AAAAAHHHHHH FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well this week can't get any worse. I pulled in my driveway this evening from work and honked at my wife as she was coming outside. Then I noticed what I thought was a wisp of smoke by the driver's side headlight. I turned the car off and got out to investigate thinking maybe it was one of the lines on my boost controller to close to the manifold or something. I opened the hood to my horror and the damn turbo was on fire! I don't have a fire extinguisher so I yelled for my wife to get me a towel to try to beat out the flames. While I tried this she ran in and grabbed a bag of flour which actually worked quite well. I don't know what started it but it looks like the DEI turbo bag caught fire itself. I think I'am going to wait until morning to strip everything down and check for any damage. Apparently it had not been burning long when I caught it, the car was running fine all the way home too. Oh well I had to vent a little, thanks for listening guys.

Thank goodness you caught it in time! Your wife deserves a helluva X-mas gift for thinking on her feet!

Fill us in on the damage.

Yikes!!! Haven't heard of a Miata catching on fire in a while... At least not since mine went to Miata Technologies the last time...

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Originally Posted by tailchaser

Yikes!!! Haven't heard of a Miata catching on fire in a while... At least not since mine went to Miata Technologies the last time...

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Snap

so you had a turbo insulator thingy?

I've known two *local* rx7 guys who've had fires due to either those or thermal exhaust wrapping. I don't know whether it's the fact that it itself gets too hot, or it provides a better location to trap particles (or soak up oil from an leak in one case) but I've become wary of those type of devices....


Good save though! Sounds like you're a lucky man.. go buy a lottery ticket for me ;)

Flour? You're EXTREMELY LUCKY. Flour is explosive under stoichiometric conditions. You could have had a huge explosion.

Seriously. Ever hear of a grain silo explosion?

At the moment the only thing I could think of was to get the damn thing out without spraying cold water all over the hot motor. Would have used salt but didn't have enough.

Well took everything apart and so far no major problems other than a little burnt heat shielding. How ironic is that? The culprit that is responsible for starting the fire turned out to be the well designed Greddy oil return line. The hose had hardened over time which rendered the clamp holding it in place useless as it would turn on the barb. I removed it, cut the burnt end off, checked for fall in the line and reattached it. This will be replaced with a pan drain as soon as I can get all the fittings and line together, until then this will be checked and rechecked on a regular basis. Well just thought I would give an update on how everything is going so far. Should have her up and going by this afternoon.

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Originally Posted by OUTRACE

...stoichiometric conditions...

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Flour Explosion


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Never the less, glad you'll have it up and running soon!

SHE LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

I put her back together and fired her up, and she purrs like new. Got some minor clean up to do around the fender well area from the flour, really sticky stuff when wet. Also have to replace the heat barrier material on the back of the heat shield for the filter, but nothing major. Oh thank you great Miata Gods for not taking my baby.

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Most rubber will deteriate under the heat of the turbo after a couple months. Just plan on replacing the hose every 6 months to a year if you want it to not leak.

Also, I think turbo wraps and header wraps are bad ideas compared to a good ceramic coating.

Chris

awe man, good thing not much was hurt.

Performance Coatings - Arlington, TX - (817) 274-1947

they have done tons of headers and manifolds for me (Formula Atlantic, SBC headers, BMW m6 intake and exhaust manifolds)

Mike is a great guy, and delivers exactly what he promises in a timely manner.

Switch to Silicone heat resistant tubing for the oil return. Napa sells spark plug heat shields you can wrap around the tubing to further protect it from cracking. Flyin miata Sells the silicone tubing.

Turbo Away!