Fuse box fire
 

I was driving the Targa this wekend and the car just shut off on me-Red lights lit up (oil/alt).

After I pulled over I was on the phone and I noticed smoke coming out of the vents!

Popped the hood and saw flames comiing out of the fuse box, I was lucky enough to beat out the fire with my sweater.

My brother checked the reisitance of th black wire from the relay and it was .8 ohms so we are thinking the fuel pump heated up frying the fuse/relay.

There is also an orange wire that connects fromt the fuel pump fuse terminal to the turn signals and it had an inline fuse that melted into a glob.

So I am looking into replacing the fuel pump, two relays/sockets and fuse board. The mess looks worse then it really is from the plastic wire wrap melting, it did not stick to the wires.

Sorry for the blurry photo.

That sucks. I hope you get it sorted out.

Thanks Ryan, at least it's fixable.

A buddy of mine just totaled out his pristine black 83 SC Coupe a few hours later, head-on collision with an out of control Harley, biker did not make it and he is going through severe guilt right now:(

Intoxicated Biker was speeding with four others, hit a guard rail, went down right in front of him.

That stinks. On the bright side, you will be able to drive it after you fix the electrics. The bad news is that it could happen to anyone.

Just one more thing to worry about.:bang:

similar thing (but w/out the flames) happened when my fuel pump cratered. cooked the wire back to the fuse box. melted the connector in the fuse panel before the fuse finally blew.

The lesson here is: if you have an SC and haven't replace the fuel pump yet, don't wait til it quits. replace it now.

sucks about the biker. lesson there is zero tolerance--never ride if you've had any alcohol/drugs

My brother has a brand new CIS pump for a 77 911 (donation)

I heard the fuel pressure is the same as the 3.0 but the volume is a bit less at WOT.

I've heard others with mid-years swapping out the 2.7 with a 3.0 and not replacing the pump.

Think it will be a problem?

If what you say is true about the flow rates, then I would definitely replace it with the proper unit as you'll want proper fuel flow, especially at WOT. At WOT the engine is at max load, and with a lean condition (from fuel starvation) it could lead to increased combustion temps-->detonation-->damaged rings/lands.......even truer with that higher compression engine.

Hope the car is treating you well otherwise.

-Charlie

Charlie,
Thanks for the info.

Do you remeber what the orange wire with a built un fuse was for.

It went from #6(Fuel Pump) to #11 (Turn signal)

Also there were some wires wrapped in a small plastic flex tube that ran along the top of the fuse box but were not connected to anything.

Other then that the car has been great and I can see much better with a new windshield:)

That's horrible. On the other hand, someone on this board is looking for a 3.0...

Peter

As a reliablility measure, I by-passed the fuse block located fuel pump fuse with an in-line bayonet style fuse. I also replaced the fuel pump relay and carry a spare. I think the correct fix is to replace the old fuse panels with new panels. The fuses and contacts themselves corrode and build up high resistance at the connection leading to sometimes dire consequences. Part of this could be in part because of off-gassing from a battery undercharge in a confined space with the fuse panel.