Can a car blow up when the engine catches fire, will the gas tank cause an explosion if it is full ?

Question

Can a car blow up when the engine catches fire, will the gas tank cause an explosion if it is full ?

Answer 1

The answer depends on what you mean by "blow up".

I've seen engine fires. Basically flame shoots out from the engine bay. But there's a "firewall" between the engine compartment and the passenger compartment, thus giving you time to stop the vehicle, open the door, and run away. Then the car will simply burn. It won't blow up.

Same with a gas tank. Blowing up is Hollywood BS. Gas VAPORS may ignite, but gasoline by itself is not explosive. Why do you think we have "fuel injectors" and "carburetors" for the engines? To vaporize the fuel!

Mythbusters tested guns on gas tanks. They have to use a rifle (M1 Garand if I remember right) and incendiary rounds and multiple shots to ignite a SMALL fire in a gas tank.  I

Answer 2

no wont explode designed not to,and a full tank is better than a partial tank ,because the gas liquid does not burn, its the fumes that burn...

Answer 3

Under the right circumstances anything is possible but it would be very rare that it would happen unless you are driving a Ford Pinto.

Answer 4

Depends exactly what is "blowing up" in the vehicle. I assume that you have a fuel injected automobile.  If there is an accident and the pump doesn't turn off then fuel will continue to spray at high pressure (>30+ psi), assuming a line rupture occurred.  This would lend itself to creating a self-perpetuating fire that would tend to grow as it consumes plastic, paint and the associated materials as it burns through the firewall into the auto's interior.  This is exactly the issue that can lead to an explosion....not typically from the gasoline in the engine compartment coming from the fuel line but from the refrigerant and associated fluids under the hood.  You have AC refrigerants, battery fluid (water/sulfuric acid), powersteering, brake fluid and coolant resevoirs etc that contain materials that are constrained within a vessel.  Heating any material within a closed vessel lends itself to a potential explosion if heated long enough to a high enough pressure.  Your AC system could see pressures as high as 300+ psi if heated and could explode as would the above referenced items.  Not that any one or more would....they just have the ability to if heated.  Shrapnel from these objects as well as battery acid medium and additional flammable fluids like brake fluid and powersteering fluid could be introduced into the flame from the gasoline leading to a rather unexpected shrapnel filled fireball as well as toxic fumes and the associated.  

As far as the gas tank...you should see the episode from the mythbusters on TV...They put an end to this Hollywood myth some time ago.  You can check it out at discovery.com.....mythbusters.  Very highly unlikely due to the lack of the inability of the gas in the tank to achieve the right air to vapor ratio to actually explode.  More likely to have the gas leak out and burn once it is outside the tank.