[alfa] Re: 164 fuel leaks and fire hazard

[Nicky Avery <nicky@xxxxxxxxx>]

Jeff,

> I'm curious does anyone know at what temperature gasoline ignites and what
> is the typical temperature of an automotive exhaust system? I could be
> completely wrong about this (wouldn't be the first time), but my feeling is
> that the exhaust is not hot enough to ignite the fuel, which leads me to
> believe that a spark would be required to send a car up in flames
> spontaneously, no?

The ignition point of gasoline is about 495F/232C and spontaneous
ignition will occur at 536F/280C. Both temperatures are well below a
muffler and far below a cat. converter (400-500C operating temp.).

In the early days of motor racing a number of drivers were burned and
killed by fires resulting from gasoline spilled on exhaust manifolds and
pipes.


Peter,

> My point is no one should tolerate the smell of gasoline from any car.  It
> seemed to me that a few 164 owners had complaints of gas smells coming into
> the passage compartment.  It also seemed to me that they where very
> complacent about it.
Oh, no. I reread what I wrote and I didn't express myself as well as I
should. What I meant to say is that I won't dump my car because it has
an intermittent but controllable problem - I'll control it and
immediately. (In fact I haven't needed to since this afternoon when a
slight smell of gas indicated a clamp on a rail pipe hose had worked
loose.) I have no desire to have a burned car or, worse, burned travelers.

> I only had the car for about
> three months so I do not know the pervious owners maintenance habits.  Nicky
> (I' m sure you did not mean me)
You're absolutely right!

My comment was general and referred to the possibility that one of the
pairs of hands that worked on your car in its lifetime before it reached
you had modified your car or used an improper replacement part.

> Did you know that the routing of the fuel lines
> from the factory come close enough  to the converter for fuel spray to hit
> it?
No, that's what I was wondering. Clever design! I think I may want to
take a look under mine.

> I think that your playing with "fire" if you know a fuel
> leak exists and put off fixing it.
No argument from here!

Nicky
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