It happened yesterday at Emerald with my car being set up for smoother running. It’s not as dramatic as it looks as I suspect it’s the inner CV boot letting go after many power runs. It sprayed it’s greasey contents all over the exhaust necessitating the use of a fire extinguisher. Although I dawdled a bit initially, I’m hoping there’s no permanent damage and hopefully it’ll cost me no more than a CV boot.
I’ve not taken it all apart yet to look at the damage, but wonder if anyone has manufactured a heatsheild to protect from this kind of thing? Any images would be gratefully received so I can cobble something together.
Oh and for those with a penchant for figures, the Scholar 1.9 was putting out a mere 197.7 bhp before runs were drawn to a close but it was running rich, so maybe there’s more to come…
I was getting too relaxed really! I took loads of footage and this was just another power run video (actually a still from the video which I’ll try to upload for ‘entertainment’ value).
Kurt, 197.7bhp at the wheels or at the engine? If that’s at the wheels it’s healthy, if it’s at the engine then it’s a little down, but not massssively so… perhaps 15-20bhp?
My dyno fire was MUCH worse than that. Oil filter came undone spraying about a litre of oil over the manifold… the entire rear of the car disappeared in flame (the raised engine cover was completely covered in flames!) Seemed to take AGES to put out, but in reality was probably 5-10 seconds.
The good thing is that oil/grease fires are typically pretty low-heat (as opposed to fuel fires) so they are more spectacular than they are damaging.
This was what mine looked like… fire went up the firewall… couldn’t see much from here:
And this is what the heatshield looked like when I removed it for replacement:
It did its job though, other than the heatshield, nothing at all was damaged. I replaced it with something a lot better though to be safe
George, yes you’re right, it was spectacular! I’ve got the undertrays off now and can confirm it’s the RH Inner CV boot that has a 2" tear. It’s given everything a good coating (!) but I’ve used some 120 octane petrol to wash it off with.Working in the warbird world has had its advantages!
The lambda sensore heat sleeve is a bit crispy and I’m going to need a replacement, but it’s done its job.
So, what’s the way forward here then? What specialist tools do I need to replace the boot? I’ve consulted the parts catalogue and it looks like I’ll need tool (Pt No T000T1390F) to protect the gearbox oil seals. Has anyone got one because they appear to be obsolete?
Can anyone give me a heads up on what I need to remove (I don’t have access to the workshop manual) but I assume I’ll need to remove the RH wheel, hub, pull out the driveshaft and then the I/B CV joint. Is there an easier way? Any advice or list of specialised tooling would be great.
197bhp I believe was at the engine, but I’ll confirm this when I conclude my set up. Yesterday after the fire my head was filled with “Dear God no! How much is THIS going to cost me!”
It’s amazing that you had no further damage George, that looks pretty roasted! What have you replaced it with??
Similar thing happened to me on the way back from Cadwell a few years ago.Driving along enjoying Lincs roads when I looked in the mirror and the engine compartment was filled with dense black smoke.Pulled up with extinguisher at the ready but no flame visible and after a couple of minutes the smoke cleared.Limped home slowly as all seemed OK and what had happened is that the gearbox oil seal had popped and the oil on the exhaust had ruined the CV cover so grease had spread to the exhaust.I was so lucky there were no flames and minimal damage .
You don’t need a special tool to protect the seal, you just need to be careful removing it and reinserting it to not really mash the splines into the lip.
You should be able to pop the joint outta the box by removing the toe-link and releasing the two bolts holding the upright to the upper wishbone (keep the shims!). This should give enough swing-room to get the shaft outta the box.
Thanks Simon, I’ll do some research tomorrow and let you know!
I can’t post the video thru imageshack so you’ll just have to make do with the still. The fire has done virtually no damage though except to turn the lambda sensor heat shield into toast! Have you got one of those Simon?!?
I’ll get the O2 sensor soaked in WD40 for a little while so it may take me a while to sort as I’m painting the living room too as the new carpets and furniture are imminent! I’m also on standby to race out to Coningsby to see a Spitfire I worked on make its first flight in about 50 years…
All that said I’m desperate to get the Exige on the road! It ran wonderfully from the breakdown truck to our garage!
Can anyone tell me which way I need to turn the RH driveshaft hub nut to remove it please? I don’t want to break anything but its putting up a fight! Don’t know if its a LH or RH thread…
I am sure it is normal thread anti clock to remove. I just had a quick look in the service manual and it does not mention anything about left hand thread.
I had to use a 3/4 drive power bar with the jack handle as an extension to loosen mine.
I have the driveshaft off, is the way to remove either of the CV joints merely to use a metallic persuader (hammer)? Obviously I’ll use a block of wood to protect the surface of the CV joint…
Once the burst boot is released the driveshaft can be slid out of the cup and you’ll see that the tripode (inner) joint has a circlip on the end, probably obscured by greasy um bongo. Can be worth referencing the orientation of the joint/cup before disassembly as the 3 tripode journals can develop specific wear patterns in the cup.
The outer joint requires the aforementioned general thrashing with the metallic persuader.
