A curious question.....

[Tinkerin_wit_tools]

I don't know how many fans of television series there are out there in the car world, but I saw something that I just wanted to know if it is possible or not. We all know how they suspend disbelief just to make an action sequence and get ratings, so I have a question about something I saw.
There is a show called Breaking Bad on AMC and the main character wanted some payback on this loudmouth lawyer he bumped into at the bank. He saw that he pulled up his car, a BMW, if this makes any difference, up to the pumps at a gas station and went in. Walt walked over to the car, with the top down and proceeded to pop the hood and grabbed a squeege with windshield washer fluid on it like you see at all gas stations. He carefully placed it, sponge side down over both contacts on the car battery and walked away. After a few shorts and loud noises, the car engine blew in a big ball of flame. Now, I know from common sense, this would at least fry the electrical system of a car, but can it really blow up someone's engine???? Just curious....

[old_master]

Water does conduct electricity however, if the sponge could/would carry enough current to overheat the battery is doubtful. When current flows it creates heat. The heat, in that scenario, would most likely evaporate the water in the sponge before overheating the battery to the point of explosion. That's my humble opinion.

[oldblu65]

Sounds like a " McGuyver " wannabe show !

[J-Ri]

Old master is right. I would add that water doesn't conduct electricity all that well, and with only 12v, it's not going to do anything. I've seen numerous vehicles that have been submerged in water up over the hood with no electrical problems. Movies also show us that shooting a gas tank or being t-boned makes cars blow up.