Heh.

This is mostly a confession, and it has little to do with an El Camino other than that I own one.

A while ago my truck died (S15 GMC Jimmy, not my Elky) I fixed it. New iginition coil and module. It ran terrible. New O2 sensor... runs better but not good. I get brave, go off road... and shortly thereafer walk 3 miles home to call a tow truck.

That ordeal over I replace the ignition module again and it runs fine. NAPA testing of the old module shows good, but when they hand it back to me, they comment "damn, that's hot". So yeah, the ignition module had died on me again.

All that said.... tonight I was out driving around and the thing was hesitating and running poorly (well, at least to me. the passenger didn't notice a thing).

It seemed like a bad electrical connection.

I had just bought some electrical cleaner at NAPA yesterday.

So I stopped the truck. Put it in park. Nice low idle. Sounded nice.

And you know, with WD40 you just spray and look for the engine to miss. That shows a possible problem area. Water could be the next step.

Well, *my* next step was this electronic component cleaner.

*spray* *spray*

"shine the light over here", I say.

*spray*

(engine idle is the same)

*spray*

(engine lopes a bit)

*spray*

*spray*

*WOOF*

I step back as my jaw hits the floor.

Running to the driver's door of the truck I grab for the red cylinder. My friend yells "turn it off" as my left hand automatically rises to the key and my mind thinks "YOU IDIOT".

Simultaneously my right hand finds the target. I quickly return to the front of the car, rip out the key and pull the lever.

Nothing.

Then I remeber from schooling years ago... pull both levers as hard as you can.

So I do. And in a sudden blast of dust it was over.

After a momnet I restarted the vehcile and drove off, musing at my luck.

Stopping at a beach shortly thereafter, laughing at myself.... as my hand stroked my hair I noticed it rather "crispy".

*teehee*

So folks, the lesson is, electronic "cleaner" is way flammable.

Even moreso, ALWAYS carry a fire extingusher in your vehicle. Never in the trunk. Somewhere where you can easily grab it.

It took me about 20 seconds to kill this fire. Not even a vacuum hose singed. I was very lucky (and stupid)....

But my point is always carry a fire extinguisher in your vehicle. If you have two vehicles, get one for each. I have. And ... as of today, I need to replace one.

Just my two cents worth.

Keep the change. :)

I kind of hae to say this but.....

If your truck / car catches on fire under the hood and you notice that the paint os quickly turning black, don't open the hood get away from the vehicle.

Putting your hands under the hood to unlatch the hood or throwing up the hood could create a situation where your injured very bad, not just singed hair. Get away from it and, sad to say, let it burn. Its a little different if your woking under the hood but sometimes the fire under there is much worse than it looks with a closed hood. You can find another vehicle, you can't find a new face, hands or fingers.

I'm sorry to hear that your truck cought on fire. Keep good insurance.

My jeeps have one in them. Even my 14 foot fishing boat has one! And now my elky does too!!

ElkyPete, I hear you. And you're absolutely right. If you're driving down the road and you see the hood getting so hot paint is peeling off... stop, get out, get away from the vehicle and call the fire department.

However, I had stopped the truck, the hood was up, and I was spraying what I didn't realize was a very flammable substance on a hot engine (thus, Curacao Jack.ss :)

It burned for 15-20 seconds before I got it out and there wasn't a single singe mark on the plastics or wires, meaning it was still burning off the electronic cleaner when I put it out.

Had I waited, or backed off, the truck would have went up in flames with a full 100L of gas in the tank (I had just filled it). It has a small oil leak in a valve gasket so that would've certainly helped sustain the flames after the cleaner burnt off.

But, I'm not arguing with you by any means. The moment I saw flames I knew what I had done and that it was controllable if I acted quickly. Had I been driving down the road and saw flames from under the hood or paint peeling, I'd get out and run because it's already too late to save the vehicle... the only thing to do in that case is save yourself.