Close Call Saturday

Saturday morning I needed to pull the car out of the garage to open up some space in the garage for an unrelated project. I started the car and immediately noticed it was running rough and missing. It also was hunting for an idle but in a much larger range then it's ever done before. I thought I'd let it warm up and see if the miss would disappear and the engine clear up. I pulled the car out on the driveway and let it run. It was still running rough. I went back to the engine compartment to see if I could notice anything obvious. Within 10-15 seconds I saw a spark and a flame ignite on the top of the left cylinder head (driver-side) right above cylinder #4.

The first thing I did was shut the car off. Then I panicked and grabbed a bowl that I had in the garage and ran into the house to fill it with water. I splashed most of it out trying to get it to the car. I threw what water was left in the bowl onto the flame but it didn't extinguish. At this point the flame was not any larger but was in an area where ignition wires and other fuel injector rubber lines would be compromised at any second. I knew I didn't have much more time. I quickly remember I had a Dr. Pepper in the garage and ran to my work bench. Fortunately it was still 3/4 full so I poured/splashed Dr. Pepper all over the area where the flames were. This did the trick and the fire was out. My heart rate was probably close to 170 BPM.

At this point I started to soak in what had just happened. #1, My damn car caught on fire!!. That's a first for me believe it or not. #2, With the exception of a few spark plug wires bubbling on the sheath, I don't see any noticeable damage. #3, This could have been so much worse. Had I been driving the car when this happened, I likely would have been looking at an insurance check and a lost project. #4, How in the hell did this happen?

First of all, here's a shot of where the fire occurred. If you look between the control pressure valve and the low idle speed regulator, there are 3 plug wires running to the left bank of cylinders. It was directly under these where the fire started and fortunately stayed.

Here's another picture from a different angle. It's a close up of the area. If you look closely, you can see the spark plug wires bubbled up on the bottom.

The flames were present for maybe 30 seconds tops. Even though I ran into the house and unsuccessfully tried to use a bowl and water first, the total distance traveled was maybe 25 feet at full sprint.

With the help of some neighbors and my mailman (Thanks USPS!) I pushed the car back into the garage, averting the need to start it back up to back it in and create another dangerous situation.

I spent the rest of the weekend researching, and discussing via the online forums a replacement process for the Bosch K-Jet fuel injection lines, injector seals, copper gaskets, etc. The best I can tell, this appears to be a small fuel leak at or around the #4 cylinder. It could be the injector seal itself, a banjo bolt, or a fuel line. Additionally, the best I can tell, all the current lines, seals, and so on appear to be original parts.

I updated my parts list spreadsheet and came up with approximately $440 before tax and shipping. Believe it or not, I ordered a brand new carpet set from DMC last week, so these repairs my have to wait a few weeks before I can pick up the parts. I'll certainly post an update when I get the replacement fuel injection parts and take some before and after pictures.