teknomage Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Yesterday about 2 in the afternoon, from my shady back yard I heard a KABOOOM! I jokingly said to my buddy that one of the tires on his truck just blew up. He, was like ah hell no racing up the hill to investigate. Well joke was on me, I had thrown in a can of fix a flat. It was laying on the carpet under the rear hatch that happened to be south facing where I was parked. Apparently the high plains desert sun striking that can excited the molecules to the point the container could no longer contain their excitement and the molecules rapidly escaped as the crimped bottom failed. The body of the can rapidly accelerated in the opposite direction and went right through my drivers side window. As fix a flat expanded all over the inside of my car forming a sticky / stinky layer of uggh. Any good ideas for cleaning and lifting fix a flat without damaging the interior? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8_DatZun Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Ah man that sucks. I had a can of paint do that in my ZX. Luckily it didnt get any windows, BUT it sprayed black paint all over the place. Also luckily for me I'm redoing all of the interior also... I'd check their website or the can for suggestions on removing from fabrics.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan5138 Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Hmm the same thing happened to a friend back in high school. Except he left a can of axe on his dash, and he had a nice hole in is windshield. As far as clean up goes, try some mineral spirits. Its great at cleaning up gooey messes and it doesn't damage plastics and vinyls etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Wow, that's gotta suck. Gook luck getting it cleaned up. I was thinking about getting some of that stuff for my Z.....maybe not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue72 Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Wow, that sucks. Tried Simple Green on the interior? I hope you can find another d-side window soon too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teknomage Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 Well I got it all cleaned up yesterday, took the whole day but got it. When I finally got past it and took a good look at the mess I found it was not all that bad. Everything kinda blatted into the rear passenger corner, when the bottom jumped off the can (I am just glad it was not aimed at the dash). I was also lucky in that I had a thick blanket laying over thewhole rear deck and carpet with the back seat down for my mastiff, kept it out of the carpet, that blanket is now a shop throw now... Does anyone know if the window out of a 76 2+2 will fit a 77 2+2? Interestingly when in the door to clean up the glass bits, I found I have a power lock kit installed that is part of the car alarm, so the included key fobs can lock and unlock the doors. I think I will be checing out enabeling them I tried 409, green, orange, no go.... I tried alcohol, mineral spirits they kinda worked but SLOW...... Ended up using up a tall can of engine degreaser, and a pile of shop towels, applied with vigorous elbow grease. After the goop was lifted I went back with 409 to lift the thin oil the engine degreaser leaves behind. To clean the rear I removed the hatch, making everything easier to reach. While I had the hatch out I carefully removed the old bubbled, dry, cracked window tint and re-tinted. Still stinks in the car, so I will be doing weekly cleanings for a while with armor all and a fresh pine tree hanging on the mirror..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S30TRBO Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Lesson I learned from this: ~Always carry a functional spare tire. ~Leave the fix-a-hole-through-your-window crap on the shelf at the store. It could of been worse, it could of happened while driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slammed68 Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Had it happen with a can of AC recharge stuff.. cracked my window and the can went under the seat. Had no clue how it happened until weeks later LOL.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Mileski Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I have a can of fix-a-flat in one of the little compartments behind the seats in my 240. I wonder what the aftermath might be if it detonated in there? Mike Mileski Tucson, AZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HakosukaJD Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Never use that stuff....just too dangerous. When I was administering a lab course at a local community college, we would show a video during the shop safety introduction (not sure where it came from) of a tire shop mechanic using a tire machine to remove a fix-a-flat tire without venting it first (presumably to save time). It almost killed him. The propellant in those cans (as is the case with most aerosols) is quite explosive.... Fix-a-flat, I believe has changed their propellent to a non-explosive one (although the internal pressure of the cans are still pretty high). Not sure of what other brands to trust. I would rather avoid it altogether.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eec564 Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I just had a can of soda explode in the rear of my Z today. I bet it made around 1/20th the mess the fix-a-flat did, not counting the broken window. Glad I caught it, as I was about to take a different car away for the weekend. My solution to flat tires (my spare is okay, but it's as old as the car so...) is to carry a patch (plug) kit and 12v air compressor. Works great, keeps your valve stems from getting gummed up, and can fully fill a tire every time. Fix-a-flat doesn't always have enough in it to bring a tire up to a reasonable temperature. I know the kit isn't what they like to do today, dismounting the tire and using a flat patch, but I've never had a problem with plugs. -Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avernier Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 i wor for a tire shop. fix a flat can ruin a tire. also, it makes the hole unrepairable nearly 50% of the time. do not use this stuff. very unsafe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Another word of caution on that ♥♥♥♥. It says do not air tire after putting it in the tire. DONT. had a guy at work that thought the tire was still to flat and wanted to put some air in the tire. Well i guess the stuff inside didn't like this and immediately exploded the tire and pieces hit the kid in the face sending him to the E/R. he even read the instruction and thought just a little air wouldnt hurt. well it did... literally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starfishdata Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Good thing you werent in there. That can would have taken your head off. I had a party horn explode on the dash of my work truck while pulling out of a hotel parking lot after five hours in the south florida sun. Its a good thing that the dash on that box truck slanted away from me because it went off with enough force to remove a good portion of the windshield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 This totally sucks for you. I've used many a can of Fix a Flat in my day, but I have long since sworn them off if at all possible. I am in the "plug kit and 12V pump in car at all times" camp.. BUT... this brings up an important point. Best reason to get a 76 or earlier: Full Size Spare FTW. On another note, I think that a windows from a 76 will NOT fit your 77, because the doors were revised in 77. I know the door redesign was carried into the 77-8 2+2s, and I would imagine that the window glass is different, but I can't say for certain. Try looking it up on MSA or BlackDragon/Victoria British website. If they list different parts for the year range, then yer boned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I personally would not even use that stuff. Any extra fluid not plugging your leak will throw the tire off balance when rotating. And yes, any can will build pressure and blow up. Seen an energy drink do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin_haru Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 thanks for the heads up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddmanout84 Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 I had a can of green gas (airsoft) do this in my Z while I was at an event in SoCal. Luckily it rammed into my dome light and destroyed that and the plastic embellishment instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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