Fire, Brakes and a hell of a scare

[FloridaCliff]

Hey all,

What a couple of days.

Headed out on the first leg of our trip to Stone Mountain, stopped at a rest area and the parking brakes wouldn't release.

Found out the DD3 that I did't replace started leaking past the diaphram and it was enough to not let the pressure build to release the brakes.  Luckily I had a decent portable compressor and with it on my shop air input I was on the road.

Another job too take care off when I get home. Don't let it spoil the trip, right.

Stone Mountain was great over the fourth, head out to Cherokee, NC.

A big accident with a two trucks sandwiching a lexus sent us on 76 with many 7-8.5% grades.

Put it in second a climbed fine, though slower than I was used too(my first time in the mountains in the bus)

Coming down a long grade my wife says the bedroom is filling with smoke, after several(long) minutes I am able to find a place to stop.

Find that the decking is on FIRE under the bus by the muffler.  I had recently done an onboard fix near the top and the extra pressure from my repair caused a week area in the side to open.

I had just bought a hose hooked to my fresh tank for washing and boy did it come in handy.

We made it down the mountain and into the KOA at Cherokee with only a few minor issues, but at least I am stopped and will survey the repairs needed tommorow.

I am going to try to temp it somehow to get home and then that &*^%$# muffler is going out of there forever.

Anyway, my blood pressure is almost down to 1000/800, wish me luck and I will be giving NCBob a call for some local parts and pieces procurement on Friday

Cliff

[plyonsMC9]

Thanks for the post Cliff.  Please let us know how this progresses, and if you discover something we need to be on the lookout for!!!  Very glad to hear there wasn't a tragic fire.   My blood pressure would have been Waaaay high too under those circumstances.

Best Regards, Phil
 

[JackConrad]

Cliff,
   Glad to hear that it was not any worse. Keep us posted and enjoy the rest of your trip.  Jack

[Christyhicks]

Wow!  How exciting!    I'm glad everything turned out ok!  Looks like I'll have to turn over my mantle of "OMG YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED!" to someone else !  Yipee!    hahaha Just kidding!  Had the exact same thing happen w/a stick & staple one time. . . sure did get that heart rate up!   Christy

[FloridaCliff]

Update,

Found I have about a 1' circle of completely burned out of 1" original plywood to the passengers side of the muffler.

My floor is 1' original, 3/4 foam board, 3/4 new.

The CO that could have resulted from the foam board chills my spine.

Spoke to Ncbob this am, we are going to get together on Saturday and get some parts etc....

We are here, safe, and I have a week to repair, or longer if I need.

Thanks for the replies.

Cliff

[JackConrad]

Cliff,
   That is scary!.  When ioscyanate foam burns, it gives off cyanide gas, much worse than CO.  I guess we all need to really inspect everything on these old girls. Anything this old can have problems and they are easier to repair at home.  Glad everything is working out OK.  Jack

[Dallas]

Cliff,

Cat and I have sent up a prayer of thanks that you and the family are safe!

Please be careful on the rest of your trip, and give Julie and the Kids our love.

Dallas & Cat

[kingfa39]

I had a freind with a 4905 that the same thing happened to, he was able to get it under control, guess the muffler on the 05 is nothing to fool with. fires are a real nightmare, i had a generater fire yrs ago 3000 miles from home that came very close to getting out of hand ( fuel leak) didnt sleep the rest of the trip.
Frank Allen
4106

[plyonsMC9]

So what is the thing to be learned from this?  What actually caused all the burning?  Was it a hole in the muffler?  If so, then I'm thinking muffler inspections need to be diligently performed.  I already learned the hard way about fuel line inspections & rubbing hoses against the engine surfaces.   

Best Regards, Phil

[Ncbob]

I had an exchange with Cliff (Florida Cracker) in the Chat Room this morning before I went over to AL for the day and another this evening.  A side note: Don't depend on Cell phones here in the mountains unless it's Verizon...and the not too much on that!

Thanks to MAK for the Chat Room...it serves multiple purposes..in this case communication where phones don't work.

Cliff and family are safe and OK in the KOA in Whittier, NC...about 20 miles from me.  I'm planning on picking him up in the AM and we'll move Heaven and Earth to safetly repair everything we can so he can be assured of a safe trip back home.  If necessary I'll move my bus out of the barn and we'll put his in for whatever repairs are needed.  Like you, I was concerned about the toxic gas from the blueboard or whatever it was he used.

We'll take pic's, which I will give to Cliff, and he can assemble whatever scenario he wishes to have to prevent something like this happening to somone else.  My first concern was for his wife and the children...his answer was...they're rocks!  Somehow I'm sure his way of handling things like this has some bearing on that.

Rest assured that we'll do everything in our power to straighten out any problems, or potential problems he might have.

You'll hear no more from me...I'm just going to try and be 'the good hands people' and get this thing done.  Any furthur reports will need to come from Cliff....I'm just a helper.

Bob

[Danny]

Thanks for the wake up - the thing I got out of this was the fact that he had a water hose that was able to be used.  Sounds like he was prepared    I will remember this point...

Danny

[mak]

Had the same fire in my GMC. Why they placed the muffler in the center cavitiy of the bus 6 inches from the floor is beyound me. I too was lucky to catch it before it spread, but what a pain in the  a... location for a muffler. They did move it out in the newer models. Glad you and the bus made it. 
Footnote. If I remember, it is held up by one bolt in the center at the top... a real nice thing to get to. I think I cut a hole in my floor, not sure, it was 20 years ago.
mak

[Sojourner]

Sure glad everything is under control....getting fire out!

Praise the Lord!

Please read new post in regard to igniter's temperature of combustible material.

FWIW

Sojourn for Christ, Jerry

[FloridaCliff]

UPDATE

Well I was able to get a good look at the source of combustion and it was the muffler.

It had developed a small hole just beyond my original repair and shoot the 700 deg exhaust gases straight up into my plywood floor.

Lesson 1-700 deg gas and plywood don’t mix

I will be patching the area with a temporary metal patch and building a metal deflector that will attach to the cross members that they muffler hangs from

The deflector is being made out of flat sheet with a piece of metal roof trim on the edges to help deflect the gas down(if needed) This should protect the floor if any other leaks or my patch don’t hold on the way home.

If all else fails I have a 2” metal hole saw and I will turn the bottom of the muffler into Swiss cheese.

I will be removing the muffler for replacement/repair/redesign when I arrive at home.

I would like to thank all who responded, especially the chat room folks(You know who you are) who suggested I take advantage off the situation and have a cook out.

Last but not least I want to thank Ncbob.  What a great guy.  Comes out and picks me up, takes me all over the mountains to hunt down my material list, loans me some tools, and made my family feel great knowing we have friends in the Busnut community who will go above and beyond when we need there help.

I know this saga isn’t over yet, but I feel 100 times better than I did the other day.

Cliff

[NJT5047]

Cliff,
Every time I leave for a day or so, stuff happens! Sorry to hear of your travails with the bus...sounds like you are resolving  problems as they arise.
Glad to hear your exhaust problem is manageable.  Isn't this the second time for the exhaust to cause hot-spots?   Can the muffler be removed?  Use a section of pipe?  Don't know how noisy it would be, but it'd be less likely to break. 
All new exhaust system would probably outlast the coach.  May strip your wallet too. 
Both GM and Eagle coach owners gotta keep up with their exhaust systems.  They are both adjacent to flammable decking where cracks and leaking will start fires.  Didn't Dave Galey have a similar issue with his Eagle?
The exhaust routing and placement is one area where MCI excels...pull a muffler and exhaust pipe from an MC9 in 15 minutes...and the whole system is visible for easy inspection. 
What's the deal with the brakes?   Were you able to find something to repair the DD3 with? 
Hope to see you and Julie and the chil'uns at Timmonsville!
Cheers, JR