Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Tifosi, My car is (was?) an 07 430 coupé with 10,710 miles on the odometer. In February and March I took it out for a drive, once each month. After each drive, I parked it in my garage. When I came back to the garage later that evening, I could smell a strong odor of gasoline. After the second occurrence, I decided not to drive the car anymore until I determined the source of the odor. I took the larger engine bay side panels off, pushed the car out of the garage and started the engine. Almost immediately I could see gas welling up in the round boss (divided into four segments) on top of the fuel pump on the right side fuel tank. I also could see older stains on the top of the same fuel tank. I ordered a new pump from Ricambi America plus a new green gasket. The new pump (239820) was made from orange plastic whereas the old, leaking pump (195804), was white-colored. I also installed the new (green) O-ring (181681). I made a lockring tool from some aluminum strap and two lawnmower axle bolts. After much work to allow the right tank to move a few inches so that the pump would clear the bodywork directly above it, I was able to remove the old pump and install the new pump. I put everything back except the two engine bay side panels, so I could check both pumps and both tanks during operation. I am reasonably certain that all components were re-installed correctly. After the pump installation was done, I pushed the car out of the garage and started the engine. The engine ran roughly for a few seconds until fuel filled the right side fuel system, then the engine smoothed and ran normally. Nothing abnormal was observed anywhere. I ran the engine for about 5 minutes. I then drove the car back into the garage. There was no gasoline odor detected afterwards. The next day, since the tanks were nearly empty, I drove the 2.5 miles to my favorite non-alcohol gas station and filled the tanks as full as possible. I opened the engine cover and carefully looked at both tanks in particular and the engine bay in general and saw nothing abnormal, observing no fuel leaks. I drove 1.7 miles to the start of my exercise route (4.2 miles total since the pump installation). As I turned onto the road, I accelerated strongly, but not so hard to spin the rear tires or anything nearly like that. Just a hundred yards into the drive I heard a “thump” sound. I instantly looked into the rearview mirror and saw black smoke swirling in the engine bay. I pulled over to the side of the road, turned off the engine and opened the engine cover. There was fire at the top of the right tank which a passerby and the local fire department put out, but not before significant damage was done. Later, I drained the tanks. I got 25.3 gallons out of the tanks, which is interesting given that Ferrari rates the tank at 25.1 US gallons capacity. Remember also, that I drove 1.7 miles from the gas station to the site of the incident. Apparently, very little fuel was burnt in the fire. Anyone else have a similar occurrence? Any thoughts about a possible cause? Tom
if you can get more pics, maybe we can guess.... are you parting it out? I am interested for some parts
I'm so sorry to hear that. And I'm sorry I don't have any idea on possible root cause. All the best to you. Dan Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
You need more pics of specific areas of the engine bay. Not being funny but you were the last one to mess with the fuel system.
Looking at the pics i would guess the pump was not sealed into the top of the tank correctly. When you topped the tank up the fuel would be at the top and as you speed up the fuel has probably found a way past the tank seal into the engine bay. I am a fan of using a sealant on joints where fuel is concerned as a very thin fluid which will find any gap given the chance. I have never had my pumps out so had to look at the drawings to see the construction to get an idea of the setup. The pumps dont look the best of ideas .
Sorry for your loss, hopefully your insurance will replace the car. Could you not see if any fuel was leaking/pumping out on top when you stopped or to much smoke??
I think you need to delete this thread and contact your insurance ASAP. This car should definitely be a “was”.
I'm guessing that the gas line coupler was not connected correctly to the fuel pump. You're dealing with 45 PSI pressure at that connection point. Sorry to hear your misfortune.
Sorry, no answers here. Just very sorry about your car.... I've always thought about my response to my car catching fire. I'd almost rather wait several minutes before calling for help, just to be sure the car is thoroughly torched. I don't want any questions from my insurance company about viability. Kevin
Seeing the photo shocked and saddened me. I'm sorry for what happened to your car. Wishing you the best.
Sorry to hear about this. As a DIY guy myself I always take the care to learn and do everything correctly. Not saying that you didn't, what's interesting is the amount of gas that you drained a lot more than I would think so I'm assuming that it was overfilled and there was a lot more pressure and that "thump" was the pressure that was released sending gas into the engine bay. Whether the fuel pump was seated properly or a O ring was missing?? Who knows? Again sorry this happened, hopefully insurance will take care of it.
Yes, it takes that much pressure for the fuel injectors to properly vaporizes the gas in the cylinder.
Sorry to see. Having done my 430 fuel pumps I would agree with the above. Either the screw cap o-ring was compromised or the fuel hose connector which also has an o-ring in it. That's about all that can let fuel out.
This question is not meant to prod, I am just curious for my own sake. If you had a hand held a fire extinguisher, do you believe here would have been significantly less damage? Or did it happen so fast that damage was going to be bad no matter what? Terrible news.
If my Ferrari caught on fire, I'd let it burn to the ground before calling for help. Seriously, do you really want to salvage a fire-damaged Ferrari and hoping that it will retain its value or that it'll run right again? Surely, you'll take a hit financially, but sometime you just need to face reality and let it go.
Thanks for the condolences. The local dealer (Boardwalk in Plano, TX) seems to think it will be totaled out. We'll see. In addition to the quarter panel, all the wiring and hoses are toast. The frame near the right tank saw some heat, so Ferrari might deem that in need of replacement, too. Needs a new tank and pump (oh, the irony), wheel well and gravel guards, tire and wheel, wheel center logo (Oh, the humanity!!). Funny about "just slap on a new quarter. . . be good to go. . ." How many distasteful situations could be healed if that's all we needed to do? I still strongly feel all was done properly. Ran it (engine with new pump in place) twice with no issues before the last bit. What would have been the ignition source? The old pump dumped no small amount of gas into the same area, before, without fire. Why now? At RA's recommendation, I installed a new (pretty green) o-ring. The whole thing (fuel pump) is really hard to get on wrong. The fuel line and wiring plug both "clicked" going back in. All mounting and shields was tight but not excessively so. An investigator for the insurance company is visiting tomorrow. I am now in possession of an Amerex Halotron I extinguisher in my DD. (I know, I know: closing the barn door after Bessie-the-heifer got loose and got smacked by that 18-wheeler out on the interstate.) I think I could have saved the car if I had immediately pulled this extinguisher out and hit the fire with it in the time it took me to: park the car, stop the engine, pop the engine cover, aim and squeeze the trigger (a few seconds). Thanks, God, for the presence of mind to do all that; I may need more of that in the future. Tom
In this case, he doesn't have to worry, it's a total loss. And the OP should pray that it is, you do not want to have this repaired.
Even that pros can screw up a fuel pump install. I had the fuel pump replaced at Kuni BMW in Beaverton, OR, and they pinched the gasket where the new pump sealed on the top of the fuel tank. It was fine when I left (with tank 1/2 full), but every time I filled the tank, gas would leak on the ground...and in my garage, since I usually filled my tank at a gas station near my house on the way home.
Pretty sure this is a joke... Still think you should request to delete this thread (or maybe a mod should just do it). I would be inclined to believe that before an insurance company pays out a 6-figure claim, they would find every possible way to get out of it. This thread definitely promotes the idea that you are at fault here. Not trying to be mean or offend, just trying to save you some money/headaches/legal battles with insurance companies. Paranoid maybe but I take no chances with stuff like this. btw, for future reference, I have this attached to my passenger's seat, although I have no idea how I would react in the situation. My main concern is my house if a fire starts in/near my garage. If I was out and about, who knows. http://www.thebracketeer.com
