Ondolinde

So it started out a beautiful day today and I was enjoying my drive down the Mass Pike when I hit the usual Monday morning traffic jam. I was creeping along in 1st gear in the third lane, when all of a sudden I had a strong smell of gasoline. Uh oh, this is NOT good. I signaled to get over towards the break down lane, and both of the first two lanes were free of cars. Hmmmm... that's odd. As I neared the breakdown lane, the car stalled and I just let it roll off the road and shut off the key.

BIG LOUD POOF!!!! SMOKE!! FLAMES !!!!

Flames were coming out from underneath the front and the passenger side wheel well. I grabbed my phone and the keys and jumped out of the car. By the time I had come around the back of the car to the passenger side, a man in a white van had pulled over, grabbed his fire extinguisher from his truck and was spraying my car from underneath. Apparently there were some flames showing before I was aware of it, which explains the lack of cars in the first two lanes. This gentleman saw the flames before I did and he selflessly jumped into action. He absolutely saved my car from being totally engulfed in flames, and perhaps me from injury if it had exploded.

After the flames stopped shooting out from underneath, he had me pop the hood and he checked under it before opening it carefully, and gave the engine compartment another blast from the extinguisher.

My benefactor stayed with me until the police and the tow truck driver arrived. He would not tell me his name or take any kind of reward besides a hand shake and my words of thanks. He just said " I am happy to be of some help", and with that, he drove off into the traffic.

The damage does not look all that bad. Or at least I am hoping that it is not that bad. Replacing the fuel lines was on my summer To Do list, but I got sidetracked by a radiator hose leak. I'm waiting to hear from my insurance adjuster, and go from there. Any advice on dealing with the insurance companies on these type of incident would be welcome. I've never had a car fire before.

Here's a phone pic from the scene of the crime, with a circle around the hose that split. The intake tube was not on at the time.

Imo000

Sorry to hear your bad news but that car is a write off.

AirtekHVAC

Might not be too bad. Sorry to hear about this. Good luck!

rexpontius

You cannot tell that from just one picture, but yes there will be a LOT of work to get it right again.

Let this be another warning to all 928 drivers to replace the fuel lines on time!

Barry Chan

sorry about your loss, i wonder which fuel line is that one?

Orantes

That really blows. I hope you can bring her back!

michael j wright

Lots of cleaning under there to get her back, hows the outside of the car look? Memo to self- change my fuel lines this weekend!!!

Lizard928

Don't claim it. Accept this as a lesson, take the steps and repair it.

Once repaired drive and enjoy!

Hilton

For a 79 5-speed in a nice color like Petrol Blue, IMO this makes sense if you intend to keep the car. Especially if the interior is in good condition and the miles are reasonably low.

Not many electrics to fix up on a 79, and the short-term cash payout from insurance write-off will likely be less than the diminished value in 5-10 years due to the salvage title.

depami

Good advice!

But what about this?

Kalspeed

Bad news....

Anyone have a photo without the intake showing exactly which hoses need to be changed for reassurance?

MY 1982 US but I look at the PET diagram , can't see exactly which hoses need to be changed when I look at the motor (maybe I am going blind?)

Any tips on de-pressurizing the system, when I was checking my in-tank fuel sending unit a while back, the pump started running when thee fuel line was disconnected, had to pull the relay.

Podguy

Actually on a 79 there is not much there to burn. You will need a parts car for all the little things. I would start by pulling the engine. This will make it easier to get at all the little part and get things clean. Once clean I would repaint the engine well before putting the new parts back on. What you need are basically parts others rarely need. By attacking someone's parts car you should get most everything you need.

Good luck - look on the bright side - most 928s need engine bay refreshes any way. Here are some pictures of my current project.

http://www.kondratyev.com/porsche/pr...estoration.htm

I do have most of the parts - including smog parts you might need.

Speedtoys

What about it..insurance wise, $700 will wipe it out almost.

You fix it because you want to..Id do it.

if the engine wasnt running and inhaled any dry-chem...go for it!

depami

I get it.

Cost of repair vs. value makes it an insurrance write off but it's not a write off as far as making it run again.

Thanks.

Ondolinde

I didn't think about the possibility of them totaling the car for this fire, but yes, it is a distinct possibility. From the outside, there is no sign of any damage, and the inside looks more smoke and dry-chem discolored.

Is it possible to cancel claim once it has been called in?