my first minor engine fire... LOL... [56k beware]

first of all let me just say that this may not be directly related to tuning/modding. while it may have a slight impact, i believe this is purely a wear and tear item, compounded by a slight engineering banjax on mitsu's part...

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/100978fire6.JPG

so i was driving fairly fast changing freeways and my clutch doesn't come up from the floor on a fairly hard 90mph 5-4 downshift, so i'm like ''fuck i just replaced the clutch master a little bit ago, but i just checked the fluid yesterday, mabey i'm a jack ass and didn't pop it on all the way''...

so i pull to the side, and just as i get stopped, there is ''smoke'' comming from the corner of the clutch master under the hood... i figured it spilled out, i lost pressure, it's sorta cooking off a bit, no biggie... i pop the hood, and the top is lying there and sure as shit the fluid is ''smoking'' off the hot engine where it sprayed

then i notice that the hyd line right behind the slave on the master is red hot. like glowing red fire poker hot. like HOLY WTF SHIT hot

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/100978fire5-med.JPG

notice the hyd. line has cooked off the coating...

just as i notice this i look over at smoke comming from under the fuse box. panic is setting in, profanity is free flowing, i'm on the side of the freeway... then like tom hanks... ''i have made fire!''

it just erupts from below the fuse box, like 8'' of flames over the fuse box... like a dumbass, i stick my face down in there, and start blowing like i got raided by the cops and i got a plate of cocaine in front of me.

mental note: now had i had a fire extinguisher, not only would the fire have gotten worse, i would have probably made a mess. but that is not to say i am not going and buying one...

anyways, it worked pretty well, cuz the fire went out, but then i see the line is still fire poker hot and running below my battery and into the firewall so now there is a lot of smoke coming from BEHIND THE BATTERY!!!

i freak out, grab the only wrench i had, which was an 8 or 10mm for adjusting the type-s BOV and somehow got the batery terminals off, and also the battery hold down. the shit didn't even come close to fitting and i'm like inhaling smoke like crazy, with pics of my entire car going up in flames, staring at the fuel filter and fuel pressure gauge too, so throw in the instinct to run from things on fire next to fuel lines and you have the situation.

so with some adrenaline and finger power i get the 12mm bolts off with a 10mm wrench and toss the battery and discover the line actually goes BEHIND the firewall. damn mitsu engineering... it was so hot it was glowing red for at least 20 minutes.

so i put the battery back in and tried to turn on the power to put the windows up for the tow and all the shit is turning on and off, radio, safc and profec, beeping and shit and the boost gauge is jumping all over the place.

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i pulled the terminals after that when i got home, i ripped out the whole intake, fuse box, and UICP. the MAS wires and the main + wires got it the worst, basicaly super sealed in with the wire loom and all fucked up.

i re-wraped a bunch of damaged wires and put juice in the master cyl for the clutch and it's all good!i need to bleed the clutch, but i'm gunna do that at RRE tomorrow.

it actually runs better now! i think that there were some major chafing going on down there...

so far it has cost me:

tow: free

electrical tape: .99

brake fluid for cluch master: 3.99

batteries for digi cam: 4.99

bleed @ RRE: free


so as you can see, i spent more money on being able to give you all a few pics than anything else, so it was really not that big of a deal... LMAO...

but this should go to show you all to really take a look at the wires around the fuse box in the engine compartment. just because of the age of our engines it could happen to you...

so many problems at once idk if i could handle it...!

so many problems at once idk if i could handle it...!


Then you're driving the wrong car :iceslolan

Damn that must of sucked!!! Its good it didnt do that much damage.

Then you're driving the wrong car :iceslolan


oh, its the right car for me ,just fire blazin everywhere is frustrating..

glad to hear it didnt cause more damage. it would have been a sad day to watch your freshley modded spyder go up in flames. good strory though. :thumbsup:

hondas don't have this much problems =Y

I almost cried when I read the thread title...fortunately I held back the tears until I learned everything turned out okay.





Then I cried for joy :grinno:. Thank goodness you and the spyder are safe--things could have been much, much worse.

damn while i was reading this i thought it was a complete disaster, and at the end you were gonna say my car dont start no more. but glad everything worked out alright.

so, what exactly burned?! the clutch cyl.? and why?! The only thing Ive heard burning up on the road are pontiac engines. :grinno:

damn, glad everything worked out. The title kinda threw me off, thought that the situation was much worse.

Very well written! I got a good laugh out of it. Good thinking to get the battery out of there and put the fire out. The car would have burned to the ground most likely if you weren't such a hero. POSr stylee, cars on fire and you're still working on it :lol:

I had a wiring fire on the Rx7, its a little scary. I just cut off all the burnt wiring and the car ran as well as it ever did. Went another 30k miles like that until I sold it.

Chafing can cause ALL KINDS of problems. In fact, thanks to the story here, and the one I'm about to tell, I HIGHLY suggest everyone go out and double check all wiring, it really can be an accident waiting to happen. If something burns through an ignition wire and the motor stops runing while you're trying to pull out in front of a truck or something, it can get ugly ;)

I had an issue where my motor would just shut off randomly. Very dangerous, but it always did it at "safe" times. The "moteur" fuse would always be popped. I figured I had a random short somewhere porking me, since replacing the fuse would get me a day to a week before it happened again. Before long I had to give up power windows, headlights, and radiator fans before I limped the car to a parts store to buy a few fuses. Going home from work one morning it starts to cut out again. I pull over, and a buddy going home as well spots me and cuts off 3 lanes of traffic to pull over. When I would crank the motor, smoke would come from the manifold/firewall area. Then the fuse would blow. After some digging around, it seems that the throttle cable rubbed right into the wiring I had run for the 1g CAS! It was kinda drapped over the cable where its expsed between the TB lever and the bracket. Just goes to show you that with some vibtration anything can become a sawzall.

My buddy drove me to Autozone for parts and tools, and after some breakdown lane repairs the wiring was much better, and safer. Been fine ever since. I'm lucky I didnt blow my (eprom) ECU when the CAS wires were shorting out. Thank God that fuse was doings its job. Another good reason not to put a 40 amp headlight fuse in the 20 amp motor slot ;)

Go check your wiring poeple, it can get ugly :)

LMAO... i read that incident in another thread and soon after i bought a big ass back of black wire loom and taped/zip tied all my wires up and out of the way! i dont want that shit happening to me.

ya, i think that it runs a bit better now, i had the SAFC at +9% in order to idle stable. now it is at 0%. this may be from the ECU resetting the trims and readjusting from the tuning...[?]

here is the latest story:

i went into RRE to get my clutch bleed and they happened to notice that i was missing 4 bolts on my exhaust manifold. so they go to put them back on and then they strip one of the studs. so off comes my exhaust mani and i get all new studs and bolts :)

here are some pics from earlier today:

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man for a sec i thought your car was gonna go uop in flames and explode

Your bloody lucky the whole car didn't go up.

Once the wiring starts burning its normaly good bye car unless you can put it out.


And did you ever find out what caused it?

If your worried about useing a fire extingwisher and it make a mess get a foam type.
Iv used one on a car fire and less an hour later it had all dried up. It didnt even stain the upholstry and carpet. But it did do a damn good job of putting out the fire and even contiuned spraying when I turned it up side down to get under the dash (where the fire was). Most CO2 or powder based extingwishers only work when held upright.

Wow, glad to hear your car lived, way to keep a level head...great story.

hey Moppie, it was simple wire chaffing that grounded out the clutch hydraulic line.

i can only imagine what i looked like on the side of the road... LOL

i'd say Vince you're the biggest idiot with the biggest pair of ballz!! :cwm27: :nutkick:... if that was me.. i would've ran like a mothafucka.

i'd say Vince you're the biggest idiot with the biggest pair of ballz!! :cwm27: :nutkick:... if that was me.. i would've ran like a mothafucka.
hahaha mee too. ill juss say my farewells while i was runnin. lol