To start, my car is a one owner besides myself, touring model all original with 53,000 miles.

Well, Memorial Day weekend got off to a bad start. I was driving home today and all was well. I started to smell something funny but didn’t think much of it as it went away pretty quickly. I figured it was something outside as I had my windows down. When I glanced in my rear view I noticed a bit of smoke and thought it was coming from the exhaust.

As I turned onto my road the car died and it was then when I was stopped that I saw smoke pouring out from under the hood. It was thick and black. I grabbed my fire extinguisher out from the rear bin and popped the hood. I was startled by a 2-3 foot flame coming from under/in front of the upper intake manifold. I then did my best to put out the fire with the extinguisher and knocked out the large flames.

When the bottle ran out it was smoking like crazy and there were still flames / embers so I called the fire department. They sprayed the car and put out the rest of the fire. Luckily I was able to catch it right when it happened and there does not seem to be any paint or body damage. It seems that all of the damage is located in front of and under the upper intake manifold. I will know for sure when I deal with the insurance company etc.

This thread is meant to be a reminder to all fellow FD owners. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER IN YOUR CAR. I never thought I would have to use mine and even debated not transferring it over from my turbo FC. Boy am I ever glad I did as it could have been so much worse.

 

Sorry to hear that's how you started your long weekend. Hopefully there's not too much damage.

That reminds me, I need to get a fire extinguisher.

 

Wow lucky you dude.

 

Sounds like my Pulsation Dampener Fire. Lucky for me there was a bank of snow near by...

I bought a fire extinguisher after that

 

I've been needing to get one for my FC. I had a fuel leak once the fuel was boiling on the block near LIM and was real lucky it stayed there. Dooshed it with water when I saw it.. I was @ home with a hose neat by.

I'm really sorry to hear about that. Just be glad it wasnt worst!
+1 it might be the P.D.

 

What kind of extinguisher did you have/use? I have a halon extinguisher which is rated for automotive use (3lb bottle, 3" diameter?). Halotron is half the fire-putting-out power per volume, and the powder type ruins EVERYTHING it comes in contact with or gets into. The other problem is mounting the thing so that it doesnt become a dangerous projectile in a collision. I've got a novel solution for that... I'll see if i can grab some pictures later.

But yeah, fire extinguisher is a MUST in these cars. They run hot, the rubber ages fast when accelerated by the high heat and age... its all one big recipe for disaster. If your paint is ok then you lucked out. I bought my project FD after the previous owner dealt with a MASSIVE engine fire. Everything firewall forward was toast. Wiring harness was just wires.... no rubber. It was disgusting. I did get it cheap though

 

Dang - I have 54k on my car and just replaced the FPD last week. (I'm assuming that it caused it the fire.)

 

WOW that pretty scary what would have happened if you didn't notice the smoke, Probably best not to think about that!

 

that was the first thing i bought ... i hope you get your car fixed soon.

 

I hope the insurance company didn't consider it unrepairable.. Then the tittle would be f*cked.

 

That was some quick thinking. This definitely reminds us that we all should keep a fire extinguisher in our cars. Ha! Maybe two...

 

I just got one as well, took me a bit longer than it should have but I kept trying to lump it in with other purchases from Summit and never ended up buying anything from them.

Any automotive fire extinguisher should come with a mounting bracket, I've never seen one that didn't. There are TONS of places to mount a fire extinguisher in these cars, mine is going right in front of the passenger seat. It will reduce travel forward but I've never had someone try to adjust the seat that way.

 

The bracket is only as good as the mounting point. I wouldn't trust a non reinforced mount (be that a structural mounting point, backing plate, or something welded on). Maybe I'm paranoid but I'd rather be safe than get hit in the head with an extinguisher if something bad happens (and lets be honest, most of us drive these cars fast).

Where else besides below passengers legs can you mount it? I havent found a place to put a 3lb bottle besides in front of or behind the passenger seat. If you do that you'll most likely be mounting it to the passenger seat bolts (front or rear) which will either lock the seat position all the way forward or all the way back. I've got a better solution... just have to snap some pics when i get home

 

I considered mounting it from the rear strut bar or drilling a few holes in the plastic back there

 

Mounting it to the PLASTIC???? Are you crazy? And if for some reason it comes off the rear strut bar the first place its headed for is your head. Use you head or lose it I guess come on guys really? That's like buying a 4/5 point harness and then wrapping it around the stock rear strut bar. Ignorance is bliss.

 

FYI it might be a good idea to invest in hood struts so when you pop the hood you wont waste time trying to hold the hood up or prop it up. Then you can focus on putting out the fire. Just sounds like a good idea.

 

One time i was driving I rev it up and some how the starter catch on fire.... dont know why. It was at night and another driver saw me he got be side me and told me you car is on fire.... Well after that incident i got a fire extinguisher (replace the whole starting harness) since then I havent had any issues.

So guys get a fire extinguisher in your car. Better to be safe than sorry!

 

Priority one, even before a fire extinquisher: if you still have a FPD in your car, delete it. 99% of engine fires are related to it.

 

I guess I'm missing the part where I suggested mounting it to a non reinforced part of the vehicle. And if you really can't identify more than a couple sufficient, yet structural, mounting spots for a small fire extinguisher your fabrication skills are lacking, I went over quite a few before deciding on where I felt it would be easiest to grab and also out of the way.

I'm mounting mine to the front mounting bolts for the passenger seat (does it get any more structural than that?). It is mounted LOW and does not interfere with passenger comfort (I.E. doesn't touch their legs) and is easily accessible from the drivers seat. Yes it will restrict the seat from being adjusted forward more than one click but can you honestly say ANYONE has ever adjusted the seat forward in your car? Most people complain that it won't go any further back Even to get into the bins I only need to adjust the angle of the seat back, so limiting the front-back travel of the seat seems inconsequential to me... And if any of that ever becomes an issue, remove a few bolts and the bracket/extinguisher can be removed (without touching the seat bracket bolts) and the seat travel will be fully restored. I could even go a step further and weld studs to the bracket I'm fabricating, then use wing nuts so the extinguishers bracket could be removed without any tools at all.

Additionally if you're more worried about people being able to adjust the seat forward my preliminary testing indicated that mounting it behind the seat (to the rear bracket bolts) only limited seat travel one click from full back. The issue I had with this location is that with the seat adjusted for comfort it would be hard or impossible to get the extinguisher out. Now that wouldn't be an issue if you're only worried about catching fire at the track, where you could push the seat forward for easier access, but I'd like the ability to grab the extinguisher whenever I may need it, passenger or not.


"better" solution is relative, I don't see any down sides to mounting my fire extinguisher in front of the passenger seat and I honestly can't think of a better place to put it for ease of access in the event of an emergency. I suggested this same mounting spot for a friend and it has worked out very well for him, for a few years now.

 

Like I was getting at before, there arent many other logical places besides in front of the passenger seat to mount (no, there are not tons of places in the FD for an extinguisher, there's one or two).
For the record, I feel pretty confident in saying I know most of the structural bolt holes on the FD as I've been staring at a bare one for the last 5 years . I'm also pretty sure my fab skills are not too bad either, cause my setup actually moves with the seat and has a quick release . If you don't mind the seat locked in the back position and non-adjustable, cool

 

Glad you were able to catch the fire early man. I always keep an extinguisher in my FD, and pray that I never have to use it.

 

I'll ask again, how often does a passenger get in your FD and move the seat forward? Mine has been locked in the back position since before I even owned it, and like I said before most people complain it won't go back any further . The bracket I'm making is simple, extremely strong, and easy to install/remove, I don't see the need to over complicate it to accommodate something that never gets used in the car (and it can still be adjusted forward one notch if need be, which has never happened in the past). I thought about making it move with the seat but in the long run saw no advantages and decided against it.

And who said you had to use existing bolt holes? There are a lot of different places a fire extinguisher could be mounted, but it might require thinking outside the box . Many things don't bolt right into the chassis using existing hardware, doesn't make them any less structural.

 

I have alot of ladies ride in my car... they all move the seat pretty far forward so they car reach the oh-**** handle. My 6ft tall buddy does slide it all the way back though. Just depends on the passenger... but whatever it's your car. enjoy.


Since this thread is about the importance of having an extinguisher, and how to keep it in the car lets discuss mounting them. When did I ever say you needed to use existing bolt holes? I've got a 5pt harness bolted into my car and use backing plates to install the eye bolts in the floor pan... easy and safe. If you've got a welder you would be in even better shape for making custom mounting points. But for arguments sake, pretend you've got an extinguisher mount that is magnetic... let me know where else you could mount the extinguisher that would be easy to reach and quick to get to when time is of the essence? With the caveat that it's not dangerous in an accident). I started thinking out of the box on this one but ended up with a single location (in front of the passenger seat) for lack of any other usable locations. Does your out of the box thinking include the roof, a pillar, trunk, or mounted to the top of the hood? Lets hear your other solutions for mounting locations and talk about em cause we can all agree that we need an extinguisher in our car and a place to safely put it.

 

Thanks to you all for the sympathy and support. I never thought this would happen but that’s life.

The real bummer is that this car was in such great condition. Not on squeak or rattle from the suspension or interior, great body and paint to match. The engine/exhaust bolts and nuts were still gold. (In Wisconsin this is rare for any car) This is literally the closest to a new FD than I have ever experienced in my life.

Overall, Ill just pick up the pieces and move on. If the damage is deemed repairable by the insurance company, then great. However, if not, I think I will take a break from Rx-7's for a while.

I do want to say that I have received nothing but great advice and feedback from this site since I bought my first Rx-7 in 2001. Thank you all and happy Memorial day.

 

I should also add which type of fire extinguisher I used. It was a kiddie dry chemical type (I think BC rating?) for use on electrical or liquid fires. Had I known at the time I purchased it, I would have bought an automotive specific extinguisher. To be honest, this particular extinguisher was getting into the red zone on the dial. I was aware of this but did not replace it. Lucky for me, it still worked.