Engine fire update

[Zithlord]

Hi all!

Original tread: http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...ht=engine+fire

Got back from Las Vegas yesterday, and went with a Dodge Ram and car trailer to the port of Drammen(outside Oslo) to get the car. I expected to worst.....

The car was under a pile of snow after being delivered to the port 4 days before. I got the snow of and what I saw was rust and soot on the rear license plate panel. Obviously been a fire... I got the engine lid open which seemed undamaged from the outside. Inside the engine compartment I could see no damage, just a lot of powder from a fire estingusher, very strange. After inspecting the underside I can see that the engine seems undamaged and I could turn the cranck.

So what has happened? It seems that the only affected part is the muffler and rear license plate panel(not alu), they are very rusted after the fire and snow. Also the engine lid has bubbles in the paint but the aluminium seems undamaged...phuuu.. I am no expert but it seems that there has been a fire inside the muffler. Is it possible that fuel could somehow have leaked all the way from the carbs to the muffler and the gas inside has ignited when the guys at the port tried to start/move it? Please comment S-people. I will post pictures tomorrow, I am now on my wifes computer.

By the way I have not dared to crank the engine yet.

Best and happy new year!
John

[2POINT7]

John,

Did you rough up those dock workers for leaving your car out in the snow? If you didn't, you should have, dammit!

Seriously, sounds like you've found things far better than anticipated; for that, be relieved.

I'll have to defer the question regarding a fire in the muffler to someone that might actually know. I just wanted to you to know we're happy your car didn't suffer as bad as it first appeared.

[RickS]

Have never heard of a 'muffler fire'. I would recommend having a skilled mechanic thoroughly check out the engine/car prior to "lighting it up".

[jan]

hi John
when i got my swb 67 from california some years back i "almost" had the same thing...

the car hadnt been run for long time time, and i changed the fuel pump one evning..assuming all would be ok..but the carbs was full of **** and the needles was stuck so all i did was pump a lot of petol straight to the ports and it was starting to leaking petrol thrugh a hole in the exhaust.

u should be glad they was quick to put the fire out

[Zithlord]

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Jan; what happened to your SWB is just what I suspect could have been the cause of the fire in my car. I will post pictures tonight so that skilled people of this board can review and give me their thoughts of what might have happened.

John

[67Porsche911S]

Hi John,
I remember from my racing days that the powder from the fire extinguisher is quite agressive to metal. Do not crank over or try to start the engine unless you are sure nothing found its way into the intake system, otherwise you will get the powder further down into the engine. I had a backfire from my carbs some years ago at the start of the last race event on the Avus in Berlin when an officous marshall gave me a full blast of it. I had to dismantle the carbs and took of the cylinder head. The stuff has an effect like salt to metal and is difficult to get rid of.
So I cross my fingers that it has not passed the airfilter and I am glad that the damage seems not too bad. I received the Halda the other day, thanks again for your help.

Michael

[JPlonghood]

Hopefully this story continues to have a better than expected ending from the first email you sent me.

[boba]

John,
Also glad you found a better than expected situation.

Take care of the fire extinguisher residue as soon as you can. We have had helpfull corner workers cause more damage than the fire when putting the extinguisher on the fire, no complaints on the corner workers understand.

I would recomend that you drop the engine, as it has been a few days, and clean everything. Take the fan shroud off and flush the top of the motor and the cylinder fins. Take care with cleaning all electrical conectors and consoles as the corosive effect can create all sorts of future issues. As stated previously do not crank the motor, and clean the induction and top end. If it is run prior to thorough cleaning I would suggest a teardown to clean internals to include a flush of the oil system and tank and lines.

Best of luck to you with your new car.

Bob

[karlusmagnus]

John, glad to hear it was not worst case scenario. The gods in Valhalla were in a good mood

[Bobby Smith]

John,
Sorry to hear of your problem during shipping. I received your e-mail this AM. Glad it wasn't too bad. The car was starting and running fine the last time I saw it. I've heard of some shippers tilting the cars at a 45 degree angle for transport.
I'm not sure if this could have caused the problem but perhaps at such a severe angle the float bowls could have leaked fuel into the cyl. and then into the muffler. This should not happen and it's only a guess. It seems the powder residue is a major concern, otherwise I would make sure the muffler has no fuel in it (easy to remove), crank it over by hand and if she turns free, try to start it. Keep a halon fire bottle and a friend on standby. I bet she will start right up. Of course if the residue needs to be cleaned out anyway, then a partial disassembly would be best. Good luck and keep me posted.
Bobby Smith