We are very saddened to report that the lovely 1974 DS23 5-speed (carbureted version) of Daniel Noiseaux caught fire on the way home from the Saratoga Springs Rendezvous on Sunday June 17. It happened in Montreal after a long drive in 30 degrees celsius temperatures. A fuel line burst apparently… (Same old story. People really need to check and replace fuel lines that are 10 years or older).
We don’t know if the car is salvageable or not, the fire brigade put it out but it looks heavily damaged in the engine bay and interior.
The burn was recorded on video. Here’s a link to the movie if you can bear to watch it:
What a shame!
Be sure to check the fuel inlet nozzle on your carburetor for looseness or leakage. The fuel hose (8mm or 5/16”), runs upwards from the fuel pump to the carburettor and is clamped to a tubular brass fitting, where it joins the inlet strainer housing of the carburettor. This fitting is an 8mm diameter tube with a plain smooth outside surface. In manufacture, the fitting was pressed tightly into the soft die cast alloy housing. With time, heat and vibration the soft alloy housing becomes “relaxed” and the tube becomes loose in the hole. This can leak fuel, but worse still, it can drop out. If this happens while driving, fuel continues to be pumped out onto the hot engine, resulting in a sudden and destructive fire.
One solution is to ensure the brass fitting is secure in the carburetor gas inlet then use a 3″ long scrap of Ligarex band that you wrap around the carburtetor and a hose clamp that you attached to the fuel line going into the carburetor. Like in this photo:
Sad end to that DS23 after an excellent weekend. The firefighters didn’t seem to be in much or a rush, either. Some components will be salvageable… but not much…
What a sad sight indeed.
I do not mean to be insensitive or greedy. is any part of the body recoverable? I just saw the firefighter destroy the front left fender what about the front right fender? Would the front left fender repairable?
Sincerely
There doesn’t seem to be much said about this incident …
Here is my write up into one of the DS list members, however I know nothing, just basically shared this same news with many of the online clubs…
I have been hunting for answers, but nothing really forthcoming , in fact this new is too new, no one at the Saratoga Springs rendezvous had known about this incident, I think that I was the first one, I had got the news from our local CCC (Citroenvie.com) and had passed it on to the others, including the various Citroën related groups on the FB , hoping to learn from someone as to what may have caused this fire, but nothing.
One person had said that one of the Silver DS parked on the grounds had a smoke coming out of, I.e behind the speedo cluster/dashboard, but she had soon reiterated that , was it not a fuel injected DS? Hence it couldn’t have been the same vehicle etc.
As this one was a carburetored one, that had got cooked.
My thoughts on this one:
isn’t there anything , I.e fuel smell, or a minor hiccup to let the driver know that something just doesn’t feel correct?
For example , that big ((STOP)) lamp in the centre of the cluster is a part of the Hydraulic circuit, this lights up in the event of the hydraulic blood pressure being low, to warn the driver to pull over and examine….
but then this is only for the hydraulic system, whereas it would have been better to have had a variety of sensors for each of the system failures, all connected via logic gates to feed the same lamp, only the difference being that it could carry a different coloured LED and or a Multi-coloured LED to differentiate the nature of the problem/s.
Thereby letting the operator know, something is not correct, same difference.
I had often wondered about the setup in the carburetored DS’s without a fail safe devices, I.e the fuel cut off valve at both ends , I.e the feed into the carburetor as well as the fuel uptake from the fuel tank , if such a device could have been fitted?
Then it would have stopped further fuel being dumped into the carburetor, another fail safe idea.
With the case of the Efi, say a CX , this have the Big Blue fuel supply or cut off in the event of an accident, does work wonders.
It’s main idea is to cut off the fuel being injected to the fuel rail, in the event of the ignition issues and or at the cranking of the engine, certain pulses won’t hold, the relay have a timer circuit that would cut off the fuel pump, though in this case it is electric.
But in the carburetored DS, the mechanical float could have been devised to feel into a similar fuel cut off , I.e fuel uptake from the engine and or cut of the fuel feeding the chamber of commerce ..
Sorry if I am thinking aloud …
>Then, perhaps, wish that one had not used original-style felt to control sound under the bonnet …
>Also, I think there is felt behind an aluminium panel insulating the firewall on the posher variants? Good if this could be >non-combustible, too …
Yes, my thoughts here is to have used a fireproof blanket, as opposed to just deadening the engine noise.
There are other circuits that can be incorporated into the engine noise, I.e via noise cancelling of the same.
As soon as I dig and find out more on the subject, as to what would have caused the fire, I will report back under the same
Sincerely
Prakash
Carry a fire extinguisher!