Sadly I have to report another beautiful 308 gone........ Horrible! UK market 308 QV GTS,Pristine car I'm told...........owner is known to me.Was out for a drive when car combusted.........no one hurt thank god........ Leaking/Split/Pierced(?) fuel line was the cause...... Please,please guys check and change fuel hoses......... May this never happen again to anyone! P Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
WOW! Looks like the shift knob just vaporized! Some nice wheels there, if not bent, I might be interested in it. Ace
...and always carry a fire extinguisher, I saved my car from looking like the above with a $25 ABC fire extinguisher (an oil line had ruptured and poured oil on one of the turbos).
Shift knob is understandable... what happened to the spokes on the steering wheel??? That was an intense fire. Rick
That sucks, sorry to hear. Glad you are ok. Out of curiosity - was there any warning or did it just come out of left field?
Peter, VERY SAD to see. Can you get and post the VIN for the collecters? Guys, Just change out ALL the darn fuel lines. A Fire Extinguisher is nice but NEW LINES are better. AND GET Q U A L I T Y stuff. DO NOT SAVE A FEW NICKELS here. When replacing all mine that looked fine at a glance I had somewhere around 15 kinks, cuts, rotted areas and otherwise potential fire points that I COULD NOT SEE until I removed them. As NIKE says and this post sadly screams, "JUST DO IT!"
+1. We had visually inspected my fuel lines and they all looked great. I replaced them anyway. Once removed, you could plainly see they were deteriorating horribly from the inside out. My fuel filler hose was probably a couple of months away from turning my Mondial into a mobile roman candle. Its not worth the risk guys. Just buy Dave Helms' Scuderia Rampante Fuel line kit and be done with it.
OMG! Thanks no one got hurt. I replaced my fuel lines and got a fire extinguisher when I bought my 328. Good thing I did, mecanic said they were not good! fg
Especially with ethanol blended fuels -- old fuel lines are bad enough, and modern fuels can't be helping matters.
Hello JoeZaff.... When you replaced your fuel lines in your 308 did you remove the engine from the car or did you work around it? And can you share what manufacture who makes the new fuel lines for the 308? Rob California USA
I have a Mondial. However, as I understand it, you can replace all the fuel lines on the 308 with the engine still in place. There is one tricky line that, from what I have been told, is easier to access if you can rock the engine a bit forward on its mounts, but that's it. Again, this is just what I have been told. My recommendation would be to call Dave Helms at Scuderia Rampante. He engineered an incredible kit and is one of the few true Ferrari gurus. He should be able to answer any questions you may have regarding the install.
A real shame, but good that nobody was hurt. Look at the damage where the fire service have trashed the rear wing/engine cover and the bonnet, presumably trying to find the battery...if the shell was not scrap before it is now.
Rob, No you can replace all the lines mentioned below with the motor in. You will HAVE to remove the inner fenders though and MAY have to get under the car to get the line from the accumlator to the fuel filter. Mine was plastic others seem to be steel braided. It is a nice weekend+ IF you do the job yourself AND you work slow, CAREFULLY and methodical. It is gas you are dealing with after all but none of it is hard work. Safety FIRST !!! A standard metric tool kit should have every tool you will need EXCEPT the tool to help get the new plastic lines properly seated on the barb on the FD and injector metal lines. Unobtainium Supply can help you there. Go to this page here for hoses: http://www.ricambiamerica.com/index.php?cPath=100056&osCsid=fi1ejdlu9enomc7qa7fqjmemj0 RECOMMEND you replace the EVAP SYSTEM Hoses too. Those are potential fire points as well. I Bet Daniel can help get you the kit you need from SRI. IF YOU want to read how SRI got into the hose business there is a HUGE thread on it in the 348 or 355 forum IIRC. "Dave Helms fuel hose" in Search should do it. Then got to this page for the plastic fuel lines: www.unobtainiumsupply.com Here to read about the CIS lines: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=186689 I and many here, will NOT buy ANYTHING else at ANY PRICE.
Don't know about a 308 but on the 308 GTSi, I had no REAL problem at all with any line except one. By far the "worst" line for me was the furthest line forward on the top of the LH Driver's side fuel tank, part of the upper fuel and fuel vapor cross-over system. THAT ONE was a R E A L Beyotch. It was almost a weekend by itself.
This is an injected car with plastic fuel lines, but as noted they are getting long in tooth now was well.....I think Verell at UNobtanium Supply has the plastice line kits.. Sad sad photos there....sorry to see.
They were putting foam to the fire source...salvage value was the last of the concerns. If they had not gotten it out, before it went to the adjacent fuel tanks you'd be looking at a crater in the road....
Replacing the fuel lines is my first priority for my newly acquired '85. Since getting the Ferrari, I smell gasoline the garage in the morning. I'm concerned not only with hose age but about the years of exposure to MTBE that was mandated in CA gasoline for almost ten years. It was murder on lines and seals in some cars. I remember seeing a number of not-so-old cars on fire at the side of the road during the MTBE. Its anecdotal, but I never saw a car fire before MTBE, and haven't seen one since.
Is anyone aware of what hoses seem to fail on the fuel system? I have replaced every bit of hose except the small black plastic stuff on the fuel injection. Needless to say I have no leaks but to see that beautiful 308 go up in smoke makes my knees weak. Lost
Wow, that was a very, very hot fire. That car burned very hot. Notice the left rear wheel is collapsed into the well - the spring lost all it's spring! Such a shame. Anytime you put a whole crap load of fuel and fuel lines right next to hot headers this stuff is going to happen....particularly when working spaces are so tight in the engine compartment so as to make replacing the lines difficult. Anyone who says a 308 is an easy car to work on and maintain is on crack. Hopefully the car was insured with a decent insurance company that's not trying to wiggle out of the claim based upon some technicality buried in fine print in the policy.
I had 8 potential FLAME THROWER failure points in the plastic stuff. Yet my eyeball and "feel" tests were falsely 100% A-OK. Get rid of that stuff as all those lines are very old and under some serious pressure except one. I bet one gives way and you'll have a good 10-15 foot flame thrower if the engione bay is hot. No, I am not kidding. AGAIN, check the line that runs from your accumulator to the fuel filter. Mine was that same old plastic stuff. It too was kinked and cracked.
