Arnoud

For the OP: good that nobody was injured, and best of luck with the rebuild.

Jeff: adding fuses to the 3 unprotected circuits from the main battery (being the ECU's & ABS & main cooling fans) has been done by others, notably the solution as done by Alan Moore, see here: http://www.moore-fun.net/Porsche/battery_box_fusing.htm
I did a "copy cat" of that some years ago, which looks like this and every of those circuits are now protected with a 30 Amp (green coloured) fuse:

mdkelly1

Always tough to see the damage from an engine fire. Very glad that these were caught early enough so that no one was hurt. It could have been much worse.

The risk of fire is a serious consideration when assessing what needs to be replaced in the engine bay. Whether it is the fuel lines, injector hoses, and/or power steering hoses, it is best to take a proactive approach and replace them if there is any doubt about their age/condition.

After seeing more than a few of these situations over the years, one of which happened to local 928 owner, I went with a full set of Greg Brown's space-age fuel lines. Got' em from Roger and couldn't be happier with the fit, finish, and industrial strength construction.

Expensive, yes, but worth it, and great piece of mind as well.

cambria

Rob, I used a lot of suppliers:
Sunset Porsche
928 Specialists
928 International
20 th Street Auto Parts
Paragon
Vertex
Ebay

My fire stretched from the power steering unit underneath the car passed the cats. The heat from the fire was transmitted thru the floor and firewall and damages a number of wiring harnesses, Central Electrics Panel pluss hoses plastics wiring and engine paint. While I was at it, Did the engine valley. rings and rod bearings.
Terry

Cosmo Kramer

These hoses were done a month ago using Gates barricade efi line and the proper clamps. I did this same job on my supercharged 85, it wasn't barricade hose it was from a different supplier and did not have the hard plastic inside (same pressure rating though). That car saw fuel pressures sometimes north of 100 psi and never had an issue.

I had the engine running with the hood open only a few hours before the incident and there was no fuel leak then. My consensus is the front line started leaking ever so slightly, enough to build up a concentration of fuel vapor near the driver side distributor that caused the explosion. The fuel lines are all intact, not burned or blistered anywhere.

If I end up with the car back from insurance I will be putting on GB and OEM lines. If I knew the brand that I used before I would use it again. I think that one, without the hard plastic core holds better using the clamp method (goodness knows I torture tested my last set).

AO

That sucks Ted! So bummed for you. Glad nothing else went up in smoke.

Alan

Arnoud - the one in discussion here is a different feeder - it is the feeder from the starter main connection to the ABS hydraulic unit (drivers fender). It terminates at an unprotected jump post like connector (without hex bolt & cover). I considered adding a fuse here - but you'd need a mega fuse because the loading can be very high when activating (>30A), and when you need ABS activation you probably really NEED it to work!

Alan

worf928

Phillips screw and actually, it does have a cover. It's just that the cover usually goes missing at the first t-belt change. The cover is now NLA; I've been thinking of modeling one of the few I have left and 3D printing replacements. Too many projects though.

In the factory route that ABS pump feed line is not an issue unless you get hit hard in that corner. It becomes a problem when it is unrouted for t-belt service and then either damaged or not routed correctly.

John Speake

Sorry for your loss. It's always sobering to see how quickly a 928 can be extensively damaged.

Very pleased to hear there was no collateral damage to family or property !

GregBBRD

Sorry for your loss, but you should count your blessings, because no one was hurt and there was no other property damage.

Any kind of "pop" sound is almost always fuel vapor being ignited.....plus the extent of the damage in just a couple of minutes tells you that there was fuel present.....plastic pieces just don't burn that quickly (nor does fire spread that quickly) without an accelerant present.

Alan

Thanks Dave - I don't have a cover and I've never seen a cover - But I did go look at PET to see what it might look like...

Yes it would be nice to have a cover - or get rid of it altogether via say a Mega Fuse - however technically that would be putting the fuse in quite the wrong place...

I do agree with Greg - there was some fuel there to cause that much damage - probably just stopped when the fuel pressure (or power steering or flammable refrigerant...) died down after the engine stopped - but that much damage took some time to get started. I'd investigate carefully to find the root cause.

Alan

Cosmo Kramer

Now that I have had time to look at things I agree. From what I can see it was definitely fuel. It looks like the ignition happened at the driver side distributor, so my thoughts are a connection at the driver side of the front fuel line. The fuel line itself is not compromised or blistered at all, but a tiny leak over a couple hours must have filled the engine compartment with fuel vapor.

I do feel lucky that it happened where it did, outside my garage with something nearby to extinguish. If it happened somewhere where I was dependent on 911 there would be nothing left of the car. A friend of my dad's was on vacation with a pickup pulling a 5th wheel trailer out west in the mountains. A fuel line ruptured and sprayed fuel on the catalytic converter and ignited while driving down the road in the middle of nowhere. When it was done all he had was himself, his wife, the dog and the shirts on their back. Everything else burned to the ground.

Hilton

Possibly a leak out the vacuum port? Thats where old distributors usually fail.

Alan

I think it was probably more than residual fuel vapor - I'd be looking for a leak (flowing/spraying).

Alan

Gary Knox

One possibility for everyone to think about IF you park the car in the garage. This is something I've done for nearly 15 years, after hearing Mark A. talk about the propensity for German plastic and rubber to deteriorate with heat (and my experiences at various race tracks doing PCA Drivers Ed, where everyone wants to dissipate engine heat ASAP).

Whenever I return home from driving my 928's, or any other German 'sports' car, I immediately open the hood to let the heat dissipate faster. I leave it open until I'm going to drive the car again. Hadn't really thought of it before, but IF there is any tiny fuel leak, such as Ted and marine928 apparently experienced, there would be much LESS fuel vapor accumulate in the small area under a closed hood. OF COURSE, eliminating the small leak as soon as possible is the real solution. But opening the hood MIGHT allow you to smell the vapor sooner than you would with the hood closed, (as well as eliminating the 'perfect explosion concentration' of one part fuel vapor, fourteen parts air in the engine bay).

Just a thought that might help.

kmascotto

If you choose to go with EFI fuel hoses, use R9 rated hose (100psi) and sand the barbs on the fittings. Use appropriate fuel hose clamps and check them on occasion as part of annual maintenance.

Porsche still makes a few replacement hoses, which are a good option.