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Minor Crash Causes Devastating Fire?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by ecowan, Jul 10, 2009.

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  1. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    An uncle of mine had a 1968 Ford Fairlane 500 that he ordered with a 390 V8. That thing had no problem melting the rear tires
     
    #21 jayman, Jul 10, 2009
  2. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    I would like to see a photo of the Prius.
     
    #22 dogfriend, Jul 10, 2009
  3. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    My first thought was that the battery is wayyyy in the back but the impact was wayyyy in the front. I can not imagine how the battery itself could be responsible. Once you turned the power off, there should be no power running through the bright orange cables. However, if there was damage to the system that somehow disabled your ability to fully shut down the car then maybe leaking fuel hit a bare wire. I know that you mentioned that the impact was up and away from the tank but, as was mentioned, the fuel lines run up the right side of the car. so perhaps a severed fuel line leaked gasoline onto exposed wires. Or perhaps onto hot metal.

    As for the emergency response manual. I carry a copy in my glove box.

    And in case you missed the part about the airbags, the Prius physically severs the power connections to the hybrid battery upon airbag deployment. This is a safety feature. So the fact that the airbags did not deploy eliminates that.

    I'm glad to hear that you are okay. I hope the gun shy members haven't scared you away. And since no one has said it yet, welcome to PriusChat. :welcome:
     
    #23 TonyPSchaefer, Jul 10, 2009
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  4. ecowan

    ecowan New Member

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    I do have photos for the purpose of insurance, but not on my own camera, so I'm waiting for a family friend who happened to drive by shortly after the accident to e-mail them. I will post them here as soon as they arrive.
     
    #24 ecowan, Jul 11, 2009
  5. Jabber

    Jabber Chicagoland Prius Guy

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    I'm actually stunned that the airbags did not deploy when the car rolled over... I thought that was automatic with all Toyota products. I'm going to have to look into this one..
     
    #25 Jabber, Jul 11, 2009
  6. Randall Rash

    Randall Rash Member

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    Consider this: In a typical car the engine would have been MUCH hotter and caught fire before you got out. Thank goodness the Prius runs cooler BECAUSE of the battery assistance and delayed the fire!!!:D
     
    #26 Randall Rash, Jul 11, 2009
  7. Bica2go

    Bica2go New Member

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    See pages 117 -119 of the manual. The front air bags are set to deploy if the impact with an object (tree) exceeds a threshold level equivalent to 12-18mph. They don't inflate with a side, rear or rollover. 'Sufficient forward deceleration' is what triggers the front air bags. It's sort of ditto for the side curtains.
     
    #27 Bica2go, Jul 11, 2009
  8. timberwolf

    timberwolf New Member

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    Does the following description from Ecowan really mean a roll-over though? To me a roll-over means rotating the car at least 180 degrees onto the roof. This description sounds more like one side of the car slide a litte way up the trunk of the tree?

     
    #28 timberwolf, Jul 11, 2009
  9. Jabber

    Jabber Chicagoland Prius Guy

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    I was under the impression that anytime the car/truck/suv goes more than about 65 degrees, the system assumes an imminent roll over. Whether it goes on the roof is irrelevant at that point. Some trucks even come with a button that disables the roll over point for extreme off roading.
     
    #29 Jabber, Jul 11, 2009
  10. timberwolf

    timberwolf New Member

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    Okay, so 65 degrees for an imminent rollover. Thinking about I am going to revise my definition of rollover to mean anything greater than 90 degrees.

    PS Did the tree survive?
     
    #30 timberwolf, Jul 11, 2009
  11. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    With a car laying on its side or upside down, how about all that windshield washer methanol and engine oil running out all over the hot motor?
     
    #31 jayman, Jul 11, 2009
  12. ecowan

    ecowan New Member

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    Here are photos from my dad after the car was towed, I'm still waiting on the ones from the actual scene of the accident.

    Pictures by ecowan37 - Photobucket

    The car hit the tree from the right front side (on the wheel well), and pushed the car up on it's side. From there it slowly tipped down to rest on the road on it's right side.
     
    #32 ecowan, Jul 13, 2009
  13. ecowan

    ecowan New Member

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    As you can see, the air bags did deploy once the fire started and after I was already out of the car.
     
    #33 ecowan, Jul 13, 2009
  14. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Most car fires are caused by short circuits in the 12 volt electrics.
     
    #34 patsparks, Jul 13, 2009
  15. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Wow, thanks for providing the photos. Glad that you were not seriously hurt and that you got out of the vehicle as quickly as you could.

    The airbags would not deploy upon impact since you hit the tree with the RF fender and not with the front bumper where the sensors reside.

    Do you remember whether you had turned off the car after the accident? If the car was still READY, the fuel pump would continue to run and if a fuel line had broken and fuel contacted the exhaust manifold or other hot component, this would allow a fire to start.
     
    #35 Patrick Wong, Jul 13, 2009
  16. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    Interestingly the shoe seems standing up to the fire pretty well.
     
    #36 2009Prius, Jul 13, 2009
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  17. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    Have you figured out how exactly the car went off the road and ran into a tree? This can be a good learning opportunity for everyone. Did your right hand unintentionally turned the steering wheel while your left hand was swatting the bug?
     
    #37 2009Prius, Jul 13, 2009
  18. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    Special Nomex and concrete construction.
     
    #38 dogfriend, Jul 13, 2009
  19. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Do you think this one will be rebuilt and sold as salvage: "New upholstery!" :D

    Sorry about your car, but happy that everyone got out okay.

    Tom
     
    #39 qbee42, Jul 13, 2009
  20. bestmapman

    bestmapman 04, 07 ,08, 09, 10, 16, 21 Prime

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    Why is this assumed in the first place to be a battery fire. It is probably more a fuel fire.
     
    #40 bestmapman, Jul 13, 2009
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