caught fire :-(
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi all, went out for a bit of a blast in the mini today, changed the carb set up (spring and oil weight) all was going well if anything a bit rich on the a/f ratio.

Entered a duel carriage way and opened it up, a/f ratio still fine but it felt a bit like it was holding back.. so i backed down and headed for home to investigate..

then when i pull onto my drive the cabin filled with smoke i jumped out and took the bonnet off and the back of the bay around the carb was fully on fire

luckily i had an extinguisher to hand and i went out very quick.. needles to say i very nearly shit my pants.

i think it was the carb heat shield .. fuel contaminated maybe??

im not sure on the damage yet and its still a bit toasty..

so..

any ideas why the car could be holding back a bit as its never really done it before?

any any ideas on the cause of the fire.. could the turbo get so hot that it would ignite the heat shield?? im 99% sure it was not electrical.

cheers.

Edited by MarkGTT on 19th Jul, 2010.

OHH doesnt sount nice.

Carnt realy help withe the diagnosis but does sound like the oil is maybe too thick??

Hope its not damaged anythin major

Rick

blocked silencer mark?

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Well if it's around the carb, a leak on the float bowl would be my first point of call. If this was leaking, then it won't pressurise properly and cause poor running. The leaking fule is a potential for a fire too (but you probably knew that!!!)

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

recently fixed a carb leak so it could be that again.. bit lucky that it didnt ignite the lines and go up..

will let you know what i find.

Edited by MarkGTT on 17th Jul, 2010.

well the sudden shitty running was due to the trigger wheel slipping, so thats an easy fix to just time it in and tighten it back up.

I think the cause of the fire must be down to the heat shield previously catching fuel leaking from the carb, i cant have ever cleaned this off.. and although this was a few months back, today was the first spirited drive since the rebuild so the extra heat from the turbo must have ignited it.

Most of my pipe work / wiring is in heat shield sleeving so looks like i need to replace anything that wasnt in that - doesn't appear to be much more damage.

think i will order a fire extinguisher for the car now..

Edited by MarkGTT on 17th Jul, 2010.

Sounds like a lucky escape. Time for a nice stainless heat shield from Jason??

hmmm are you sure mark, would the petrol that was caught there not have evaporated by now?

double check your carb seals mate, i remember gialloflys mini setting on fire on a rolling road day due to dodgey carb seals.

just a thought

no longer a series, but still 1.3 turbo.

lucky escape, hope you find the problem without too much trouble

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

for the fuel you should be able to turn the screw up on the reg to presureise it a decent amount,

maybe use a spare reg if you have one so you don't have to reset the pressure.

the air side is much harder, but if you can find a 2" dia bit of somthing you could wedge it in the intake to the plenum, you could then back of the tappets so all the valves are closed, (might even need to remove the rockers) and then presurise via somthing like the boost gauge take off. it will leak past the guide a little but you should be able to get 20 psi in there.

cheers Joe, just pressure tested the carb and all seems well..

replaced all the melted hoses etc

i guess i should get it back on the road and see if i still have a problem.

Its now back up and running.. however i now have intermittent electrical issues – looks like I might have melted more than first thought. I fecking hate wiring but a rewire of the engine side is now next on the list. Joy.

:(

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

bugger :(

its worth checking the wiring further back, just in case its shorted under the bonnet and caused it to get hot elsewhere.

would it be easier to just get another loom?

Crapper ! Sounds like lucky escape to me, hope the re-wire goes smoothly.

"So wat we gonna do tonight Brain?"
"Same thing we do evernight Pinky!"
"Try to take over the world!"