Yep, another engine fire story but this one's different (i think)

First of all, it was my own damn fault and not the car's. I hope this helps other enthusiasts out there.

I was degreasing my engine bay, the catch can had an oil film on it and I guess I didn't torque the spark plugs well because they had a very light oil line running down from them. The degreaser I use is actually non-chlorinated brake parts cleaner because it degreases like nothing else I've used, evaporates quickly and is not harmful to plastics or rubber (I verified). I've been using it for years with great results. I guess the only downside is the high flamability as I just experienced!

My battery is in the trunk but the + terminal is there connected to the main fuse block, well, as I was moving the catch can it touched the + terminal and sparked causing the degreaser to instantly light into a flame that covered the spark plug side of the engine from the smic to the cruise control!!

I reacted quickly and hosed down everything and the damage was minimal, just a few cables that got their insulator starting to melt but they never got exposed. I will go through everything and re-tape any wire that needs it. But so far everything works... I was lucky I guess.

 

You are lucky, just think that if you did not have a fire extinguishing method nearby what could of happened. In the span of 30 seconds it could of been out of control, especially if a fuel line melted.

As this case proves out, always have a fire extinguisher nearby when working on your car.


LAter

 

Also, cover any exposed positive terminals with insulating boots or equivalent - no contact, no spark.

 

My car had an electrical fire 5 years ago.


They CAN defiantly get out of control...

 

damn that **** is scary man. good thing you saved it.

 

my previous rx-7, an 86 gxl, was lost to an electrical fire from the previous owner's botched stereo install.

no fire extinguisher, in less than 5 minutes (the time it took the firemen to get there) it burned to the ground.

so i'm always alert to anything that remotely resembles my car burning! lol

 

to this day no matter how many I see it still makes my heart twitch... and my gut upset... god I love these cars to much...

 

damage!

1 - twin power harness
2 - ac pressure switch cable
3 - ignition wires
4 - oil level and others by the oil pan

that's all!!!!!

 

damn that car is messed up

 

WoW...glad you prevented any serious damage. It still sucks that this type of thing happened, but very nice save!

 

Glad it wasn't serious.

 

did you rebuild it?

 

well mine is the one that only has minor damage so no rebuild necessary except re-taping everything and it's done already.

i finished cleaning the engine bay, temporarily relocated the catch can away from the batt terminal, wired the intercooler fan, and found out that i pinched the hood popping cable with a screw/bolt by mistake and it got damaged so i need a new one, irony is that it was not fire related!!

 

WOW I hate messing with electrical things, good thing you reacted so quick.

 

botched/halfassed stereo install almost ended my vert's life a few years ago. Gotta be careful.

 

This story kinda reminds me of a story that my old boss told me back in the days when he was wrenching at a garage....The question that came up was why he never wears his wedding ring even though he was the director of engineering at the company, its not like he needs to get his hands dirty anymore. The story was not so much about fire safety but more of a electrical safety when working on a car. A guy he worked with was working on a starter, the battery terminals was connected so the wires are hot at the starter. The guy was wearing a ring, the ring hit the positive terminal and ground, the electric spark was like arc welding and the ring was stuck until it melted into a blob of metal. The guy ended up with his wedding finger burned off and a blob of gold for a ring.

 

^^ haha something similar happened to me with my first rx-7!! (84 12A)

I was very inexperienced then, it was my first ever car and I was checking if all sparkplugs were firing with the new MDS coils. I had my HS graduation ring and with the car running I unhooked one of the spark plug cables to check if it was firing. Well, it was!!

Instead of the electricity jumping from the distributor to the cable terminal that I was holding close to it, it found my ring and I got electrocuted. I saw the blue spark jumping to my ring but I couldn't let go of the damn cable until I fell to the floor ripping it from the car. I was passed out a few seconds and woke up with a terrible headache and my heart PUMPING. The car was still running.

 

you can unbolt the OE positive battery terminal from the fuse box. It is held on by 2 10mm bolts.