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Almost lost the Dart tonight-fire.
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Author:  Davids63Dart [ Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Almost lost the Dart tonight-fire.
Let me explain, I took my 63 Dart out to the Wednesday Night Street Legal Drags at Sacramento Raceway on 3/12/08. I ended up losing in the first round by .009, but what happened afterward is what's bad.

As I was in the shut down area after making the pass, I smelled a really bad smell, (like burnt plastic), and as I was turning off the track, my eyes focused on the inside of the car, which was full of smoke. My first thought was that the engine or something had caught fire, and the smoke was working its way into the interior. I threw the door open, and I saw a flash of orange under the dash. I shut the car off and all the lights, etc. Then there was no smoke, no signs of fire or anything. I pulled out a flashlight and investigated under the dash. One wire was completely melted down. I'm not sure to what extent because it was dark out. I'm also pretty sure that it was the taillight circuit, because the taillights no longer worked after that.

I was able to start the car and put it onto the trailer though, thankfully.

I will investigate the cause this weekend.
Author:  Rob Simmons [ Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:49 am ]
Post subject: 
Yikes! :shock:

I'm glad it stopped there. Let us know what you find.
Author:  Andy's GT [ Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:06 am ]
Post subject: 
wow, glad the rest didnt go up!
Author:  66aCUDA [ Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:13 am ]
Post subject: 
Dave
Make sure you REALLY check hand over hand that burned wire. I thought I had fixed the burn part and 2 week later the whole dash went up. :( :(
I ended up selling the car :x :x
Frank
Author:  Davids63Dart [ Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:41 pm ]
Post subject: 
I checked it out. The wiring from the fuse box to the brake switch to the headlight switch, and about 1 foot beyond that are toast. Completely melted down. I think the brake light cirsuit actually caused the meltdown.

Here are some pics of the crispified wires.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
Author:  Davids63Dart [ Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:43 pm ]
Post subject: 
Since I'm currently using this car only for racing, could I run a hot wire to a toggle switch and then back to the taillights? I know the brake lights/turn signals wouldn't work, but I really only need taillights for the time being.
Author:  Rob Simmons [ Fri Mar 14, 2008 1:51 am ]
Post subject: 
Hey David,

If it's just for racing and all you need is the tailight you can do just that. :wink:

I just wired the taillight direct to the "key on" hot wire so that the taillight is on whenever the key is on. I didn't want to have a toggle switch that I would inevitably forget to turn off and run down the battery. :roll:

I like the K.I.S.S. principle 'cuz I'm kinda simple (and the second S too) myself. :)
Author:  cudaspaz [ Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:11 pm ]
Post subject: 
Glad it stopped there when it did.

I had a buddy back in the mid 80's restify his ChevyII with just about everything except for you know what.

Yep, his dash harness.

He went out and bought a case of beer, and on the way home he got some smoke from under the dash, and he pulled over to investigate but it kept burning and smoke was billowing out of the vents.

He had a fire extinguisher handy but it did not work since the problem was buried too deep in the dash and the whole car eventually burned to the ground.

He sat on the hillside and proceeded to drink as many beers as he could while he watched it burn.

The car had a killer 400 small block and he just had it painted like a candy bronze color.
It was a gorgeous car with super shiny chrome and cragar SS wheels.

I felt really bad for him because he was a great guy was was really cool with us younger mopar guys too, and everybody liked the way he did not talk smack and he babied his car.
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