So i finally did by an 87 NA and i was driving to the junkyard to pick up a couple of things. I was cruising at about 75 or so, a little more than halfway there i smelled something kind of funny. When i stopped smoke started coming out of the bottom of the car, tehn the AC vents. I almost pissed my pants hopped out, popped the hood and WHOOSH my engine was on fire. Luckily i had an extinguisher and put it out. After all was said and done it looks like it was just a short in one of the wires that caused a spark. Im in the process of redoin some of the wires and stuff but i was just wondering if this has happened to anyone and what the exact problem was that caused the fire. Thanx for the help.

 

Actually engine fires are the leading cause of death for second generation RX7s in the United States. Most are caused by a leaky pulsation dampner.
Search under engine fire and/or pulsation damper and you'll see what I mean.
You got lucky, having a fire extinguisher.
Hope no major damage was caused.
Good luck.

 

you are lucky, sorry about the fire though, happened to me a few months ago. except i put it out with a garden hose. now i have to basicly restore the car to get it running again but thats ok as long as its faster than it was before the fire.

 

me and my friends were in the mcdonalds parking lot when my friends car caught on fire. somethinga bout a leacky turbo.

 

http://fc3spro.com/TECH/FAQ/pd.html



Please read that and then follow the link to fill out the NHTSA complaint form.

 

i had a wire ground out on my downpipe, it was some emissions control wire that wasn't hooked up, and fell down into it, it grounded out and caused tons of problems, like the EGI comp fuse blowing... one day the EGI comp fuse blew, i had a spare, put it in, started up, it started smoking like crazy under the hood, i turned the car off, got out, and saw it had melted a whole wire that wrapped under my intake manifold, behind the alternator, down to the MAF, and ended around there... also the main relay had 2 wires melt... i wrapped up the main relay wires in cellaphane, used a penny in the fuse, and nursed the car all the way home, next day pulled off the intake manifold/TB, and pulled about 6 feet of wire out... rewrapped the main relay wires in electrical tape, and put everything back together, haven't had a problem since... i also rewrapped the wire bundle that the melted wire came from...

 

I'd suggest a fire extinguisher for everyone on the forum just for safety purposes and so if this happens to anyone you can try and put out a fire instead of watching the fire put out your car..

 

I filled out the form on the website, but im not sure if it was the PD. The fire was right at the alternator and all that got burned were wires. I was not too bad but still a fire.

 

Mazda is as bad as the British with shoddy electronics.

 

note to self..buy extinguisher..