.

 

I've seen a few mounted where the map pocket is on the drivers door. That or maybe on the cab wall behind the seat? I'd definitely want it somewhere I can grab it quick.

Edit* or maybe like this pic between seat and door

 

Where are people with FE's mounting their coil? I believe my setup is stock and it is mounted horizontally on the intake behind the distributor. I've seen some that are mounted in the front of the block on cars, but that is where my AC compressor is. Back on the firewall with an extra long coil wire?

 

Behind the seat a definite NO-NO. Take to long to get to. I like the idea of beside the seat or maybe on the transmission hump.
Does anyone know if the 2 and 2.5 lbs. ones are refillable?

 

If they have a metal handle & housing, I believe so yes. The smaller extinguisher in my pic is 2.5 lb; they make chrome ones too. Those cost more, natch.

 

Good thing I'm not into chrome. I've been pricing them out. I know I want one with steel mounting bracket. I just trust them more, the bracket.