Help! my Alpinas on fire!?!?

[knightmare]

well the central locking was working after the fire. it wasent till later on in the afternoon that it stopped working.

[knightmare]

Just did a 20 mile run in her and not a sign of anything

[jacko]

It seems what usually happens when the main box gets flooded is the central looking tries to lock and unlock itself about a thousand times a minute. It can be heard as a very fast clicking coming from the footwell, usually after you've locked it and walked away, hence the smoking but no sign of fire. it sounds like you got to it just in time but i would suspect at least one of the motors to be a melted but still working blob! I had to have my windscreen taken out to get in, and even then i had to literally rip the door cards off to get to the motors to open the doors. Then worst of all i had to smash my way through the rear light to get into the boot Sounds like you got off lightly!

[knightmare]

It seems what usually happens when the main box gets flooded is the central looking tries to lock and unlock itself about a thousand times a minute. It can be heard as a very fast clicking coming from the footwell, usually after you've locked it and walked away, hence the smoking but no sign of fire. it sounds like you got to it just in time but i would suspect at least one of the motors to be a melted but still working blob! I had to have my windscreen taken out to get in, and even then i had to literally rip the door cards off to get to the motors to open the doors. Then worst of all i had to smash my way through the rear light to get into the boot Sounds like you got off lightly!

I'm hoping it is just that box I have several spare solenoids and control boxes. from my other E30 in the past having problems with central locking. The bit thats doing my swede is being able to pin point it. if it starts again i may not be so lucky

[trevski]

We used to mess around with smoke pellets winding people up, we used to put them on top of the front cross member and once lit it sent smoke billering out of the bonnet gaps! A friend didn't eigher bother looking once and just filled his engine bay with White powder from his exstingusher , I don't think you can buy them now, we used to get them from the local plumbers merchants! Used to check for leaks in under ground pipes before the trench was back filled. Don't suppose any of your work mates are or know any plumbers!! Just a thought

(don't try this at home it's very dangerous and immature and could end in a ass kicking)

[jacko]

If it is the box you need to cure the water problem. There will be a drain hole blocked at the bottom of the sill. Was it or had it been raining quite hard when you parked it at work?

[knightmare]

We used to mess around with smoke pellets winding people up, we used to put them on top of the front cross member and once lit it sent smoke billering out of the bonnet gaps! A friend didn't eigher bother looking once and just filled his engine bay with White powder from his exstingusher , I don't think you can buy them now, we used to get them from the local plumbers merchants! Used to check for leaks in under ground pipes before the trench was back filled. Don't suppose any of your work mates are or know any plumbers!! Just a thought

(don't try this at home it's very dangerous and immature and could end in a ass kicking)

na even the fire crew thought it was electrical smelling and they probably know better than most what stuff smells like burning

[knightmare]

If it is the box you need to cure the water problem. There will be a drain hole blocked at the bottom of the sill. Was it or had it been raining quite hard when you parked it at work?

dry all day and car was dry this morning so probably did not rain over night

[Brianmoooore]

If the sill drains are blocked, and enough water gets in there to flood the locking ECU, it will activate the lock motors and the deadlock motors continuously and burn them out.
Never heard any reports of large quantities of smoke produced though.

[Brianmoooore]

Really should check if there's a second page to a thread before posting!!

[adit]

Was it or had it been raining quite hard when you parked it at work?

jacko, does he live in England?

[knightmare]

now im geting more lost

Opend the door this moring central locking opend.

Pushed the fob when i got out at work.. central locking locked

Its fixed its self?

and there has been some rain last night.

[knightmare]

Was it or had it been raining quite hard when you parked it at work?

jacko, does he live in England?

I live in wales boyo. Gods blessed land

I have to admit that its mostly blessed with rain though

[jacko]

Was it or had it been raining quite hard when you parked it at work?

jacko, does he live in England?

I live in wales boyo. Gods blessed land

I have to admit that its mostly blessed with rain though

Thinking back It was summertime when mine happened but I had washed the car the previous evening so there are enough ways to get water in there. I wouldn't have had a clue if it hadn't been for brianmoooooooooooooooooore! When i did get in through the windscreen the smell was putrid electrical, so i wouldn't entirely rule out that it was smoking during the night, especially having seen the state of all the motors.

Adit, point taken... will this rain ever stop!

[mattmk1]

As above. Exact same thing on mine. driving down the road, central locking began un locking and locking frantically, then smoke everywhere in the cab. Water had got into the central locking control box, and sent it haywire. The locking motors in both doors and the boot all fried themselves, took them out and there seized solid, black and charred!