Way back in August we were going to drag the caravan down to Cornwall for a week-end break. As I was placing the gas bottles in the caravan the car alarm sounded - quietly. I thought it was so far in the distance, I didn't take any notice. Then it stopped; and started again. I looked around to see the car with smoke emitting from under the bonnet. I ran to the tailgate to get the fire extinguisher out, but the car was locked, so I ran indoors to get the key, got the fire extinguisher and I opened the drivers door to gain access to the bonnet release. Got it open just a little bit, enough to locate the fire and let rip with the extinguisher. What a mess, powder everywhere. Turns out the ni-cd battery pack on the supplementary alarm had shorted out and caught fire. I just managed to catch it in time before any real damage was done. It could have been a lot worse, the car could have been in the garage overnight parked next to our Polo. The caravan is parked right next to the garage, and then there's my workshop! Doesn't bear thinking about. Needless to say, we didn't go that weekend.
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| Integral alarm and battery pack. Burnt to a crisp! |
And now it's happened again - well almost. This time the car was booked in for a Winter Safety Check two weeks ago, but we couldn't get the car there because of the floods, so it was re booked for Friday. Now I knew it was going to cost me because the last MoT test commented that the brake discs were pitted. So, new discs and pads all round, PLUS a change of cam belt and idler pulleys, apparently there's a nasty knock, and a vacuum hose has split; advised not to drive it. I'm worried what they're going to find next. Any way, I can't have the car back until Monday, so we've lost a couple of days aboard TQ. Oh well, 'it happens.
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