Marin

iTrader: (1)

Seem to have had a lot of butts thrown from cars in front of me recently and they bounce down the road in a shower of sparks. Got me thinking, is it possible that one could lodge in the engine compartment and ignite the general oil and crap that accumulates in there? May be being paranoid but you never know...

classic_sti

nah doubt it mate,it would have to land on petrol to ignite so if you havent got any petrol leaks i wouldnt worry.

scoobydooooo

no , they tried it on " myth-busters " and it was bull***t , it's just hollywood bravado !!

stiginger

i think it has to be a naked flame to ignite petrol

Jap2Scrap

It also has to be petrol vapour. You could put a match out in a bucket of petrol, the flashpoint of the liquid is surprisingly high.

Disclaimer: Don't try this at home. You will ignite the vapour!

RRH

That wasn't how it worked on the A-Team, although that may have just been cigars

blueangel

Too True,are old saab combi blew up when some thug decided to chuck his mucky end at it still lit up,kaboom,the shiitter.

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

If it came though your window and landed on your seat it could set it alight then! I've heard of this happen when drivers throw a cigarette out of their window and have the back one open, it can loop back into the car and burn away.

Gutmann pug

It makes me want to carry a pack of cigs in my pocket and drop a lit one on someones bonnet while they are stationary. There you go, see how you like it

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

IIRC, wasn't the Mont Blanc tunnel fire started by a thrown cigarette butt that was sucked into a lorry's oil-soaked air cleaner? The rush of air raised the temeprature to flashpoint, and whoa!

Alcazar

gpssti4

iTrader: (6)

Errrrrrrrr, no you can't. There will always be vapour sat on top of the liquid, so it would ignite. If it was a bucket of diesel then I agree, but not petrol. (I know this from my days as an apprentice!)

craigdmcd

iTrader: (2)

A fire investigater once found a Merc that had caught fire when a lit cigarette ended up in the air filter box and set fire to the paper element, and was subsequently kept lit by the increased airflow. Mercs do have very short intake tracts compared to scoobs though.

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

apparently you can cause a fire or explosion if you use you mobile at the petrol pump

Shark Man

Most easy thing to set fire is brake fluid - just needs heat and off it goes.

However, you'd have crashed long before from having no brakes

Fuzz

Mate of mine (drives a tanker lorry) showed me the error of my ways about fuel and what sets it off..
Took a drag off his ciggy and then opened the can of fuel I had in my garage and threw it in. I was a bit

But he was right... thank ****.
The garage didn't burn down.


Andy

Shark Man

I still wouldn't advise welding near an open fuel tank

Lets just say, even though the tank was empty...it still made an impressive bang when it blew up

Turbotits

iTrader: (2)

Exactly empty tank = fumes, When the tankers are being welded there always full as the liquid is much harder to ignite.

Shark Man

I also dry out flooded engines with a chef's blow lamp...remove spark plug, aim blow lamp down hole and stand back

Fuzz

Been there on a landy petrol tank (had to alter it to fit a conversion I was doing)

Emptied it, filled it with water to the brim tipped it out, flushed a bit more water in it, sloshed it around and tipped that out...


Still went BANG when I got going with the MIG though, frightened the **** outta me.


Andy

Shark Man

Strangely, mine was a Landy too

And I had washed it out too. It even had the lid on filler (lightweight)...spark went down the 1" hole for the pickup pipe

Fuzz

LOL mine was a lightweight too... but I had sense to leave the lid off.

The tank became a jet engine with a two foot dark blue flame coming out the lid for a couple of seconds.

WRXewl

iTrader: (1)

Nope, that was also busted on Myth-busters. It was only possible on a US pump and static charge in the persons body but the mobile did nothing

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

You know those great big mobile phone transmitters? They sometimes hide those in the petrol station's price signs so using your phone won't do any damage if they don't!
BBC NEWS | UK | Shell to reveal hidden phone masts

windyboy

Hands up, I did that one day whilst trying to burn autumn leaves in a metal bin.

BOOM !!!!!!!


Windyboy.

Abdabz

I once lit my fart with a lighter. I couldnt light a dump though so it seems the vapour theory is indeed science...

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

NorthDave

This exact scenario happened to me when I was 17, in my dads new volvo. Luckily it landed in the back foot well on a rubber mat. My dad didn't smoke and didn't know I did. One of my mates found it later that night when I was giving him a lift home.

I doubt I would be writing this now if it had burnt the back seat!!!