The Story

"On the commissioning of the complete renovation of our American Imported VW Bay Riviera Campervan, I made it a priority for the air cooled engine bay to be protected from an engine fire after seeing the results of a similar campervan fire at a local garage. Firetrace offered exactly what I required and I purchased one of their devices.

The camper engine a type 4 VW 2 litre had been suffering from low oil pressure at idle and I had booked the camper in with my engineer for the fitting of a new oil pump.

Unknown, however, was the fact of the twin Webber carburetor floats that cut the fuel to the engine, were very slightly dripping fuel in the same principle as a toilet cistern cut off, that was seeping over time into the engine and mixing with the engine oil, causing the oil mixture to become thin and creating the low oil pressure.

I had slightly overfilled the oil to ensure lack of oil was not the cause of the problem of the low oil pressure.

My engineer is located less than 10 miles away from our base and when I started the journey with the engine still cold there was some smoke in the exhaust I assessed was as a result of the slight oil overfill.

After just one mile into the journey, I became aware of a slight increase in smoke coming from the rear of the camper followed by what sounded like a misfire and then the smoke cleared. I carried on for another mile and then pulled over as a matter of routine to check the oil level.

To my surprise the Firetrace system had activated. I had been completely unaware there had been a fire in the engine bay. The plastic grill that protects the internal air -cooling fan had become warped and melted by fire and there was a little smoke damage to the white paint above the engine and that was it!

I then carried on driving to my engineer’s premises.

The powder wiped clean with a pack of wet wipes the only other parts needed were two new air filters for the carburetors.

Thank you Firetrace. We keep a fire extinguisher in the rear cabin but once I would have been aware of the fire it would have been to late to prevent serious damage. Plus I had a full tank of fuel.

I would not go anywhere in our campervan without a Firetrace system installed in our engine bay."

About Suffolk Camper Vans

Suffolk VW Campers is based in Offton Suffolk and hire out  “Harold” a 1976 VW Bay Camper van to those looking for  a camping experience with a difference.

Click here to find out more on our motor vehicle suppression systems or call 01473 744090.