Coil covers are for a reason

[So Live]

So guys,

I think i figured out why my car caught on fire. The spark plug holes were full of water which i found when i went to do a compression test. The coils were probably sparking to the head and not the plugs. This would explain the lack of power and missing.

Unburned fuel in the exhaust and viola.

Keep your spark plug holes dry kids.

[BigD]

Unburned fuel in the exhaust and viola.

...very cool exhaust pops!

Turbo cars, cars with dead spark plugs, broken coils, bad distributors and coil leads do not catch on fire. It was probably just a fuel leak.

[mbonder]

well since I saw the car, my guess is that this was an electrical fire due to location. Since the fire appears to have happened on the left side of the car that would put it out of reach of the fuel system (appears to have started in the trunk, not lower down by the fuel filter). My guess is that you had frayed wires which sparked, igniting the trunk lining and then fire.

But thats just my guesstimate.

Matt

[e30s52]

how bad is the damage?

[mitch500]

yeah post some pictures

[PiercedE30]

well since I saw the car, my guess is that this was an electrical fire due to location. Since the fire appears to have happened on the left side of the car that would put it out of reach of the fuel system (appears to have started in the trunk, not lower down by the fuel filter). My guess is that you had frayed wires which sparked, igniting the trunk lining and then fire.

But thats just my guesstimate.

Matt

You sir are an idiot.
The cat shat itself due to unburnt fuel (from combustion chamber) being burnt in the exhaust. The cat core came out and partially plugged the muffler. That caused back pressure, which caused the heat in the exhaust system to escalate. The heat was focused at the muffler, since that is where the obstruction was. If you even looked at the pictures you would see that the exhaust is blue. A fire like you are describing wouldn't have have heated the exhaust to sufficiently cause this discoloration. Stainless has to get to about 1100 degrees before it begins to break down and oxidize.

[So Live]

Thank you Jon!

As for pics:














And the "before" shot


Gotta love it. Notice the lack of exhaust tips? I dont know wether it was from the added back pressure or from flames coming out the pipes... It is a straight through 3" to dual 2.5 out muffler. The Blue may have been from the flames around it but i really cant say. I do beleive it was from the raw fuel from the lack of spark. no spark = no burning fuel in the chambers = fuel in the exhaust and also = no power and bogging.

The best way i could describe the sensation was when you foul the plug on your dirt bike. It still kinda runs but it has NO balls and just falls on its face no matter how much gas you give it.

[So Live]

Forgot to mention, did a compression test and the motor is cherry 210 psi +/- 5 over all 6. The turbo is also cherry and in perfect shape. The cat on the other hand.... not so cherry :)

Talking to one dude on BF.c he had the same spark related problem due to water in the plug holes. His solution was to silicone the windsheild washer nozzles in the hood so they dont leak! Go figure!!! He still runs no cover and has been fine since!!!!!

[mbonder]

I stand corrected then. Still not an idiot however.

[Charlie]

Why were you running no tips? Even on my relatively tame NA 2.5 vanos motor, with no cat I'm belching flames on abrupt letoffs & downshifts. I ran about 8 inches of pipe off the muffler to a tip, just to clear the rear bumper by a good bit.

-Charlie

[So Live]

Live n learn i guess...

Im not really too worried about the damage, i wanted to repaint my car (again) anyway. Now i have a stellar reason to do it. The only shitty part is the wires.

Well with the cat i kinda figured id be ok with the flames and i just haddnt gotten around to it. I got the car running like 1 weekend before this and i was trying to get some MAF issues figured out.

mbonder, we never said u were an idiot!

*edit ok I never called you an idiot. You hadnt seen the pictures. Its all good.

[mbonder]

No worries Chris...you hadn't gotten as far as the pictures indicate when I got to your house, which is why I didn't see that a chunk of the cat lodged into the muffler. My assumptions were based on what I saw, not the later evidence to the contrary.

Piercede30 seems to be the big man on campus though with his name-calling...must never be wrong!

Good thing though is that the motor and turbo are good to go once the car is back together. From the looks of things you only really have to figure out those charred wires and then the rest is scraping and repainting, which if you've already repainted it once, you shouldn't have too much trouble doing it again. Good luck!

Matt

[dude8383]

Oh man, sorry to hear!

At least it didn't spread any further man.

[BigD]

Holy shit... still seems unreal. Why doesn't this happen more often? My mom's neon back in highschool had a dead coil and ran on 3 cylinders. She drove it like that for days. No fires or explosions...

[So Live]

Idk man, im kinda thinkng the super hot turbo had a lot to do with the ignition. And then the lack of exhaust tips covering the "catch my car on fire" part :)

The wiring is all set i think. I bought the wiring harness from about 1 foot forward of the trunk to cabin grommet. Its just a matter of nicely splicing the 10 or 15 wires which im confident i can do with out making a mess of it.

The last part i think i need to get the car going is a used rear caliper cause all the rubber got melted and i dont think its worth it to rebuild em.

I got the wires, the brake light controller thingy, the trunk seal, the tail light bulb holder, and the brake line. So i think im good for mechanical parts minus the caliper.


Oh and for the record. I know how seriously lucky i am. I was rolling into my drive way with my car on fire. If i stopped anywhere else or happened to be away from home i would have lost the whole car for sure. With the oil in the trunk and the full tank of gas it could have been a very very bad situation.

Im happy its all fixable and the motor and turbo seem to be fine.