Porsche fire

[traveler]

Hi On a 2008 911 manual, Yesterday I was driving up a steep grade, in heavy traffic for several miles. The clutch felt odd, then the pedal wouldn't spring back to normal It stayed approx. 1 inch from floor. It took everything I had to limp off the side of road. Started to call a tow, when smoke came out of rear and fire shortly after. I'm thinking it must be a clutch issue, except friends said a heated clutch shouldn't cause a fire. Then asked about any recent repairs 2 -3 weeks ago. Coolant reservoir, Point, Plugs, tires, and fuel pump replaced!. Low millage Porsche. Do you think anything other than the obvious Clutch? Any recalls?

Thanks in advance,

[ooid]

I've heard engine bay fires on some old dodgy 944s due to worn fuel lines or loose power steering pump showering everywhere but never a 911 to be honest? what is exactly the model, miles and etc?

[traveler]

2008 Porsche 911 convertable 33k just services Immaculate, top notch shape.

[ooid]

Sounds like a super unlucky accident. Is the engine burnt completely? Hope you had a warranty and they would sort it out, have not heard any fires on these without any big external factors.

[franki68]

ooid said:

I've heard engine bay fires on some old dodgy 944s due to worn fuel lines or loose power steering pump showering everywhere but never a 911 to be honest? what is exactly the model, miles and etc?

???
My 996 turbo caught fire many years ago, the firemen who attended said they had done several 911 engine fires,and 3 or 4 people on 6soeedonline had similar issues with their 996 turbos.

[Digga]

franki68 said:

???
My 996 turbo caught fire many years ago, the firemen who attended said they had done several 911 engine fires,and 3 or 4 people on 6soeedonline had similar issues with their 996 turbos.

On a turbo, if the oilway on the spindle springs a leak, it can be serious. The oil pressure feed is high - the turbos spin somewhere up to 100,000rpm - so when it lets go it can move a lot of oil. If you are lucky, like our old MAN truck last week, the oil goes into the exhaust gas side and you get a lot of smoke, but still a fire risk (hot exhaust and gasses mixing with oil) but, if you are really unlucky, like my Isuzu Trooper van did with just two years and 70k miles on the clock in the early 90s, the oil goes onto the impeller side and you cannot switch the engine off - even if you take the key from the ignition.

It effectively blocked off the M42 with white smoke, to the extent that several people called the fire brigade who then struggled to find a vehicle ablaze because I'd managed to stall it by applying the handbrake and footbrake (fking hard!) and selecting 5th gear and dropping the clutch. I mentioned the incident to a customer a week or so later, who related the story of a CAT D6 dozer engine doing the same thing - there was no possible way of stalling such a big lump, so they retired to a safe distance until the inevitable con-rod blew its way out of the block.

[ooid]

Yup, looks like not the first one.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[996TT02]

Possibly clutch fluid on the exhausts?

[eybic]

Digga said:

franki68 said:

???
My 996 turbo caught fire many years ago, the firemen who attended said they had done several 911 engine fires,and 3 or 4 people on 6soeedonline had similar issues with their 996 turbos.

On a turbo, if the oilway on the spindle springs a leak, it can be serious. The oil pressure feed is high - the turbos spin somewhere up to 100,000rpm - so when it lets go it can move a lot of oil. If you are lucky, like our old MAN truck last week, the oil goes into the exhaust gas side and you get a lot of smoke, but still a fire risk (hot exhaust and gasses mixing with oil) but, if you are really unlucky, like my Isuzu Trooper van did with just two years and 70k miles on the clock in the early 90s, the oil goes onto the impeller side and you cannot switch the engine off - even if you take the key from the ignition.

It effectively blocked off the M42 with white smoke, to the extent that several people called the fire brigade who then struggled to find a vehicle ablaze because I'd managed to stall it by applying the handbrake and footbrake (fking hard!) and selecting 5th gear and dropping the clutch. I mentioned the incident to a customer a week or so later, who related the story of a CAT D6 dozer engine doing the same thing - there was no possible way of stalling such a big lump, so they retired to a safe distance until the inevitable con-rod blew its way out of the block.

I'm pretty sure that the issue you're referring to is only possible in diesels as they use the oil as their fuel and don't need a spark so will continue as long as their is fuel, with a petrol engine it needs a spark so in theory, turn it off and the engine should stop.