Happy New Year to me! Wire fire......

[justbob]

So it's 3* outside and I am following my friend back to his apartment and the car litteraly will not go WOT just acts like its hitting the rev limiter picking up less speed than it would have done stock. Now, it's had an intermittent miss at WOT mostly in 2nd and 3rd for a couple months, figured i'd just wait for spring, everything leading towards a bad COP, no cels, ran fine driving normal, no big deal.

When I arrive at my friends I pull into a parking spot, shut it down, and start to exit I smell an electrical fire! I pop the hood quickly, no hood light of course, pitch black outside, I was litteraly investigating with my nose. Came to find three separate glows of wire totalling a foot long all the way down near the first converters drivers side from what I could tell.

I called 911 seeing as though this glow had now turned into a small fire, I now had a small fire a couple inchs tall in a place I could surely not reach. Disconnected the negative terminal to see no change, disconnected the positive and after about ten minutes the glow went away. Must say the calvary came quick though! An ambulance, fire truck, and two cop cars......They said they had just left a call and were allready all together, so why not.:) The firemen had a cool gun with a built in monitor that picks up heat signals, After combing the whole area he told me the only thing still hot was the converter, precisely 312*:)

So I have my kids by myself Sunday, guess i'll buzz on over Monday and try to see just what grounded out, the only wires that I can think of anywhere near there is the tranny harness and my AFR harness, although I think that is back a little further. Any other ideas? I'm wondering now if this wasn't my intermittent miss.......Stay tuned.

[Motorhead350]

What in the world were you playing with WOT for this time of year? Good luck on this one man.

[justbob]

This was before I parked it and smelled the burning and saw all the smoke. I was just seeing if the miss had gottin any worse since the last time I tried it. This time it was so bad it probably took 10 seconds to get from 40-50. So I really wouldn't call it dangerous... My tach was steady at at around 5800 RPMS that whole time and the AFR was pegged at 10.2. It felt like an old carb plugged up, just waiting for it to clear out and scare the crap outa me. No such luck.

[bob6364]

its almost never a cop failure Bob ...I have only seen 1 in all the years these Ford cops have been around,so far all the misses I have discover can be fixed by...
1 changing the boots and springs on the cops
2 changing the plugs +1 at the same time
3. changing #3 or #4 plug after the electrode has ben blown off by detonation

[justbob]

Good to know. But I think i'm gonna find the problem more in the supply circuit to the COPS or something trans related now. Anything more than 1/4 throttle was almost non-existant last night. If I hadn't glanced at the tach, I would never had guessed it to be near 5800ish. BTW, I was about to just shut the hood after not finding anything at first (thank god I didn't) hit the key one last time and she started right up and idled just fine, I shut it back off immediately figuring it was ignition related. I went back around to shut the hood and thats when I noticed the fire deep down in there. Something down there is constant hot and grounding out. I can't take the suspense any longer, I'm getting suited up right now to go and try to get a visual.

[justbob]

False alarm thank god. The insulation above the converter fell onto it and caught fire and slightly burned the casing for the wires to the o2 sensor is all. Still doesn't explain why the car was running like complete crap, even that is back to it's normal miss. Must be completely unrelated and really on it's way out now whatever it may be. All the strands of the fiberglass material were mistaked for wires, even the fire department said it was an electrical fire. Still glad I called though considering it was parked right along side of many cars and right next to a row of apartments. I have seen firsthand what can happen when not caught in time thanks to driving tow trucks for a few years. Flame suit on...

[Ms. Denmark]

Bob, glad this one has a happy ending. Well at least not a tragic one! Get that car running right. We are hoping to see you in April.;)

[FordNut]

Saw the title of the thread... Thought Wire Fire?... Firewire is old news ain't it?

[TAKEDOWN]

Well, I'm glad it wasn't as bad as we thought, knowing you Bob you'll have it up and running in no time! When it comes to mechanical stuff like this I'm pretty much useless, but I'm a great flashlight holder. If there's anything you need give me a call.

[Phrog_gunner]

You can never be too careful with the fire. Glad to hear it all worked out, bro.

[MinnesotaMuscle]

Bob... you do realize something don't you.... if it wasn't for the vehicle running right you probably never would have looked under the hood, or noticed the smell, and most certainly would have looked out the window a few minutes later to a ball of fire... Bob your car has cheated death.... Death will be looking for it, watch your back my friend...
:hotrice:

[FordNut]

I think there was some kind of TSB about the insulation dropping onto the cats, an upgraded version of metallized insulation is available. I think there is a thread about it on here somewhere.

[cougar9150]

I have the Ford part number at home for the insultion replacement. You would be just as good buying aftermarket stuff from Summit. Just requires cutting away the old insulation, cleaning the area with acetone or other solvent, and sticking the pieces on. I am replacing all of the factory crap while the engine bay is empty. I'll post before and after pics when I am done, with the P/N used.



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[justbob]

Bob... you do realize something don't you.... if it wasn't for the vehicle running right you probably never would have looked under the hood, or noticed the smell, and most certainly would have looked out the window a few minutes later to a ball of fire... Bob your car has cheated death.... Death will be looking for it, watch your back my friend...
:hotrice:
Yeah no kidding, I just wonder if this has happened previously and I didn't notice.


I think there was some kind of TSB about the insulation dropping onto the cats, an upgraded version of metallized insulation is available. I think there is a thread about it on here somewhere.
Thanks Brian, I'll look into that.

I have the Ford part number at home for the insultion replacement. You would be just as good buying aftermarket stuff from Summit. Just requires cutting away the old insulation, cleaning the area with acetone or other solvent, and sticking the pieces on. I am replacing all of the factory crap while the engine bay is empty. I'll post before and after pics when I am done, with the P/N used.




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I'll make sure to check this out. I just really wish it was easier to get at. Right now I just tore out the drivers side and tucked any remaining material up above the tranny.