It's just much easier to make vague statements, especially if you don't know what's really going on. At least that way you kinda do.

 

If your tank was leaking plus your collant was leaking, the water from the coolant could cause a spark across a live wire & ignite the fumes.

However.........

First clue is you mentioned your friend used the "boot button" to get something out of the back. Plus, she was perhaps "drunk"

Next clue is you heard your car alarm beeping 10 minutes later

After viewing the pics, I have a theory.

Perhaps, just perhaps. Your friends drunken rumaging through the boot pulled/broke a wire accidently that sent the wrong signal to a non ignition key sourced (battery) power module. Internal electronics fused together but didn't pop the main fuse in the fuse box. Perhaps due to a downline wire heating that didn't exceed the current rating of the fuse for that section.

With the downline (smaller) wires heating up & eventually melting through shorting other wires to create the snow balled events that followed.

The rear end fire could be a result of the fuel travelling in that direction after the tank was punctured by the heat.

However, this theory can be easily debunked so I am not confident.

Its the fact that the CAR ALARM was sounding that leads you to suspect it as a possible cause. I am certain the battery has a main fuse that should pop after any of the branching circuit fuses should pop. So its hard to imagine the battery remaining "in circuit" long enough to provide heat to melt wires.

1. I hope your insurance covers you
2. I hope you buy another RX-8, they are a great car.
3. I hope you dont follow the "Only in America" tradition of blaming Mazda & trying to sue them

 

(Don't shoot the messenger, its only a theory, and I'm playing devil's advocate)

Friend was "drunk" and rummaging through the car. Could he/she have been smoking too?
If your friend dropped a butt (or even part of the lit embers) on the inside of either the passenger compartment or the trunk, that would have been enough to light the carpet, and the rest of the car would have followed.

Just a thought...

 

She wasn't smoking...this theory was mentioned on pages 1-2. She was only out there for a minute to grab a purse. The trunk carpet was intact, they said I could have recovered some fo the clothes ouriend@ d from smoke at the very least. My poor friend@ d from smoke at the very least. My poor friend! Quit blaming her; until I hear from my insurance company, she will remain out of it.

My insurance company told me that they wanted to find a cause and origin before settling, to see if they can get their money from mazda.

I am cutting them a little slack, because of the holidays and everyone taking vacations. But trust me, I call everyday and the claims person is getting annoyed. Which will be reported as well after I get some money.

Neither my friend nor I accidently started a fire, we weren't around the car, and it's a fluke. I will keep you updated so you can make sure everything is ok with your 8's.

I also don't think I will ever drive an 8 again, not because it isn't a fun or cute car, but because I don't need to add stress to my life. The odds of it happening again in anyone's lifetime are slim to none, but if it could happen to someone, it could happen to me! So I am looking at other options.

 

wow, that cut out a lot of my letters! Sorry if you can't understand it. I type faster than my computer can write

 

[QUOTE=arosenkrans]She wasn't smoking...this theory was mentioned on pages 1-2. She was only out there for a minute to grab a purse. The trunk carpet was intact, they said I could have recovered some of the clothes out of the trunk; of course they would be damaged from smoke at the very least. My poor friend! Quit blaming her; until I hear from my insurance company, she will remain out of it.

 

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date, I wish it was going better, or at least quicker for you.

The burn pattern they are looking at is right above the "fuel rail" - if you disconnect (or there is a leak in) the tubing there, a LOT of gas will come out, under pressure. No rocket science needed to fill in the rest of the blanks.....

A slight leak around a fuel injector would do it.

S

 

damn...that freaking sucks!!
it kinda scares me now!

 

I had a fire in my 2004 RX8 in December 2004 (only had 3000 miles on it). I purchased the car new in August 2004.

What happened is I drove to my daughter's house and parked the car on the street. Less than 15 minutes later my daughter went to leave and said, "Mom, your car is on fire." The fire was along the hood at the windshield which was put out with a fire extinguisher. Anyway, the repairs consisted of a new windshield, new wiper motors and other wiper accessories, repainted hood, new firewall blanket, etc. Total cost $3,024. Mazda said it was not an electrical fire, but vandalism. They said someone had thrown some burning material on the windshield that ran down and caused the fire. I guess my insurance company agreed because they paid the bill.

It took 9 weeks for the car to be repaired because of it being a new model and some of the parts were hard to get. The Mazda dealership did an excellent job and the car looks as good as new.

Just thought I would let you know about this fire, because it sounds similar to your fire.

 

holy crap!!! Sorry to hear about your loss but I completely agree with C.B.D. It's outrageous that State Farm take this long to settle a claim.
Stevie Wonder could see that this is totalled and wasn't done by you. You should pressure them to cut you a check asap.

Keep us posted...

 

All these posts and no one remembers one of the largest recalls in Ford's history last year due to concerns to potential engine fires. Although electrical fires are rare, they can and do happen in modern cars for various reasons even with the engine shut off. Just because the motor is not running doesn't mean the car isn't getting power for various systems (some you would not even consider needing power while the vehicle is off). This was the case for the Ford recall. Do a google search for "Ford recall cruise control fire". The Ford recall was on the cruise control deactivation switch.

There was even an incident in our local news where a person parked the vehicle (it was an SUV) in the driveway and it caught fire by itself. An investigator pointed out that it was caused by the cruise control switch. It overheated and caught the brake fluid on fire. From the news story, they explained how the fire started and it you could see how it was mostly in the engine compartment. The person in the story had not taken the vehicle in for the recall work.

Arosenkrans, until the investigation is over no one will really know the cause and hopefully they will be able to determine what it was. You may be one of the few who posts about an electrical fire in an RX8, but you may not be the only one. It could be just a fluke and Mazda may not issue a recall unless there is are more incidents or something. Not everyone who owns an RX8 posts on these boards so it's difficult to really know if there are other incidents of the same nature out there.

Just as a point of reference, the Ford recall affected 1.2 million SUVs, trucks and vans. The NHTSA investigation involved 1472 complaints connected to the problems, including 65 reports of fires. So as you see can see the number of actual fires is small compared to the number of vehicles it could have affected, but it was enough for a recall. How many RX8 electrical fires would it take for them to issue a recall? I can't imagine very many.

Good luck and keep us informed.

 

I finally heard back from State Farm! They said the cause of the electrical fire was from the fuel line. Which I had replaced in the recall.

Have yours checked!!

 

So what did they tell you was the next step for you? They need to settle NOW. If they want to squeeze $ out of Mazda, as has been said, they should do it on their own time, not yours! Any update on that end?

 

You better get all this info from State Farm you might need it.

 

During what recall would they have replaced the fuel line?

 

Oh, we settled today/tomorrow. And i'm going to TRY to get the remainder out of mazda. The recall was the engine and coolign system, where it caused fuel leaks. I also had to get some sort of padding or something in the fuel line replaced when I took it in for the suspension/lower ball jt recall. It was in my paperwork, but I'm at work and I don't have it in front of me. Plus, I knwo how to drive a car, how to take it somewhere to be repaired, but beyond that, I am car illiterate.

I have a Pontiac G6 GT black with black leather interior waiting for me. I loved being an RX8 driver, but given my experience, I probably won't go back to the rotary engine.

i hope you all enjoy your cars! It really was a blast to drive. Good luck

 

please scan and post the recall paperwork here

 

Well, the fuel tank needs to come down to install the pad between the tank and the body, maybe the dealer cracked a fuel line during that process. In any case, its sounds like a dealer responsibility, not Mazda corps. responsibility. I'm guessing that is the way it will go.

Sorry you had a bad experience. Please understand that it was not a failure of the vehicle itself, just a failure of a dealer not doing the repair properly most likely. Pontiac huh, good luck with that...

 

wow, sorry to hear about the situation and sorry we lost a female 8 owner (and one who can hold her own!!!)

 

This message is for Chrism: check out engine and cooling system

http://www.lemonauto.com/complaints/mazda/mazda_rx8.htm

Still sound like someone started the fire?

 

this is not what i asked you for.....re-read it please i asked for he paperwork your dealer provided for the recall to be scanned and posted or if you can type out what exactly is on there so we can see exactly what the dealer did vs what they claimed to do......i am well aware of the recals and no where in there does it say to fiddl with the fuel rail.....stop being so defensive.....

 

That is what happened to my 93 RX-7. I hope this is not a repeat. Let these guys on this forum help you determine whether it is the dealer or the factory. Mazda was at fault in my case and they compensated for the full retail of a new car. You might be entitled to the same treatment.
Please don't let this discourage you from buying another Mazda. They need customers like you and me to keep the rotary in production. I waited 8 years for another rotary to come out after the FD. ( I bought 2 Miatas in the interim)

John

 

fwiw...i heard that the fuel pump stays hot (positive voltage)all the time and it is grounded only when started.don't know for sure but i'll check.i do state of the art alarms here and it was in one of the notes on rx8 fuel shut off notes!i still will drive mine untill it throws me out of itself and tells me to get lost!!