Thread: Engine Fire - Help!!

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Had an engine fire today. Looks like the fire started in the distributor as that's what's burned along with the coil. What would cause the distributor to catch fire?

PS. it's an early 327. The distributor cap, rotor, points, etc.... Were all recently replaced.

We when we where kids horsing around use to shock each other with the capacitor.Lots of juice in them.A short on that side I would think would do it.

Though I've never heard of a fire but I have seen minor explosions in distributors where the cap was 'blown up'/shattered. Oil fumes, usually gas laden, would get in there from very worn bearings. Then the spark, either from points making and breaking contact or the rotor gap to tower contact arc would light it off once it reached the correct concentration. It sounds like a prime time to take that distributor out, carry in-hand to the dumpster and then update with an electronic ignition system and enjoy much less maintenance, easier starting and better gas mileage. If you are trying to maintain the OEM appearance, then there are those distributors available as well.

As a new guy, welcome als o let us know what you did to 'fix' the problem

sounds like a short next to flammable material to me
welcome to the Forum and glad you didn't burn it down to the rubber
meller

Honestly never heard of this. Maybe the coil shorted out there is flamable material in the coil..

I have had the coil burst and start a small fire before. Not real cool.

Welcome to CHR too!

First, welcome to CHR! Glad to have you here and looking forward to learning what caused your fire.

In my experience there's simply not enough combustible material in the distributor to support fire. An explosion like DaveW described, but that's a rarity. Like Ryan, I've had old style coils "explode", pushing the top off and oozing a tar like insulating oil out, which I expect would be combustible, but the "explosion" was coupled with immediate stoppage of the ignition - no more coil. I'd think your fire "looks like" it was the coil & distributor, because once ignited many of the older (and newer imported) plug wires and boots have highly flammable insulation. Assuming your engine is clean and not a "leaker", I'd be looking for a fuel leak, like a sunk float flooding the bowl(s) and overflowing? The other thing I've seen a couple of times is a + battery cable shorting direct to ground, setting that insulation on fire, and then surrounding combustibles.

Thanks for all the input. I plan to tear into it this weekend so I'll let you know what I find.

Looking forward to time on the forum too.