Guys, I have been having problem with my car for past few weeks (stared with losing power on the right bank due to poor ECU connection and then ECU sensor). The work was done at the agent and then I finallytook my car out yesterday. Within 5 mins of running (low-med rev driving only), the car seem to lost power again (felt like 2-3 cylinders didnt work) and then to my horror, black smoke came out of in the back with slow down 1-4 light. I pulled over immediatly and grab my HALON (thanks god) opened the hood and ran to the back of the car. There was quite sizeable of fire came out from right handside where exhaust manifold connect to the Y pipe area and I just whacked the whole tube of HALON. Fortunately I managed to stop fire before it did major damge (only few wires and sensors were melted) and the workshop came within 10 mins and finally towed the car back. They havnt found what caused this as yet but surely it wasn't a pleasant conversation I had with them. They are supecting 2 things 1) the rubber that cover driving shaft is torn and the grease may have spilled over to ht exhaust and caught fire (but that doesnt do anythign with power lost??) 2) some electrical problem that stop 2-3 cylinders from firing but fuel continue to run through and came through the hot exhaust hence caught fire (but there were no sign of fuel leak or severe smell of fuel) Has anyone experinced such incident before? your input would be great help for my investigation. and remember, you need to have fire extinguisher in your car. I will keep you posted on my development. Best Peng
Glad that you're safe! Congrats on being wise enough to have had a good fire extinguisher on hand, too!
#1 is unlikely if you have the fiberglass covers present. Note that there is a silver painted fiberglass cover above each inner CV joint boot, specifically to protect the boot from the heat of the exhaust manifold as it passes over the boot. This cover should also protect the exhaust from grease flinging out from a torn boot and contacting the exhaust.
thanks guy. The workshop here close for the next 1 week as they have their annual staff holiday. I will gather all info and speak to them once they are back right after xmas. cheers
So I'm thinking the first mod for my soon-to-be-delivered 355 should be a smoke detector mounted in the engine compartment? I'm glad you're OK! Steve
There are gasoline fume detectors at West Marine...pretty important thing to have on boats, aircraft, and sports cars...but an automatic fire extingusiher in your engine bay would do more towards saving your bacon (see link in my sig for a cheap example).
A fire suppression system is probably a good idea, but I'd also have the engine bay closely inspected for the items mentioned above, as well as the condition of the rubber fuel lines and especially the clamps holding them in position. The most recent 355 fire I saw (in San Diego) had to do with a clamp digging into the line and causing a rupture.
I have heard of an issue on 355's with the fuel lines getting sawed through by wear and tear when they pass too close to other engine parts - I would check the fuel delivery system for leaks at the usual connections first, then look for areas where there might have been some wear to the lines. We all may remember that 355 Spider at Bobileff's that had the driver's side fuel line cut open by long term wear againts something (AC coonectors?). Glad you are safe and the car did not burn further. Personally I do not believe in Halon as an adequate fire supression medium. It was designed to work on sensitive equipment in a contained environment to act as an anti-oxygen blanket. The gas dissipates too fast in the open area of the engine compartment and I don't want to stress over having a large enough Halon extinguisher. One quick hit with a normal CO2 extinguisher does the trick and I'll deal with detailing the engine later.
Good point vince.. ........... I have noticed when I changed my engine lid struts,.........there was a wear mark from the braided fuel lines on them. So needless to say, I have since zip-tied my fuel lines away from the engine lid struts. Nothing too tight, just enough to eliminate any possible rubbing issues..... . BTW pengster, glad you were not hurt and were able to keep the damage to a minimum !!!
thanks again guys. Nothing much I could do now as Im not Mr. Mechanic myself so will have to wait for the pros in the shop to come back from their holiday. Will keep you posted on the actual cause of fire so you guys can try to avoid it.
I'm remembering my US Navy training...Lets see...you don't need to know some of this shi...crap, but its nice knowledge. Fire types A...Alpha...standard fire like you see in a fireplace...type of fuels that leave ash. ( wood, paper, etc...) Characterized by white smoke. B...Bravo...Petroleum or other liquid fuel based fire...Gasoline, oils, grease, etc...Characterized by Black smoke. C...Charlie...Electrical fire caused by high currents...Converts to A fire after electicity secured...Characterized by Bright white, almost blue smoke. D...Delta...Metal fire...Mangesium, steel wool, etc...Characterized by extreme heat...Difficult to start, difficult to put out. Long term suffocation techniques only. (Sand bath) You said your first indication was black smoke. Highly suggestive of Bravo fire. Investigate all sources of petroleum products near fire outbreak including possible contamination caused by recent service. Any work performed in the area? Could a dolupe of grease have been dropped on a header? Look for evidence near the fires source (most burned spot) such as a stain or remaining dolupe, cracks in fuel delivery, gasket surfaces, etc... Don't know if this will help, Good luck
Did you hear a loud "POP" first? About two years ago my 355 caught fire. The cause turned out to be a broken plastic connector to the fuel tank vent. Apparently, when the plastic cracked it allowed gas vapors out - right by the manifold. Long story short ... the flash point of gas vapors is less than the temperature of the manifold. My fire burned itself out because the source (gas vapors) were burned off nearly instantly.
Finally the car is back. She was in hospital for 2 weeks and they aren't too sure what caused the fire but they could not find any traces of fuels or the grease so it looks like it was electrical fire hence there were few wires and sensors burnt (those bunch on the rightside just slightly higher than oil filter). They repaired it and had many test-runs before they decide to release the car to me. I will pick her up later and hopefully she wont turn herself into BBQ pit again. Finger crossed! Will keep you posted Pengster
Glad you got your car back ! I'm in the market to get an extinguisher for my 348. I got one for my Porsche from SafeCraft, but those guys don't do seat mounting brackets for Ferraris. I'm really interested to see what other folks have, or ideas.
The car is back and ran fine once again. I went for test-drive with the mechanics for 20 mins and then stuck in a slow traffic for another 30 mins before I got home. Everything is fine and seem like the culprit for miss-firing was the stroke sensor (face sensor??) and the fire was probably caused by over-flow of fuel in 1-2 cylinders that didnt fire up. No more report on this thread and I hope everyone will not experience what I went through. tata P.
