FIRE!!!!

[Welsh g60 0]

:cry: :cry: My G60 has just caught fire, damn good job I've got a water leak as it ment I had a bottle of water in the car which I threw all over the engine.

I thought it wasn't behaving all day, seemed sluggish at low revs and then on my way home it started smelling of burning oil. On coming to a long straight bit of road I foolishly put my foot down, passed a Corsa to get home quick, smell got stronger at when I checked my mirror at the next roundabout the road was filled with smoke. I pulled over, opened the bonnet which had smoke billowing out and the engine burst into flames at the back below the fuel rail. The bloke in the Corsa then came screaching to a halt saying he'd been trying to catch me cos smoke had been billowing out of my car, top bloke gave me a lift home. Anyway have now towed it home, it's dark and I've got no torch so all that I can see is that the engine is covered in oil, anyone got any ideas what could have happened before I build up the courage to look at it in daylight?

[vr6storm 0]

jeeeeeezzzzz.............thankfully your ok m8.....anyway i think the G60 is prone to leaking fuel at the fuel feed pipe area of the engine........normally just a case of tightening up the offending pipe but obviously yours will have sufered a bit of fire/smoke damage etc........or perhaps you had engine oil leaking on to the exhaust manifold causing it to ignite :shock: :shock: :shock:

[cheesy 0]

Glad your ok m8

[Welsh g60 0]

Thanks both, yeah I guess it could have been a lot worse but I,m still dreading the repair bill. I'll tell you, it's quite sureal watching your engine ignite, you see it all the time on films and stuff but it's quite different when it's your own car.

[Henny 0]

Thanks both, yeah I guess it could have been a lot worse but I,m still dreading the repair bill. I'll tell you, it's quite sureal watching your engine ignite, you see it all the time on films and stuff but it's quite different when it's your own car.

 

Sounds like you have been very lucky... Engine fires in that area of the bay often get out of hand VERY quickly as this is where the main fuel lines for the engine all are... :?

 

As VR6Storm says, it's not uncommon for G60s to leak fuel from the main fuel line which connects onto the fuel rail where you describe the fire as starting from... Unfotunately this is also where the hottest part of the engine lives too (exhaust manifold) so leaks here can get pretty dangerous.... :|

 

Take a few photos when you get the car back to your place and we'll see what kinda damage has been done... You may have been very lucky and not have damaged too much if you managed to get the fire out PDQ... 8)

 

Glad you are OK though, and that it sounds like you caught the problem before too much damage was done... I'll bet you're gonna buy a fire extinguisher before you next take the car on a run out though! ;) It's one thing I've always carried in my cars since I saw a golf burn out on the M56 a few years ago... :?

[CorradoVR6-Turbo 0]

Your one lucky fella !! and who says corsa drivers are all w**kers :wink:

 

I'm off to buy an fire extinguisher :!:

[Welsh g60 0]

Your one lucky fella !! and who says corsa drivers are all w**kers

Yes, full respect to the corsa bloke, I for one won't tar them all with the same brush from now on.

My gf towed it back for me, I had to start it to help her up the hills and at junctions due to a combination of being towed by a 1400 astra and dodgy tow rope which snapped no less than 5 times on the way (was an awful lot shorter by the time we got home).

 

Anyway now that I've looked at it in daylight I can see that the pipe that runs from the charger (directly opposite the air intake) has split on the short section that comes off the main pipe and into the top of the engine. This had emptied almost all my oil all over the engine and of course the oil that landed on the manifold ignited. Can't see any real fire damage, think I caught it in time, but I still have two worries.

1- Despite the whole engine being covered in oil there seems to be an excesive amount around the head-gasket -sh*t

2- When I turned the engine off there smoke was still coming out of the exhaust (have noticed this before) doesn't this sound like it's burning oil in the engine rather than just on it?

Anyway have now blagged a 998cc mini that my gf bought while her astra was off the road, drove it today, HELP I need my c back before I lose all interest in driving.

 

Chris

[Henny 0]

Which pipe? There's 2 oil pipes that run from the charger... One runs from the side of the head to the charger (oil feed) the other runs from the charger to the bottom of the block (by the bottom of the dip-stick tube) which is the oil return...

 

If the oil feed pipe splits, there will be oil ALL over the top end of the engine, and lots around the head gasket area... if the return bursts, you'll be in a similar situation, but most of the oil will be at the bottom of the block... :?

 

The only way you're gonna find out if there's any other problems without a stripdown, is by cleaning the whole underside of the car and engine off, replacing the burst pipe (and oil!) and running her to find out if everything's OK... :|

 

Good luck... 8)

[Welsh g60 0]

Shes dead.

 

The pipe that burst turned out to be just the oil breather pipe, so obviouslly oil shouldnt have poured out, must have been under compression, car is now misfiring and smokeier than an Amsterdam coffee shop. So I did a compression test and found that theres absolutley no compression in 1 of the cylinders. So it looks like I've melted a hole in the piston, as if that wasn't enough I've now found out that my big end bearings are on their way out :cry:

So it looks like time for a new engine, I havn't got the money to get mine rebuilt. A mate of mine has offered me one which he got from a breakers but didnt need, it's apparently done 78,000 miles and he wants £400 for it (although may do a deal with my stereo) it's got 2months of the 3 month warrenty left, do you people think this sounds a good deal (bare in mind I live in West Wales so any other engine I buy will have to be couriered thus adding even more to the price.

 

Suggestions gratefully recieved

 

Chris

[Henny 0]

£400 for a PG engine is definately not a bad price... especially if that's local to you... 8) What comes with it? Head, ancilleries, pipes etc...? They're the bits that add up on the price (trust me, I know! :roll: )

 

Bear in mind that you may be able to get some money for your PG block, head etc... depending on what comes with the engine your mate has got... ;)

 

Also, don't rule the block out just yet... you may have burnt a valve out/damaged a valve which would also give you no compression... If I were you, I'd take the head off and have a look inside to see what's lurking in there... It's not too bad a job to do, and if you do have to replace the engine anyway, then it's not wasted work... 8)

 

Good luck! (where abouts in Wales are you?)

 

*edit* also check to see how much oil is left in the sump... If it's almost dry, I'd get the charger looked at by someone like Darren to make sure that it's still healthy before you bolt it onto a replacement engine... ;)

[Welsh g60 0]

I'm in Aberystwyth, on the coast. Any chance you could give me a quick run through taking the head off as I have no manual, dont know what order to undo bolts etc.

 

Thanks

[Henny 0]

I'm in Aberystwyth, on the coast. Any chance you could give me a quick run through taking the head off as I have no manual, dont know what order to undo bolts ect.

 

Thanks

 

Yup, I'll post up a "how to" when I get home tonight... :)

[Welsh g60 0]

8)

 

Thanks

[Henny 0]

Right, to get the head off a G60, you need to do this lot... 8)

=======================================================================

 

Set the engine to TDC on cylinder 1 as if you were doing a cambelt.

 

Disconnect the battery and then all of the wiring to the head (ISV, thermo sensor over the fuel inlet, fuel pressure switch, injector rail, water temp senders and oil pressure switch, also the earth strap from the throttle body to the scuttle panel and the earths which bolt onto the side of the head) and move the wires well out of the way...

 

Disconnect and bung up the 2 fuel pipes which connect onto the cambelt end of the fuel rail.

 

Take off the top cam belt cover and slacken off the tensioner, slip the belt off the cam sprocket

 

Take off the ISV and vacuum pipes which connect to the head and inlet manifold, also take off the boost return and intercooler to throttle pipes at this time including the oil breather off the cam cover.

 

Remove the 2 waterpipes from the plastic flange on the front of the head, and the one from the side of the head.

 

Undo the 10mm nut on the flange on the side of the head, and unclip the metal water pipe from the bolt (not as easy as it sounds!)

 

Remove the oil feed pipe for the charger from the side of the head

 

Remove the alternator. To do this you'll have to remove the charger belt and tensioner... I use a pair of large jubilee clips which I open up and wrap along the length of the tensioner and then tighten together to remove the tension... there are methods where you lever against the chassis leg and the tensioner arm, but I've grown to prefer the jubilee method 'cos you're less likely to get hurt! ;)

 

Now for the bracket that holds the alternator onto the head, make sure you don't miss the bolt that goes through the tinware behind the alternator bracket! It'll cause lots of swearing if you do! ;)

 

=========================================================================

You now have a choice... neither option is nice, it just depends how lucky you are feeling...

=========================================================================

You can either try and remove the exhaust manifold from the head (tricky and the nuts may just round off) OR you can undo the manifold to downpipe bolts (access is a pain in the ass, but it's the way I've always done it...)

 

Once that's done (and you've had your cuts bandaged up! ;) ) you need to remove the 2 support bars between the cam cover and the inlet manifold and then the cam cover.

 

You now have another choice, you can either take the cam out, or leave it in place... I think in your case, I'd be tempted to leave it in...

If you want to remove it though, you need to make sure you slacken the 8 bolts in a set order else you risk breaking the cam, I think you may well have to take the sprocket off the cam before you can get it out of the head too, if you do, make sure you don't loose the woodruff key that is under the sprocket! You'll see that the cam caps are numbered (1,2,3 and 5) make sure you don't get 'em mixed up, or forget which way around they go on! Loosen 1 and 3 first diagonally then when these are just loose, do 2 and 5... once they're all loose, you can just take 'em off...

 

Now you should be able to undo the head bolts and then just lift the head off... 8)

Loosen the head bolts in this order working in stages so that you don't just remove 1 then 2 then 3 etc, leave a little tension on them all while you work around the rest of the bolts, and go around the order a couple of times... 8)

 

1...............7............9.............5................3

4...............6............10...........8................2

 

Now lift the head off the block, be careful as it's heavy, especially if you've got BOTH manifolds still attached!

 

Your engine bay should now look pretty much the same as the picture below...

 

[Haynes] Re-fitting is the reverse of these instructions, including bolt orders! [/Haynes] ;) :lol:

 

Hope this helps... I don't think I've missed anything off there, but if I have, let me know and I'll edit this to add it in... 8)

 

:!: Take it nice and steady, don't rush and if you feel like you're struggling with undoing anything, soak it in WD40, have a drink and calm down, then have another go at it, you don't want to break anything else... 8) :!:

[Welsh g60 0]

:D Nice one, I can put off shelling out 85 quid for a manual again, guess I'll have to invest soon though.

I've got a day off tomorrow so weather permitting I'll give it a go then.

Will let you know how I get on.

[Banana Man 0]

Good write up Ian you done well :D practice makes perfect as they say :D Just to add to get the nuts nearest the head off the manifold to downpipe I find it's easier to access them from underneath the car and taking off the inner cv joint heat shield which joins to the block by 2 17mm bolts I think and I also remove the vibration damper which is the black block that sticks out from the subframe it's held in by 2 13mm bolts, once they are off you can get a wobble extension up onto the 3 nuts engine side of the downpipe.

 

Hve fun welsh g60 and have a good first aid kit with plenty of plasters to hand as you will get plenty of cuts and scratches along the way :)

[Henny 0]

Good write up Ian you done well :D practice makes perfect as they say :D

Yeah, that's from memory now, 'cos I've done it 4 times in total on corrados now... :roll:

 

Just to add to get the nuts nearest the head off the manifold to downpipe I find it's easier to access them from underneath the car and taking off the inner cv joint heat shield which joins to the block by 2 17mm bolts I think and I also remove the vibration damper which is the black block that sticks out from the subframe it's held in by 2 13mm bolts, once they are off you can get a wobble extension up onto the 3 nuts engine side of the downpipe.

 

RIght, I'll try that on Saturday when I've got to bolt mine back together again! ;) 8)

 

Hve fun welsh g60 and have a good first aid kit with plenty of plasters to hand as you will get plenty of cuts and scratches along the way :)

 

We're not kidding about the plasters! ;) :?

 

Good luck Welsh G60 8)

[Banana Man 0]

Yeah, that's from memory now, 'cos I've done it 4 times in total on corrados now...

 

join the club I think I ve done it 4 times as well :D

 

At least with the x flow engine in I wont have as many access problems as the inlet is going to be on the front of the head not the back and a nice 4 branch manifold should make it easy enough to take off if ever I needed too again ( which is more than likely :roll: )

[TajMan 0]

Yep looks like I'll be taking mine off too. I already got the exhaust downpipe and manifold off and it was a bitch. Four of my eight exhaust manifold bolts were broken off in the head and the shop couldn't tap them out with the head in the car so it looks like another big tearin' into the engine job for me. :roll:

[Henny 0]

Yep looks like I'll be taking mine off too. I already got the exhaust downpipe and manifold off and it was a b****. Four of my eight exhaust manifold bolts were broken off in the head and the shop couldn't tap them out with the head in the car so it looks like another big tearin' into the engine job for me. :roll:

 

While you're in there, it's probably worth doing the valve guides and valve stem seals... at least then you know that you shouldn't have to touch the head again for another 70K miles + 8)

[andycowuk 0]

** Edit** **edit* - :scrambleup: just go back to sleep andy! :sleeping:

I use a pair of large jubilee clips which I open up and wrap along the length of the tensioner and then tighten together to remove the tension... there are methods where you lever against the chassis leg and the tensioner arm, but I've grown to prefer the jubilee method 'cos you're less likely to get hurt!

 

Am I superman or something? I just push down on it with most my weight, sorts it out nice and quick!

 

a nice 4 branch manifold should make it easy enough to take off if ever I needed too again

 

I put both my manifolds on when I had the head on the ground, and then a quick two bolts where the cat flange meets the flexible joint on the manifold......much better, a worthwhile investment, even if there were no performance gains!!!

[TajMan 0]

I'm almost ready to pull the head off, you guys were right its not a bad job, I just need to find TDC. I couldn't find any marks to line up, can anybody help me? Kind sucks, I guess they don't have a Corrado repair manual available in the U.S. (at least none that I could find).

[vr6storm 0]

I'm almost ready to pull the head off, you guys were right its not a bad job, I just need to find TDC. I couldn't find any marks to line up, can anybody help me? Kind sucks, I guess they don't have a Corrado repair manual available in the U.S. (at least none that I could find).

 

 

 

LOL :lol: :lol: :lol: .........the states is the home country of the robert bentley Corrado manual :wink: :wink: :wink:

[Henny 0]

There's 2 places to spot TDC.

On the crankshaft pulley which drives the supercharger belt, there's a mark which should point straight up to a marker on the cambelt cover to mark TDC. And there's a mark on the flywheel which you can see (although this one often gets rusted over so you can't really make it out!) through the gearbox inspection panel...

 

Once you've got it to this location, check that the rotor arm is pointing to about where the lead for 1 would be and that's TDC on 1 8) Another quick check is to make sure that on the cam's sprocket, the 2 dots are either side of the join between the head and the cam cover at the front of the engine... this will prove you are at TDC. 8)

 

This document may come in usefull for you too... 8)