Explosion in my trunk - scared the hell out of me!
 

Was driving home tonight, doing about 75....i was talking on the phone and something that sounded like a large firecracker or a pipe bomb exploded in my trunk, as so it seemed.
scared the hell out of me....i though i also saw a spark.

do you think i just hit something on the road, or something hit my car? Car runs well...no problems.

any ideas? I checked inside the trunk when I got home, everything looked normal.
:confused: :confused: :confused:

You didn't freak out and pull over??


Guess that call was just too important.

Look for gouges/scratches under your car. That sucks!

actually, i told the guy on the phone i had to go, something exploded under my car...

then i kinda pulled over and slowed down in the breakdown lane, didn't smell any smoke or see any fire so i kept going, and made it home ok.

Sounds like the battery shorted out or the positive wire is shorting against the frame or something...I'd pull the carpet and check it out.

Tim

Did the probe hurt?

LOL

Check your battery and your alternator charge at different rpms. If a battery is being overcharged it can vent hydrogen gas which is highly explosive. The small amount generated by a battery could easily product the flash and bang you described.

If the battery and alternator are ok, and it does not look like you hit anyghing, maybe try an exorcism.

what is the likelyhood that the gas tank could explode and kill me?

I had a similar explosion in my trunk, but then again, my brother DID pull my finger......:D :p


Check it out thoroughly, hope all is well with your ride.

I had a torsion bar break on my 914 many moons ago whilst sitting at a traffic light. Scared the crap out of me!
Very loud "Bang,Snap". The front end will drop on the broken side if that's the case.

Pretty much zero, unless you're a Hollywood bad guy.

I'm really NOT an alarmist, but DON'T just gloss over this !!

ESPECIALLY if you saw a flash !! My first thought was to check the battery (or in my case batteries). While the odds of your fuel tank exploding should be very low, you don't want to be the small other percentage !!

Check the fluid levels in your batt as well. If it's old consider replacement.

Richard,

The battery is relatively new, bought it last year.

Did your battery light come on? I had a fan belt break and it sounded like a gun went off. I couldnt tell if it was the front of the car or the back, at the time.

what the other guys said about your battery being overcharged. Get a volt meter and check at the battery with the engine running at 2K rpms. If you are reading over 14.25 volts you are overcharging your battery!

lose the phone

I'd check the battery. If that explodes, which they can, it can be an ugly mess to clean out of the trunk.

100 cc of hydrogen gas would not fill a coffee mug and if it combusted would be unlikely to cause damage unless in a tightly confined space smaller than the boot, but it would produce a flash and a VERY loud bang. It is the flash you saw that points me in that direction. The small amount of hydrogen produced by a battery will not blow your car up, but as Masraum says, if it blows up the battery, you will have a he** of a mess.

Checking underneath the car is also good advice. Maybe you drove over a small and incompetently prepared IED. (don't tell the NSA I said that).

Had a battery explode once, granted in a Sirocco, put a heck of a bulge in the hood.