Ric,
Same thing happened to our 93 EV GL on our way home from a camping trip.
Only our A/C system was ruined, though. The fire was traced to a faulty air
conditioner pump that seized up and caught on fire. Thankfully, I keep a
fire extinguisher strapped to the side of the driver's seat. We had both
kids and the dog in the van when it happened. Talk about a Chineese fire
drill! One thing we learned is that insurance will not pay for damages unless
they are caused by fire, so make sure you tell the insurance company that you
saw flames, or they will say it was a mechanical problem, and they won't pay.
We (and witnesses) saw flames coming out of our engine compartment, so
insurance picked up the $2,500+ in repair costs.
Good luck
Todd Vess
93 EV GL
90 Passat
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
In a message dated 9/5/99 5:17:43 AM, rgolen@... writes:
<<Last night got to use my fire extinguisher....unfortunately it was on my 93
EV (which I've owned since new...). I popped out to buy my wife a little
surprise, and was heading home on the highway doing about 70 when the A/C
vents started to blow out thick black smoke. I put the EV in neutral, shut
the engine down and tried to slow down into the breakdown lane...NO BRAKES!
I used the emergency brake to stop. Grabbed the extinguisher popped the
hood a crack and began spraying and then fully opened the hood and put the
rest of the fire out.
It looks like a good part of the hoses and wiring in the engine compartment
are toast! Hopefully the EV can be put back together.>>
