Re: 91 200tq FIRE

[Frank Stadmeyer <stadmef@connix.com>]

Boy am I glad I've got a good sense of smell.  That's what tipped me off to
look in the rear view mirror to see a wisp of smoke from the speaker and
shut off the radio. The smell still lingers though.

Has anyone got any ideas about how to prevent the burning once the speaker
goes bad?  I'll take mine apart when I get a chance to see if I can figure
out what went bad.  

What would be a replacement for the speaker/amps that might be reasonable
in cost and work with the stock head unit?

Frank Stadmeyer


At 08:32 PM 6/6/99 -0400, Eric Geller wrote:
>This post stopped me dead in my tracks.  Had been re-reading past posts and
>thought my situation was unique.
>
>20 April 1999, the exact same sounds came from the rear speaker of my 1991
>200 tq - but the car went up in flames(!!) and is a total loss.  I was
>driving when this occurred and by the time I got out of the vehicle it was
>full of black, acrid smoke and I was holding my breath while pulling over.
>Not fun.  Did a stupid thing and opened the trunk (luckily no flare-in-face
>effect) and clearly witnessed speaker as the source of the fire.   10 days
>short of owning it a year.  Major bummer.
>
>Local Audi dealership was great (I had them doing most of my repair work on
>this beast), but AOA has shown legalistic unresponsiveness in three
>escalating rounds of communications.   Had the vehicle towed to Key Audi in
>Jax, FL from the scene of the fire, and AOA never sent a rep over to see the
>vehicle, despite repeated requests.  They state the car is too old, the
>sound system is aftermarket (well... aftermarket Pioneer CD changer, but was
>not "on" at the time...) and that this is entirely a matter between me and
>the insurance company.
>
>The sounds had manifested earlier in April and was looking to get speakers
>from another lister, so had gotten this info off one of them:  "Bose Rear
>R.Le. 205 964 3103 441 035 412B"
>
>Then, 20 May 1999 spouse gets t-boned by a '99 GMC Suburban; her Buick is
>totaled and she gets a nasty smack in the head.  I dropped the Audi issue
>entirely at this point, and haven't come back to it until I collected my
>1,000+ pieces of mail from the list.
>
>At first, test drove an A6 Avant, and then various other Audi's.  But after
>AOA's attitude, I'm through with Audi's after 12 years driving them.  At
>this point, I can't even stand looking at them.  Yesterday bought a '96 Olds
>LSS.  The most ambivalent car purchase of my life.  Wife is doing better,
>gotta get her wheels next.
>
>I suspect that Audi of America is very likely to be hearing of or from me
>once again.  Would anyone care to share their experiences regarding the Bose
>amplified speakers in this series vehicle?
>
>I'm a professional in my 40's and never had an accident (and technically
>still haven't) or engaged an attorney for other than contract and estate
>matters.  I don't think I'm being a jerk here - was looking for some level
>of responsiveness from AOA, not early retirement to the Cayman's.  Excellent
>insurance but out several thousand, I've got better things to do than
>concentrate on this crap, yet it sure seems to me that a collectible (?@#$#)
>like this '91 200 TQ shouldn't simply have gone up in flames.  This is my
>first post regarding this incident.  Judging from their behavior, it looks
>like AOA wants word of this incident to spread far and wide.  Other data and
>video is available.  Photos likely to follow on the web site at some point.
>
>Ok, there's the public purge.   Thanks in advance for any advice or further
>info.
>
>Eric Geller                        Jacksonville Beach, FL
>'96 Olds LSS
>'91 200tq      (burnt & not on Gerd Klauss's conscience)
>'87 4000csq  (sold)
>'82 4000       (in Audi heaven)
>
>quattro@mediaone.net  -- you can bet this e-mail address will change...
>www.jacksonville.net/~quattro   (for photos of the 200, pre-burn)
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From:	owner-quattro@audifans.com [mailto:owner-quattro@audifans.com] On
>Behalf Of Frank Stadmeyer
>Sent:	Wednesday, June 02, 1999 9:35 PM
>To:	200q20v@pdikeman.ne.mediaone.net; quattro@audifans.com
>Subject:	Looking for Audi/Bose rear speakers
>
>I presume that SCREECH!! SQUAWK!!!! BRAAAAP!!!! emmanating from my rear
>speaker with the attendant release of the all important smoke and odor
>component means that my speaker has expired.
>
>