Michael, I don't think you read my post correctly or if you did, it didn't sink in.m_2975 wrote:Got an update on Injector pricing. 22Pounds (AU$55) each! That's a bargain. Even cheaper then having them cleaned.
Given the design of the BX engine, it's not really that easy for petrol to drip onto the exhaust. It's also quite unlikely that the heat under a BX bonnet is going to combust the petrol vapour.
We're not talking about a CX under the bonnet here.
Michael
We HAVE HERE 2 BXs that have done exactly that and we're not talking petrol as a fluid, we're talking petrol as a vapour. One exploded to such an extent that the fire got back into the cabin.
What happens is that these "O" rings originally were the black rubber variety which hardened with age. They then leak as many do after about 5 years and this is often where the perol smell under the bonnet comes from.
Eventually, the O ring splits and then proceeds to spray raw fuel, by which time the entire under bonnet area is loading up with petrol vapour. The vapour is more volatile than raw petrol due to its mix with oxygen, the exhaust is almost red hot, way beyond the flash point of petrol vapour and as the car is slowing down usually at an intersection, the vapour ignites.
The ignition sounds like a dull thud as it's cushioned by the bonnet and with the engine still running, the flames are fed a diet of raw petrol and by the time the driver wakes up that there's flames starting to lick out the side of the bonnet, the entire underbonnet area is covered in petrol, this included the insulation on the firewall, underbonnet insulation as well as all the plastic insulation and spaghetti on the wiring harness. By the time the bonnet is lifted, (and hairs removed from the arms and hands in the process) the flames are jumping about 3 - 4 feet above the engine and if not extinguished within a minute or two are back into the vent ducts and heading back into the cabin.
That's the description from a couple of guys who've had them go up on them and is why we sometimes see the odd BX, Pug 205/405 and XM sitting all singed in Auction yards with "Statutory write off" stamped on the windscreen. It was also the description of the guy who used to own our series one 16V which suffered the same fate, so anybody working on theories and/or living in denial, does so at their own peril.
Alan S