Sorry about your car MastaCow-- hey, I haven't verified this, but I *heard* that if you have an engine fire, you should not touch the components bare-handed. Supposedly, some nasty chemicals are formed/released from the burning rubber & plastic, and they will pass through your skin attacking the tissue & bone underneath. This may be an urban legend, but it seems like a good idea to wear some thick, chemical resistant gloves and eye protection while you're pulling crap out of there.

I see that I'm really late in posting on this thread, so if it's actually true, and you've been mucking around in there all day, then uhhh-- never mind

 

So sorry to see/hear of your loss bro. If you want to check on the recalls being done or not, just call Mazda of America and give them your VIN. They'll tell you if they've been done or not. Don't forget to mention that your local dealer was being shady. Once again, sorry man.

 

I figure if it were true that it was harmful to touch parts that were covered in burnt rubber/plastic residue and it were something that could pass thru skin tissue-I figure the firemen would have mentioned it.

Yes, I've been poking around in there a bit. I seem fin...fi fffffffffffffffffffghghggrrgh...

 

DOH. On the bright side, I think everyone agrees here (including me) that the damage looks pretty minor. What really sucks is how you knew right away it was your car... I'd probably think the same way, damn FDs, hehe.

 

It looks painfull, but it certainly could have been worse.

Did you KNOW your coolant like was leaking before?
Did you ever smell any fuel?

 

What kind of fire extinguisher did you use? You need to contact the MFG ASAP!!! and find out how to neutrilize the chemical agent. That stuff will give you electrical problems from now until you get rid of it. At the very least:
1. take apart EVERY CONNECTION
2. Clean with electrical contact cleaner
3. Neutrilize with Baking soda and water miture
4. Rinse with clean water
5. Clean with contact cleaner
6. Apply dab of dieelectric grease and remake connection.

Good Luck!!

 

I think that's only for ABC dry chem. The stuff for automotive and boat use should be non-corrosive.

 

It's not so much the chemicals that are corrosive as it is the smoke itself.

Most fire damage isn't from the fire itself, it's smoke damage either when the fire happens or aftereffects of the smoke (electrical stuff getting destroyed etc.)

Here's a good link to fire's obvious and not-so-obvious effects: http://www.angelfire.com/ar/dw42/fire01.htm

 

I didn't have a coolant leak before. My guess was that the coolant was coming from when the little hose that goes to the TB melted.

OK, i had a TINY leak, but it was at the water pump, and only when my car got really warm =) I checked my coolant every week and I only had to add like a couple tablespoons once, and this was a while ago.

Fuel? Not really...well once i did. This was a while back. I hadn't smelled it in a while.

 

mastacow.... I LOVE ur signature! i dont see how you are taking this sooooo well... if i had a 3rd gen catch on fire id be in a mental hospital right now! well good luck on everything!

 

oh... CRAP!!!!

I was looking for some old threads and saw this. Damn!

If you need help with anything, you know i have a whole engine with all the accessories just sitting in my garage. I also have an extra engine wiring harness if you need it

man!

I better go clean up all that oil in my engine from when my oil filter seal failed n shot oil everywhere

sweet japan "we rub lotary engine" thumbs up pic hehe

btw, what kind of fire extinguisher did you use?

 

Excellent!! You must be okay, since I see you managed to peck out a few more replies after this one. I'll trust that you are using your *intact* fingers, and not some gangrenous stubs or your nose

 

That really sucks man

Good luck rebuilding her

 

\\

Mike, I got the car to Jeff's place today. I will see what he says. Might take you up on your offer for parts-need to keep it cheap as possible. Thanks guy =)

I took more pics today-but the only amusing one is of my friend bill moving my car with plumber's crack showing.

 

Wow dude, thats pretty harsh. Have to say I love the way you are dealing with it though. Both the pictures and this thread assure me that your FD will be back and better then ever.
Maybe we can start a new forum section for all the FD's that have burned down and have been rebuilt.

 

good luck masta....I am sorry to see that happen.

thankfully you caught it before it burned to the ground...saw one recently where even the dash was melted...

your in good spirits...cheers to that

itll be back...

j

 

 

Sorry to see another FD going up in flames.
Mine had the same size engine fire and the insurance totaled it because repair would have cost too much. It was bought back and has a salvaged title now.
The fuel injection system and many other expensive parts around the engine had to be replaced and a lot of labor to fix up.
That white stuff from the fire extinguisher goes in all little corners and is a pain to get out of there also.

I suggest you get a complete engine with harness from Japan and drop that in. There are some guys in LA getting these 30k engines from Japan.

 

I am sorry to read the bad news about your car

I was going to offer you my used engine harness but I see that one of your friends has already offered one. If you still need one, I'll bring it to LA when I move in 2 days. Otherwise, I am going to try to sell it on the forum.

Sheeeit, if I heard the same PA announcement, I would have thought the same thing.

Since several FD's have gone up in flames thus necessitaing the recalls, everyone should carry a fire extinguisher in their FD. I have a halon extinguisher from Safecraft. Pretty reasonably priced for a basic extinguisher.

Ed

 

hows the rebuilding process coming along?

 

Here's another request for info on the fire-extinguisher. I haven't gotten one yet and was wondering what you had.

Did you pop the hood, grab the extinguisher from the car and then hold the hood open and fire away? How big were the flames?

Keep us updated on the work...

 

I had whatever Food 4 Less handed to me. I didn't carry one in my car at the time. As soon as I get my car back, I will add one to my cargo bay somewhere.

As for the order of operations:

1) ran to my car, cussing here and there.

2) turned around, saw the supermarket employees calling 911, one asked me if I'd like use of a fire extinguisher.

3) yelled "YES!"

4) Grabbed extinguisher, popped the hood release

5) did NOT open hood. Aimed the nozzle of the extinguisher along the cracks in the hood and made an attempt to aim towards where the smoke seemed to be heaviest. This was all in an attempt to reduce the amount of oxygen the fire would receive.

6) After a few mins of blindly firing into hood area, released the front hood release, lifted the hood.

7) inhaled copious amounts of smoke.

8) coughed a few times, once coughing enough smoke to wonder where the new smoke source was coming from.

9) sprayed more of the extinguisher into engine area. Saw a small flame flip up near the firewall area, shot that down fast.

10) turned around, saw police officer standing there, shaking his head. He shared his sympathy, pointed out my "nice new air filters" and chatted a bit while the fire dept came to disconnect my battery and take some info down.

11) called my coworkers, took some pictures, laughed a bit.

 

Bummer!

But let this be a lesson to everyone. DO NOT use a dry chemical extinguisher on your car if you can help it. If you don't carry a foam extinguisher with you then try anything else to put out the fire first. Wet towel, water hose, **** on it. What ever.
Dry chemical extinguishers are very caustic to car parts and finishes.

 

Bummer about the fire.

It is fixable, if you are going to turn that into the insurance company the car is a total, guaranteed.

I'm in the process of fixing my second engine burn FD right now. Yours is much worse than either of the cars I've fixed but still totally repairable. Don't worry about the electrical connections, your going to be buying new or used harnesses and the mating parts.

The following are prices from Mazdacomp and some typical used prices. Ray Crowe at Malloy can probably get you something close to these prices.

New MAIN Engine harness $476
Used solenoid rack $75-100 (with metal fuel lines)
Fuel rails with injectors, $200-250
New plusation damper, $77 (you need to do this)
New oil metering lines, $15/ea
Clean and flow used injectors, $100 (they put new seals on too)
New water hoses, all ~15 of them $100
Used Coils $100
Used ACV $20-40

It looks like you should go with a used upper intake manifold with TB and elbow since the butterfly bushings probably got cooked in yours. There is more stuff for sure but that might be a good place to start. Clean it up and take it apart to get a good idea of what you need. I've got pics of the engine burn I've done, PM me if you want them.

Good luck,
Jeff

PS.

That intake doesn't do you any good without some sort of cold air shielding and the IC duct is useless with the hole in it, probably a inferior set-up to stock overall, no flames, just info.

 

I bought my 93 in 95 frm shop. It was salvage title. Drove it 2yrs correcting problems not corrected properly but did not do the mods. Watched the thing burn just like yours in front of my house one day and put out the fire much the same as you. Insurance company said send it to Mazda and without even looking to see that it was a salvage title poured 20 thousand dollars into the engine compartment to bring it up to specs. I wish they had just given me the money and the car and let me do it myself. The insurance adjuster lost his job. I'm still driving the FD. Someone saw it in my garage this weekend and asked if it was new. It can be done. Enjoy thye adventure.