was on a mini related web-site and read a post tonight about a cooper catching fire in U.K. Hopefully, this is an isolated incident...
Apparently,operator stuck in heavy traffic idling 40 minutes with AC on.Smoke appeared under bonnet and insulation on hood began to melt along with a few plastic parts on top of motor.Best guess by operator was a malfunction in the ac compressor causing it to overheat??? I know absoloutley nothing about AC systems except how to turn it on to cool off. Can anyone explain what could of happened to this chap???I would think it would be rather cold in England this time of the year. Seems strange for him to have the AC on in the first place?

 

There wasn't a Dalak around was there?

 

That reminds me of when I was 18. I was driving my 64' bug down the road and all of a sudden my back seat caught on fire. It really scared the hell out of me. It ended up that the battery messed up somehow and caught fire. Was it a cooper with the battery in the front or back?

Frank

 

I think that there's only been one reported instance of a underhood fire here on MCO, and that was possibly (although this was hotly debated) the result of animals building a nest somewhere under there. That was back almost a year ago. There was also a picture of another car that had burned upfront, but no details on who or how. Point is, I wouldn't worry that this is a common problem. Sure, cars catch on fire...it's possible that something electronic could go south and start a fire. There's lots of stuff under the hood of any car to burn. BUT, is it more likely to happen in a MINI than any other car? Not that I know of.

 

Monster Garage had one while building their MINI machine. Granted it was an external cause and the bonnet was up at the time and it was quickly extinguished with a coke and two gatoraids

 

Does this mean the MINI is "Hot Stuff"?

seriously tho, I hope this is a chance occurance, I'd rather not have to carry a fire extinguisher with me in the car, narf!

 

i remember a while back on ebay, one of those companys that buys cars that are totalled and turns around and sells the vehicals for huge discounts was selling a electric blue mcs. everything looked fine on the outside, but if you looked at some of the pictures and read the descripition there was an engine fire....could barely even reconize everything under the hood. it had no info about how it happened or anything...wish i still had the link.

 

>>Monster Garage had one while building their MINI machine. Granted it was an external cause and the bonnet was up at the time and it was quickly extinguished with a coke and two gatoraids