As Frankenstein would say....."FIRE BAD" !!
 

I was driving the 7 on the Highway approaching a Bridge when the car seemed to backfire, it lost power and then regained power (RPMS) back . It had never done this before. As I approached the Bridge, it lost power again. I tried to accelerate by depressing the gas pedal, but it didn't do anything. It just seemed to idle. I was coasting and barely made it accros the steep Bridge.

I gained speed after I reached and crossed the Bridge and just coasted/rolled the car off onto a street. I stopped at an intersection and the 7 turned off. I tried to restart the engine but it didn't want to stay idleing.

A Motorcyclist drove and stopped next to me and said "Sir, your muffler is on fire". I got off the car and ran to the rear and saw flames coming out and around the tailpipes. The flames started to melt the rear rubber liner that sits around the Tailpipes. THEN, the rear bumper started to catch on fire also. I got on the phone and called 911 to get the Fire Dept out there ASAP.

It was then that a car stopped behind me and the gentleman quickly got off and got his fire extinguisher out of his car and turned off the Fire.

Fire Dept got there and inspected the burned/melted area and said the cause was more than likely that the Tail Pipes had touched the Bumper liner.

I THINK NOT!!

I think the Engine blew and either hot oil or hot components/particles blowing out the muffller set the rear on fire. Anyway, the car had to be towed. I tried to restart the engine and it did. But it will not rev and it turns off after a few seconds.

QUESTION: If the Seal(s) are gone. wouldn't it blow oil out through the exhaust?? What and How do I start to rule-out the problem(s).

I'll get it fixed, but I'd like to fing out what happened to the Engine before I have to haul it to a "Rotory Friendly" shop.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for looking.

Hope this kind of $#!t never happens to anyone of you!

Could be the muffler colapsed or something.. disconnect the cat and see if it can run/has power.

Start checking the fuel lines back there. A split fuel line could cause both of your problems (fire & car no-worky).

I would say check your ignition ( coils, spark plug wires ), Something here could of failed and loaded the engine/exhaust up with raw fuel - thus the fire.

Tom

My vote goes with this being your problem.... but dude... taht so sucks...

oh, not as bad as the brand new BMW BarBaQue I saw about 3 months ago... whole thing in flames and 'sploding, like the movies, freaky sh!t.

Muffler looks pretty good. I think the stalling episode is directly related to the blaze. But I'll check the MagFlow a little closer tomorrow after work.

BTW, I'll post a few photos of the damage tomorrow.

The blaze was directly on the area of the S/S Tail pipes and the Bumper Liner. Then it quickly spread to the actual bumper,.. but concentrated to the area above the Tail Pipes.

Had it been a fuel-fed fire (split fuel line), the end result would have been catostrophic.

Thanks for your reply and advise. I'll check the fuel lines anyway.

I'm getting spark to the plugs because the Engine turns on,... just doesn't rev. Only idles a little rough for a few seconds and then turns off.

Are you sure the Lead coil IS firing - the trailings alone will start and run the car, just not very smooth.

Tom

I didn't get a chance to check anything. Probably won't check anything thoroughly till the week-end. I'll test the Coil at that juncture.

When the Engine first lost power,..it regained (normal operation) it's HP and high RPM for a moment. Then it quit again and never regained full power. Perhaps your hypothesis is a good place to start~!!

Thanks.

Very sorry to hear about your situation, but you need to carry a fire extinguisher with these cars (well, you should probably carry one in any vehicle). Just buy a small automotive one and stick it in the passenger-side bin.

Ironic. I almost bought one this past week-end. I drove the 7 to P-Boys but all they had were the small chrome w/ cheesy red flames on the body type Extinguishers. I didn't want to pay 50 bucks for a cheesy Extinguisher.

It would have saved the bumper damage. Still doesn't solve the Engine problem though. I'll invest in a good extinguisher once my 7 is up and running again.

Thanks.

Sounds to me like you stopped getting fuel to the engine! How old is your fuel filter?

It was replaced in Jan/01. 32K miles ago. Sounds like lack of Fuel and/or Spark may have caused the Engine stall episode. Still confused about Fire causation/sourse around the TPs.

Did the flames start from inside the muffler and burn like that before the bumper started or was it on and around the muffler and then the bumper started on fire ? I guess the fuel could blow around and drip over there if a fuel line were to blame.

Sorry, not to laugh but if anyone ever said that to me at a red light I would bust out laughing for sure.

I remember the fire was concentrated to the top outer area of the TPs. Can't recall fire coming from within the TPs.


If that ever happens to you, ....you better grab an Extinguisher and laugh all the way to the rear of your FD quickly :)

If the fire seemed concentrated on and around the muffler & tips im going to have to lean towards maybe leaking fuel line also, it would certainly be possible for it to run along the bumper then drip down on the exhaust tips I would think. Did it smell gassy at all or anything ?

No abnormal smell of fuel. If Fuel was dripping/running from a line,.. the Fire would've followed the fuel back to the line.

It would have been almost impossible to contain or extinguish the blaze.

Ka-Freagin-Boom!!

I really don't think it's a FFF caused by split fuel line. But as I stated before, I'll double check as soon as I can.

change your filter, i've heard that it needs to be changed every 15k miles

Here's a few photos of the fire damage....

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...earFire002.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...earFire004.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...earFire005.jpg

Negative. It should be replaced every 60K miles or 60 months, whichever comes first.

should and in practice are two different things

when i used to have a lightning, yeah i know pistons suck ... blow me


i used to change the fuel filter every other oil change... its a cheap part and can wreak havoc with your car if you dont replace it regularly

What was the cost of the Lightning Filter and how easy was it to change out??? I think we're comparing apples to hemorrhoids :)

Wow.

Did you exhaust overheat light up in the center console by any chance? It sounds like you lost ignition to a rotor which would dump raw fuel into the hot exhaust system and obviously cause a fire.

now thats a true bbq flame cooker

"Did you exhaust overheat light up in the center console by any chance? It sounds like you lost ignition to a rotor which would dump raw fuel into the hot exhaust system and obviously cause a fire."

This is where the fuel came from ......as I stated earlier in my first diagnosis to you.

Tom

Never gave me any warning of overheating!

I think the lack of Spark/Ignition may very well be the culprit. What's the best way to check the ignition system to start ruling out and pinpointing to the source of the problem???

I think You and Mgoddard1 may be correct. Your hypothesis has given me hope that the problem may not be as costly/major as I first suspected. I won't know until I start checking for the problem this week-end.

Thanks a bunch guys!!!!

- Jimmy

My guess is that when the engine failed (breifly?), maybe you got a lot of oil or gas into the exhaust system and it cought fire as it exited the exhaust?

If the car was not running when the cyclist came by, maybe it was still buring a pool of oil/gas inside the muffler?

I thought hard about this myself. But no oil, or oil odor was detected in or around the Tail Pipes. The TPs each have a 1/4" size drain hole on the bottom located at the ends. I think had oil dripped down through the holes, the oil would've dripped/run back under neath the TPs and thereby left evidence of an Oil Fed Fire. There are no signs of Oil residue anywhere on the rear of the Car or on the MagnaFlow.

I think Fuel passed completely through the entire exhaust system and ignited as it mixed with oxygen as it exited out the MFlow.

Another photo......

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/los3088/FIRE1.jpg

really? what i've read in the past and what i understand is that the same filter from the old ~120 horse Miata was used on the FD, and that's why it should be changed ever 15k miles. well, learn something new every day

The info comes from my FD's 1993 Owners Manual.

$43

its a bunch of money ... but i was pushing MUCHO boost, and running GT100 around town ... so i couldnt afford ANY blockage in my fuel system

"I thought hard about this myself. But no oil, or oil odor was detected in or around the Tail Pipes. The TPs each have a 1/4" size drain hole on the bottom located at the ends. I think had oil dripped down through the holes, the oil would've dripped/run back under neath the TPs and thereby left evidence of an Oil Fed Fire. There are no signs of Oil residue anywhere on the rear of the Car or on the MagnaFlow.

I think Fuel passed completely through the entire exhaust system and ignited as it mixed with oxygen as it exited out the MFlow."


Now you are getting somewhere - forget about all the other discussion about your fuel filter. Get your manual out and proceed to check the LEAD coil out - both sides. Also pull the spark plugs and change them out - record where each plug came from and see how they look. Check the wiring carefully to the ignotor, and coils. Some more recent maintenance history and incident details would be helpful also.

Tom

I don't have a Manual,..so I'll have to "wing" it.


I'll make CSI proud!! :)


Recent Oil change w/new Filter (10 days ago). What specific info would you like to know regarding the incident in question???

Thanks you ( and everyone else) for all your help and guidance.

- Jimmy

yes you do :)

http://www.iluvmyrx7.com

go to the 3rd generation section and print it out. Good luck and keep us posted I am really interested in this.

Thanks.

Hmm... I vaguely remember a thread I posted a while back about always keeping a fire extinguisher in your car.

Get the manual as Montego suggests and read up on Coil troubleshooting. About the incident - describe again how the events came to pass...also has there been any other problems recently with power loss ? Any new modifications lately that could relate to this problem ? Even those that may not be related ( like lowering the car which could cause the tire on the pass side to rub wiring ) etc.


Tom


Yes, and always carry a fire extinguisher in these cars.

Actually the wire harnesses that run on each side of both wheel wells have been worn a little because of Tire rubbing. Would this be a possible cause of the Engine loss of power??

First of all, Jimmy - you did all that turbo on-off stuff for your turbo rebuild and you didn't know you could download a factory manual off the web???

You must be God's Gift of a mechanic to pull that one off...

I hope your turbo rebuild is still holding up - because I'm about to use your write-up to rebuild mine - and I'm hoping to avoid your balance issues...

as to your fire - sounds like raw fuel to me - can't you just pull the plugs out and crank the thing over in a dark garage? If no sparky then start tracing back - make sure the coil pack in getting power - have you checked any of your fuses yet?

Good luck - and get a big ricer coffee can exhaust for Pete's sake - that will spray the raw fuel three feet BEHIND your bumper next time - hopefully igniting the Toyota Poopra that was tailgating you ...

Jim

Sorryto hear that man, I feel your pain... I been there.

My vote goes to a bad injector getting stuck open and flooding your motor, therefore the exhaust was realy hot and BOOM, flames all over.

When my motor blew, one rotor was still working fine, I drove it home just on one rotor, it wouldn't idle but it took me home and 12-15 miles to the shop for R&R... No flames or anything.

Do a compression test immediately, it will reveil the mistery right of way.

I knew the Site exsisted, just didn't know it had a complete FD3S Elec. Manual.
Anyone with half a lizards brain can do the the Turbo Kit install. I just didn't pay enough attention when placing precise index marks on the components for the re-installment process. It was my mistake.


The Twins are as strong as ever. NO smoke,...No Oil leaks! Boosting like the Mazda Gods intended!!
PM me if I can help you with anything during your Rebuild.


I've checked Squadoosh!!. Hope to inpect it this week-end.

what size are those rear tires? they look like 205's

^----------235/40/17's

Fire Extinguisher???
 

Any recommendations on the fire extinguisher - brand/type? Dry chemical or halon?
I am thinking about getting one and after searching on the net came across company who sells halon units.

http://www.h3r.com/products/home_vehicle.htm

If you can get a halon or CO2 unit that would be the best - unfortunately though they are large and/or expensive. The dry chem ones are cheap and very effective but the dry chem is corrosive and difficult to clean up, esp from your engine bay without removing parts. What you have there is probably the best way to go.

Get one of the small dry chems from Advance auto, clamp it down good somewhere. That is all you need, it's a one shot deal that puts out a generous amount of fire.

Now how is this car problem coming along ? Find anything yet ?

Tom

I knew I recognized the car in the sig. It just looked too familiar. And the exhaust. Ya. For sure. I know who you are.

BTW - you seem a lot smart on the forum than you did in person.