Duke

I thought we could help eachother out in this post by collecting all weak points on the 944 that can cause a fire.

The most obvious source of fire must be the 3 fuel lines.

What other weak points are there?
I've heard something about the battery cables?

Thanks
Gustaf

Hans

You nailed 95+% of it already
1) fuel hoses to fuel rail / FPR
2) fuel rail (some seem to crack in time near the welds)
3) leaking injector seals (the top ones to the rail)
4) power cable from battery to starter and generator (un-fused circuit, contact IceShark for an solution)
TakeCare

Probesport

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Hans:
<strong>
4) power cable from battery to starter and generator (un-fused circuit, contact IceShark for an solution)
TakeCare</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Aren't they generally unfused anyway in most cars? I know in my Probe & Saab they aren't fused, I havent checked my truck. Almost 99% of the time the starter isnt fused.

Chris_924s

bad, old or worn electrical under the hood. Insulation fails with age and temperature cycles.. bad Plug wires. My 02.

Z-man

Not too common, but it can cause quite a fire:
Malfunctioning wiper motor can get hot enough to light dry leaves, debris...etc. in the cowl area.

Like one should check their tire pressures in the winter time, a 944 owner should also pop the hood at least once a month! Look, smell, touch things to make sure they are in working order.

It can save your car!

-Zoltan.

NerfRacing

haha, one time my a-pillar gauges lost their ground and i could see the wire burn all the way from my battery across the carpet to the gauges, after which they caught fire i would have loved to witness that from another car. quite amusing im sure.

Chris_924s

nerf-- really not funny.. YIKES!!In your p-car????

IceShark

Re: Battery cables. That is correct, there are almost no cars that have a fused battery to starter cable. The reason being is you would have to fuse it so large, i.e. 500 amps or more, for some starting conditions. If you have a battery that is a little tired it may not be able to discharge 500 amps and trip the fuse but still have plenty of juice to start a nice fire. So everyone just says forget it.

The most likely cars to be fused are ones that have the battery at the other end of the car from the motor where the risk of shorting is high.

However, the run to the alternator is a different situation. If that cable or the alternator shorts the battery will dump everything it has into it. This you can fuse to prevent that. In my battery cable project (which will start shipping any day now) I am fusing at 175 amps to prevent that inrush.

I understand the new Cadillacs and Benzes and maybe Bimmer are going to start to do the same thing. There were a few car fires where the alternator shorted out, battery dumped in 700 amps and up went the car in flames. In at least one case a Cadillac was parked in the guy's garage and it started the whole house on fire. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

Another problem area is the positive feeds off the battery to the operating systems other than the starter. Those aren't fused either for about the first 6 to 8 feet. I'm fusing all of them with a 150 amp fuse at the battery post.

Danno

In my Toyota Supra, they used fusible-links to connect the alternator & starter to the battery. Not sure what amperage rating it was, but they were hefty items about 5mm thick.