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Car Fire... never thought it would be me

Old 08-19-2016
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Car Fire... never thought it would be me

Forgot to post this on here... this past April, I was driving home from work and i noticed when ever i hit a bump i would lose power for a second and it would come back... figure maybe a lose terminal or something.

about 1/2 mile from my house as a slowed for a stop light the power cut and never came back.. i managed to roll to the side of the road to inspect it.

popped the hood and lifted the latch, and right before i grabbed the hood rod i notice the other end was resting on the positive terminal sparking pretty good. the other end (bottom) had rubbed a spot in the paint clear through to bare metal (so it was on the (+) and grounded to the frame.) I tried knocking it loose with a stick i found near by since i figure the rod was hot but it wouldnt budge.

at this point the rubber on the rod started smoking and eventually lit up. i decided to drop the hood and call 911. By the time they arrived the entire front end was burning pretty good. 10 mins with a fire-hose and it was out.

This past winter around January i purchased a new battery from Autozone. I put it in in the parking lot of the store and handed them the old one. What was odd was that the orientation of the terminals was different. The old battery terminals were to the back of the battery and the new one they were towards the front... My battery box was quite loose and i guess when i stopped short on the highway the battery slid forward and made contact with the rod.

This car was supposed to last me another year or so... ill miss it... bought an 07 Acura TSX 6MT the following week keeping it in the family.
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Old 08-19-2016
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Re: Car Fire... never thought it would be me

that sucks dude, at least you're ok

looks like they sold you a 6th gen civic battery, same size but the terminals are flipped
Old 08-20-2016
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Re: Car Fire... never thought it would be me

battery from Autozone
Sue 'em for selling you the wrong battery.....Then watch them countersue you for installing the wrong battery, knowing full well it did not match the battery you removed from the car.



Kidding aside, I'm glad nobody was hurt

I actually see this incorrect battery situation with alarming regularity, I've always wondered why I don't hear about more of these cars burning to the ground because of it.
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