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Sorry for your loss. My engine fire cost north of 7k in parts
and I was fortunate, the insurance picked up most of the cost.
My fire started at the power steering pump and since I was at highway drenched the whole underside of the car.
Today the car runs great. Only remaining problem is the speedometer doesn't work. I think I fried the magnets on the ring gear.
Good luck
Alan, so if I'm imagining this correctly, you have put a tube or something you can reach from the driver's seat that you can spray the Halon extinguisher in, that travels through the firewall to the engine compartment? Is there a write-up on this somewhere? That sounds very cool.
$1000 in used parts would get him back to where he was before the fire. We have a local Porsche only wrecker that is very reasonable when it comes to 928 parts.
I believe it very warm in Ont., Canada at the moment which may have caused a leaking fuel line to vapourise between shutdown and restart (2 hrs I believe) then a leaking ignition component sparked then boom!
There are so many scenarios of this fire being very very bad; starting the garage/house on fire or being trapped........yikes.
You're lucky to be able to buy Halon extinguishers. Here in Australia you can't legally buy them, apart from for some very restricted uses. I've tried everywhere, and contemplated all sorts of import options, but all I'm allowed to buy is CO2 or powder. I'd install a full underhood halon system in my GTS in a heartbeat if I could.
The crazy thing is that Halon is not allowed for environmental reasons, which I understand, but the result of an out of control fire is the production of noxious pollutants which probably exceed the environmental harm of Halon anyway.
First of all, so glad no one was injured, and no one's house/garage burned down. And, thanks to marine928 and Ted for bringing your losses to the attention of Rennlist 928 Forum users.
It seems to me that the description in post #40 by marineblue is exactly what Greg Brown has been stating for several years is the 'problem with' and in his opinion, the probable 'result from' using a piece of rubber fuel hose pushed over the barbs on the fuel line by the fender and those on the one leading under the fuel rail. Then securing the hose with circular clamps.
Pinching of the rubber hose onto the barbs he stated would eventually lead to penetration of a portion of the barb through the rubber. Gasoline, under high pressure from the pump slowly oozed out of that area, leading to a buildup of vapor. Combined with warm air under the hood, the gasoline vapor was extremely explosive (just like in the cylinder during combustion).
It's a tough call, since the OE pipes/hose is NLA. SO: Continue with the ~20-30 year old OE hose???? Install new rubber hose/clamps as described above???? Purchase one of the two aftermarket design hoses sporadically produced by Greg Brown (when they are available, and not cheap)???? Increase the fire insurance coverage????
No 'easy' answers, but one should search for a way to protect against this issue that could be catastrophic.
PS: To Roger Tyson - post #59 following this: I am only referring to the one set of pipes/hose that attach at the right fender with the big "U" turn. I know all the others are available.
Ugh, I am doing the intake right now on my 85 and all of the fuel lines look outwardly good - the idea of replacing them and ending up with this exact scenario sucks but after 30 years and 120k miles the original lines can't have much more life left regardless of their external appearance. This job is already rocketing past the $3k mark, so in for a penny in for a pound I guess, off for a quote for Greg's lines...
It's a tough call, since the OE pipes/hose is NLA.
Not completely correct as two of the four fuel hoses on the 87.5 to 95 are still available via Porsche.
Front fuel hose $53 and Fuel pressure regulator to fuel cooler $68. The front feed hose on the right cam cover and the U hose are available made by GB.
For the record Porsche uses EFI hose and clamps in a number of applications and remember that the original hose assemblies on the 928 are just hose pushed over a barbed fitting and using the pressure thrust of the hose onto the barbs to secure the hose in place. The only difference between the original Cohline hose and the current SAE30R9 EFI hose is a thin veneer of thermoplastic on the ID.
Same safety measures apply for GB hoses as well - they should be inspected on a regular basis and the nuts checked for tightness.
Fuel hoses are a tough call all around and common sense should prevail.
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Does it have the "Do It Yourself" manual transmission, or the superior "Fully Equipped by Porsche" Automatic Transmission? George Layton March 2014
928 Owners are ".....a secret sect of quietly assured Porsche pragmatists who in near anonymity appreciate the prodigious, easy going prowess of the 928."
Kevin the front fuel hose on the 85/86 cars is still available. The other hoses are made by GB and I have them in stock. You will need to change your fuel pressure regulator on these cars as well.
09-05-2015, 03:33 PM
George Layton March 2014