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Was coming home from Mcdonalds when i heard a loud Bang (thought it was a firework for the first minute) but by the time i pulled into my complex it was smoking VERY bad and the entire cabin was filled with electrical smoke, suffice to say it didnt take more then 2 minutes before it was in flames like the video shows, Its really bummed me out as the FD was and still is my dream car but unfortunately for this FD its going to be off the road for a while if it even makes it back on the road, so for all you 3rd gen rx-7 owners your cars just got abit more expensive. Heres the link to a video i took while waiting for the firetruck: https://imgur.com/a/wcsyPir Site doesnt support mp4. But as you can see at that point all i could do was watch as it was too far gone.
Something to do with the turbo, ill take a few more pics tomorrow when its light, but majority of the fire started from one of the turbos under the intake box, IF the insurance doesnt total the car im probably going to do a mild streetport build and do a sorta "revived from the ashes" thing showing what it was after the fire to the new fd if im allowed to keep it.
Last edited by SeaRotor; Sep 12, 2020 at 01:47 AM.
How, that's some char!
I'd be interested in knowing the root cause, so please share when you get to the bottom of it. Hope you get it back on the road some day. Nowadays, at least yleast get one of those fresh Mazda engines from IRP or whoever. As for the rest of all that stuff, happy hunting. I hope your steering rack isn't gone - that's a beast to find parts for now. Ask me how I know.
Please let us know who your car is insured through. I recently got Hagerty, and I'd like to know how your claim process goes.
Good luck!!
What mods did you have or recent maintenance? Front passenger has a good bit of wiring. Could be relay over heating, wiring frayed, even coolant can catch fire of over heated. Loud bang? Did you notice oil pressure drop? Check the feed line to the turbos, all metal so should still be connected. If not, you blew off a line and oil got on the hot side. Reason the side looks so bad is it caught the over flow on fire it looks like. The company I work for has done fire investigations on cars before. Seen some expressive cars go up in flames. Some seem like the person set it on fire, some badly put together mods, and some just go up due to a short. The two come to mind were a Merc SRL Mclaren and a heavy modded STI.
My money is also on some fuel related problem. Even at idle, fuel pressure is what ~32PSI? A sudden rupture would almost certainly cause some loud 'bang' as all that pressure is released, at least I would imagine. Following for a root cause, but of course incredibly sorry to see this happen. I really hope things work out for you.
Giving a update and to answer questions, For the people wondering what i had done since i got it Mechanically wise: Replaced radiator with koyorad, Replaced Map sensor, Replaced Rear Main Seal. Other then that it was stock.
Another thing, when i got the car and even when it was on fire it was never in "good" condition because the previous owner didnt take care of it so i was doing about 12 years of maintenance in the span of about 8 months so i might have missed some things or something finally gave out. Also it started under the air filter box next to the turbo (plastic had melted into the turbo but that was from the fire) as for the migration. very possible idk again by the time the fire was out it was too far gone to know the exact cause. My best guessis either turbo sucked in some liquids and a spark happened or something shorted and domino effect. As for fuel pressure i didnt have any gauges installed yet so i dont know if it was a fuel line popping. As for insurance they pretty much said its totalled but im gonna see if i can keep the shell and restore it or turn it into a track car with a tube front end. if you guys and girls have any other questions LMK or if you have any ideas what it might be also LMK!
Last edited by SeaRotor; Sep 13, 2020 at 10:55 PM.
My money is also on some fuel related problem. Even at idle, fuel pressure is what ~32PSI? A sudden rupture would almost certainly cause some loud 'bang' as all that pressure is released, at least I would imagine. Following for a root cause, but of course incredibly sorry to see this happen. I really hope things work out for you.
the sound of a fuel line suddenly liberating itself, in my experience, is more of a pop than a bang. Kind of like when you open that can that biscuits come in. It's just a pop.
my car burned down to the ground many years ago. A red fd just like this. brings back bad memories. Sorry for your loss. i know the feeling, i wouldn't wish this to my worst enemy
This is my worst fear after putting in lots of money and years of work on my FD. Because of this, I invested in a fire extinguisher before putting my FD back on the road this Spring.
Fire-resistant gloves are good to have too, it would be a shame to have an extinguisher but not be able to get the hood open to use it.
Killer suggestion. Though, I understand oxygen-displacement type extinguishers are to be sprayed through the radiator, with the hood closed? Gonna have to go google that now.
Killer suggestion. Though, I understand oxygen-displacement type extinguishers are to be sprayed through the radiator, with the hood closed? Gonna have to go google that now.
Correct, you spray through the front bumper opening. Generally you are trying to suppress the fire by snuffing out the oxygen source, and opening the hood does opposite of that, and puts you at risk of a sudden flame surge when opening the hood during an engine fire. Also please get a Halon, or other "clean agent" extinguisher, as if you are using a general purpose fire extinguisher, because the chemicals are corrosive, you will have to do a lot more repair than with the Halon.
