FIRE Under Hood on Monday

[rebelz]

1992 Yellow/Black ZR-1 #031- On the hottest day of the year so far in Anchorage, Alaska, I had a fire in the engine compartment. I had visions of a puddle of plastic being all that was left of my dream car. My wife and I, with help from 2 samaritans despite the fact that the hood would not release on the fire side, were able to extinguish the fire with somewhat minor damage considering. The fire was electrical in nature and appears to be related to the air conditioning and had burned a pinhole in the fuel inlet line. The engine wiring harness will need to be replaced at a bare minimum. Unfortunately I can't seem to be able to post any pictures. I had a Halon fire extinguisher, but the other guys did not. My question is this: I know you aren't supposed to wash these engines with water but, I have disconnected the battery, and will be pulling the engine in the next day or two. The insurance adjuster has authorized me to do all the work, as we can find no one that is certified or will work on the LT5 here in Alaska. The insurance company has said they will pay for all parts and compensate me for my labor to repair the car. Can I wash and scrub the engine to remove the fire extinguisher residue under these circumstances? The top end will be sent to America for Powder Coating and most likely Top End Porting, I'm not sure yet who to use for these services. Any help with information concerning this entire process will be appreciated.

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by rebelz

1992 Yellow/Black ZR-1 #031- On the hottest day of the year so far in Anchorage, Alaska, I had a fire in the engine compartment. I had visions of a puddle of plastic being all that was left of my dream car. My wife and I, with help from 2 samaritans despite the fact that the hood would not release on the fire side, were able to extinguish the fire with somewhat minor damage considering. The fire was electrical in nature and appears to be related to the air conditioning and had burned a pinhole in the fuel inlet line. The engine wiring harness will need to be replaced at a bare minimum. Unfortunately I can't seem to be able to post any pictures. I had a Halon fire extinguisher, but the other guys did not. My question is this: I know you aren't supposed to wash these engines with water but, I have disconnected the battery, and will be pulling the engine in the next day or two. The insurance adjuster has authorized me to do all the work, as we can find no one that is certified or will work on the LT5 here in Alaska. The insurance company has said they will pay for all parts and compensate me for my labor to repair the car. Can I wash and scrub the engine to remove the fire extinguisher residue under these circumstances? The top end will be sent to America for Powder Coating and most likely Top End Porting, I'm not sure yet who to use for these services. Any help with information concerning this entire process will be appreciated.

With the Plenum removed....remove the coils and vacuum system including the starter. Clean the valley drain and use a degreaser....pressure wash as you like (tape off the Injector Housing Ports and if you remove injectors tape off those ports as well before you pressure wash or use a degreaser).

The real reason you hear about not washing the engine is that if you do not remove the plenum, the starter can become flooded (washing the engine) especially if the valley drain is plugged.

Not being able to raise the hood with a fire under the hood could have been a lot worse. Did the hood get damaged?

[GOLDCYLON]

Cliff is correct. The washing the engine restriction is due to the starter and the coil packs under the plenum dont do well with water especially if the valley hole in the rear top of the engine block is blocked. So clean away within reason.

If I may suggest time to place the emergency wire ties mod to each side of the hood cable locks like most of us have done. You are darn lucky this did not become a car-b-que

With the hood fully up im sure the halotron FE would have done its job. GC

[efnfast]

Hey GC, how about a little tutorial on those hood releases.

[GOLDCYLON]

Originally Posted by efnfast

Hey GC, how about a little tutorial on those hood releases.

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/...ty-cables.html

[Mystic ZR-1]

Originally Posted by efnfast

Hey GC, how about a little tutorial on those hood releases.

Steve, I know you own a Sawzall...

[tf95ZR1]

http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread....hlight=release

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Mystic ZR-1

Steve, I know you own a Sawzall...

Hay! That's my line.

[Hib Halverson]

Forget about the starter and so forth. If you have dry chem powder under the hood after fire wash everything immediately with water. Fire extinguisher powder is corrosive and needs to be washed away asap.

In the future, keep your two hood releases adjusted properly and buy one of those broken hood release cable tools that gets the hood latches undone when the cable is broken. I've carried on in my 95 since I bought the car in 1995.

[rebelz]

Thanks to all for the replies. I rinsed off all I could as soon as I had the hood open, (I built an emergency hood tool, and opened the hood about 30 minutes after the fire.) Then did as Dynomite suggested and then pressure washed the engine, engine compartment and wheel wells. The fire had weakened the hood release cable in the center and it snapped when I pulled the release. The inside of the hood got scorched somewhat, but not the outside. I wouldn't say I was darned lucky, I'd say Damned lucky. I've seen tons of pictures of Corvettes that are just a puddle after a fire. If we had listened to what the fire department said, the car would have been exactly that. They said DO NOT try to put out the fire or try to get anything out of the car. It took them 10 minutes to get there, a distance of 1-1/2 blocks, the fire had been out for at least 9 and a half minutes by then, even with the stuck hood. To their credit, they didn't insist on prying or cutting the hood open. The guy in charge said he didn't want to do any more damage to the car. They didn't have to do anything, they did try to open the hood with the release handle. I will install the hood release cables while I'm fixing the damage.