307 fire hazzards shown of BBC

The fire hazards of the 307 bursting into flame due to faulty ignition switches, was screened tonight by BBC Watchdog prog. The duff switch leaves itself in the ignition position, thereby causing the starter motor to run constantly. Result - FIRE. Plus that luvly plastic bonnet melts all over the engine. Write Off. Resale value - nnnnnnnnnoooooo. Resale value of an unaffected Pug 307 - Minus £3000 because general public only remember That's the car that goes up in flames...

WOOOSH

Reply to
whoosh
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If you heard the starter motor turning constantly wouldnt you just switch the ignition off though and get it fixed? Or am i missing something?

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

didnt see the programme, but surely if it 'leaves itself in the ignition position', then its gonna to be quite obvious that the starter is still turning. even if your a complete nonce and only think 'what a strange noise' and pull over!

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

,
Reply to
Mindwipe

Twas Tue, 2 Sep 2003 19:38:59 +0100 when "Carl Gibbs" put finger to keyboard producing:

Not sure I'd hear the starter moror turning over the noise of the engine, I've bench tested starter motors befoore and they are not very noisy compared to an engine.

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

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mr.niceATsofthome.nethttp://community.webshots.com/user/mrnice106___________________________________________________________

Reply to
Mr.Nice.

Even Pug didn't try to reject claims for New Cars under that twaddle. Engine noise, road noise, tyre noise, kids, radio, etc., Yep I sure listen to my starter motor.

Whoosh

Reply to
Whoosh

MMmm I don't think its the noise of the motor you'd notice, but surely you'd hear all the din when the bendix gear engaged with the flywheel. Anyone whoes ever tried starting a motor when its already running (ahem!) will know its not a quiet business.

jim

Reply to
djimbo

Surely the point is, those who have already fallen victims of this PUG Know Problem, had their lives threatened, and the other road users around them, and their cars destroyed, let alone the mental health issues of being in a speeding car that catches fire. If it were not for the BBC program yesterday evening, I would not be any the wiser either. May be I should have done like PUG and kept the news to myself.

Whoosh

Reply to
whoosh

Hello,

Yes, but we are responsible people, we all know there may be a problem. The fact is, Peugeot made a wide communication about it, proving they know, they care and they cure (2-hours job). Having a look to sales will show it's all right for them, having proven in the past that a known problem was often cured.

Sure your 307 won't suffer of any depreciation, once fixed. Just show the receipt, if the buyer wants to show it.

Regards, G.T snipped-for-privacy@worldonline.fr

205 Diesel & turbo-Diesel :
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Reply to
G.T

Ah GT glad you put in an appearance. I missed the BBC show. If you know, perhaps you could explain what this faulty switch is doing to the starter? Is it just the spring failing in the switch causing the possibility of it drifting from ON to START while the engines is going? or is it the contacts for start 'freezing' in leaving the starter connected from startup. (or what??) There's a lot of emotive rhetoric flying around, but not much information.

jim

Reply to
djimbo

Hello,

Damn, when I visited the Sochaux plant, the guide told us the bonnet was made of aluminium.

Regards, G.T snipped-for-privacy@worldonline.fr

205 Diesel & turbo-Diesel :
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Reply to
G.T

I do appreciate what you are saying GT, but my concern is that Joe Public will not even bother to read my ad for 307, because "in his mind he only remembers some bad news". Unfortunately This Is the Way the of the Myth. So he is not going to turn up and see a great car, fixed and paperwork complete, full history, loving owner, etc., he is just going to look for a different Marque. Leaving only "educated few" and existing Peugeot owners as potential buyers.

Whoosh [ the sound my 307 makes when going past the lesser hatches]

Reply to
whoosh

AFAIK it is made of aluminium. And it was mentioned as such on Watchdog.

Reply to
Nigel

Would it be possible for that to melt under the heat of the engine bay fire? There was definitely something that had melted and draped all over the engine. Could it be some sort of lining from the underside of the bonnet?

W
Reply to
whoosh

Hello,

I was about to answer that. My brother (yes, the one with the DTurbo) was on a training at an Audi main dealer when an A8 was stolen. It has been fired by the thugs, and nothing remained of the car when it came back to workshop... Wheels out, roof lowered at the dashboard's level... (the A8 is fully made of alu).

Regards, G.T snipped-for-privacy@worldonline.fr

205 Diesel & turbo-Diesel :
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Reply to
G.T

aluminium melts at 660.32c or 1229.58f which is hotter than most 'open fires' can produce. Your average gas oven can only make 250c. Central heating boiler makes 400c in the flue (expelled gases).

Reply to
SimonDS

Many years ago, when we didn't have electric kettles, I was always putting our Aluminium Kettle onto the Gas Stove & then forgetting about it. When I used to come back the kitchen was full of a bluish smoke & molten Aluminium used to be running around on the top of the cooker (with very large holes in the bottom of the kettle!!

I would suugest that direct flames, produced by Electric/Petrol fires can exceed your figures.

Regards, John

Reply to
John J. Burness

So in other words we would be just as well of with a plastic bonnet anyway Cheaper to replace, more people friendly in collisions, and less energy to produce it, and it would melt a bit quicker and hopefully give vital secs more notice to stop.

Whoosh [ the sound my 307 makes when going past the lesser hatches]

Reply to
whoosh

looked into it a bit further. iron melts at 1500c steel around 1500c also aluminium 660c BUT lower grades as low as 520c. Obviously it will begin to 'sag' below this temp and the confined space of a engine bay must create a furnace effect and produce high enough temps to melt the bonnet. Bottom line is i may be wrong (not often someone on this NG says that!)

Reply to
SimonDS

AFAIK the wings are made from plastic. I was chatting to a colleague the other day whilst standing next to his 307 and leant back against the wing and the bloody thing caved in under my weight. it popped back into shape ok though.

Nick.

Reply to
Nick Shreeve

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