Yup.. Im a toweing 9'3"
LOL

actually 6'5"
I have no idea why the picture makes me look that big.

 

I agree.. fuel; the most likely cause of spontanious combustion

 

damn that sucks.

 

That is incredibly crazy! I cannot believe it!

On a side note...if you want to get rid of the non-toasted 97-99 conversion pieces PM me

 

wow, thats crazy... the last fire I've seen on a car was caused by crappy amp power wiring on a civic.. but it didn't do nearly as much damage... goodluck with the next one.. nothing like a clean slate to motivate you.

 

Fuel line that runs between the rails. It probably loaded up down in the valley under the intake where the starter is...

 

wasup bro let me know if you still have the front bumper! in need of a 1997 from bumper

 

sucks bro- glad your alright

 

Its A Possibilty It Might Have Been Break Fluid

 

So last month 3 of us lost our Lexus. First one of my buddy's had a '92 Lexus sc300 swapped with a 1jz and after a day of drifting parked it went inside and 4 hours later had someone banging on his door that his car was on fire. It started under the intake manifold on the drivers side at the back of the motor. It was a total loss. Not even a week later in my '92 sc400 drove it 500 miles then parked it for 2 days then went 2 miles to get some burgers and the thing caught fire in the drive thru and we barely got it out using our drinks and a jug of water someone gave to us. Also the fire was at the rear of my motor on the drivers side. A week later one of our friend's is300 caught fire also in the engine bay and completely burnt to the ground. Both the is300 and sc300 came with a 2j but my sc400 came with a 1uz. Both my sc400 and my buddy's sc300 had a CEL for the o2 sensors but a sc300 doesn't have any exhaust on the drivers side so I don't know if that would play a role in it but what are the odds of 3 Lexus all 3 with different motors catching fire in the same exact place? Anyone who has a problem with us isn't smart enough or serious enough to mess with our fuel lines even if they could get to them.

 

This thread is a bit frightening. Always at the rear of the engine near the driver's side. I'm going to look into a Halon system myself.

 

I hooked my battery back up a week later and turned the ignition to get the fuel pump to prime and there were no leaks so I turned it on and it fired right up. I let it idle for a few and moved it into my driveway and it seamed fine but I shut it off and it now has a constant code for my o2 sensor and I can see part of my engine harness is shot.

 

I always felt that a good number of these stories come right after someone has touched the fuel rail lines on the drivers side. A very common mistake is people forgot to install one of the copper crush washers on the fuel rail banjo fitting, or have a leak at one of the fuel fittings if fitting aftermarket lines. I have had several people ask me if there should be a crush washer on both the top and bottom of the banjo fitting on the fuel line, or didn't know there should be one at all, and those washers are notorious for falling off the second you pull the banjo back and they get lost easily I know I have dropped/lost several. without these you get a fuel leak, and once the engine block is hot, you will have major problems.

anyways just something to be aware of, its a leak that wont necessarily show right away but its one that will basically result in the car getting burnt up. even if it wasn;t you that pulled the rail off maybe a mechanic did it for the timing belt job etc.. you never know its best to double check over it before having a fire like that.

also on the 300 while the high pressure fuel feed line with the banjo and washers etc.. is on the back of the motor on the drivers side by the firewall, there is also a low pressure return metal hardline that comes off the Fuel pressure regulator and runs towards the bottom of the intake manifold in the middle, and there is a soft rubber hose that runs back to the hardline under the car. I check on this line every once in a while as its just clamped on with regular clamps since its a rubber hose and low pressure, but over time those hoses can get brittle and the factory clamps don't hold them down so well. its possible even a small leak on the return line could cause lots of problems, really a small leak of gas anywhere will cause large problems. I would check this line out also both run under the car on the drivers side to the fuel tank. make sure there are no fuel leaks underneath the car as well, or even at the tank there was someone posting of another issue where someone had forgot the washers on the tank side.

Its not a likely problem if you never messed with your fuel lines, but the return hose cold just leak from age since they are clamped on and not bolted on like the feed lines. also when changing the oil filter, sometimes your hand does get very close to the return line, enough to put some pressure on it. I noticed once i could make the fuel return line leak a drop of fuel by leaning on it, meaning the factory clamp should probably be changed for a better one, and possibly a new return line hose.
anyways just my .02c i don't think it was oil on the downpipe from a pcv, it would cause a smokeshow but would have to be a lot of oil to go up in flames, I have busted my turbo oil feed line before and not burnt the car down. sure it was all kinds of messy and was smoking like it would catch on fire, but it didn't... the oil soaked turbo blanket seemed like it wanted to though but I just removed it. I bet gas is the culprit, check the rubber return lines at the least, most of them are the original which means they can be like 23 years old now.

looks like on the sc400 the return line starts on passenger side and runs to drivers side

 

My sc400's duel system was never touched. The car itself only had 105k on it and it was owned by an elderly man who had it garage kept and always overpaid to have everything serviced at the dealership.

 

It could be something related with the EVAP line. It also runs right next to the fuel lines, then crosses the engine to the evap canister on the passenger side. This could cause problems since it carries gas vapors.