06 Civic Si - The Emergency Daily Beater

Man Si saw this got bumped and was looking for something positive.  I'm glad you got out!  I'm in awe that you snapped that photo too.  

Quite the plot twist, huh? Two days later and I'm still in disbelief over the whole incident.

Appreciate the well wishes from everyone. Car fires are definitely spooky, from the time the car shut off until the pic was taken was well under 5 minutes I'd guess. Really glad I was alone in the car and in a spot where I could stop and bail out in a hurry. I can't imagine trying to unload pets on the side of a busy road, or kids from car seats (which would be REALLY scary,) or trying to maneuver through heavy traffic under such circumstances. I'm also glad I didn't make it all the way home and put the house and garage in jeopardy. 

Liability coverage only on the car, due to it being an R-title, so I basically just lit $5k on fire. I'm generally pretty conservative with my money and live below my means, so this incident won't leave me destitute or anything like that, but on top of the FRS...yeah it stings a bit, to say the least. 

At a bit of a loss still over the whole ordeal and haven't completely gathered my thoughts on the next phase of the car search. I'll probably keep updating this thread as that progresses, in case anyone is interested. 

Oh my god. Maybe its worth consulting ddavidv and SKJSS what are your options with the FR-S. After seeing what JG is going through with the MR2 and how insurance has been treating him, it might be worth reconsidering a claim there. 

Definitely keep us updated. 

Wow that was unexpected! Glad it went...as well as it could have?

Do you have any idea what could have happened? That's really strange - it's not even Italian.

In reply to Slippery :

Yeah, I was really surprised to see that, runs counter to everything I've been told regarding my own incident. Might as well ask, I owe Allstate a call anyway. 

Any idea as to cause? All the big electrical is on the driver's side.  Serpentine belt broke and took out a fuel or PS line or something? 

In reply to XLR99 (Forum Supporter) :

Tough to say with any certainty, this is all largely speculative, but the electrical theory makes less sense the more I think about it. The aftermarket headlights, which the PO presumably installed after his accident, were the one really kinda janky thing on the car prior, so potential hackery of the wiring was the first thing I fixated on.

The smell I think is the key piece of evidence. I first caught a whiff or two on the way to Home Depot(~10 miles round trip), it got gradually more noticeable on the way home, and by the traffic light ~2 miles from home I knew there was definitely a problem. So whatever was going on had been festering for a bit, which should probably be a lesson not to ignore things like this. It really smelled like a cooked clutch or brakes, that hot pissed off metal and friction material stench, but the clutch and brakes were acting fine. I really don't think it was pissed off electron smell.

Could that have been a bearing somewhere in the accessory drive going bad and then causing the belt to get chucked? Seems plausible, but I don't know what all might be vulnerable on the front of the engine to have caused the sudden shutdown. Belt and idler pulley both looked fairly new, btw.

The engine was off like a light switch - very sudden, no warning - then as I was coasting I tried the key and it wouldn't crank at all. It was just after this that the pop came, maybe 15?20?30? seconds after shutdown, immediately followed by the big cloud of smoke. PS line popped on a time delay? Pretty sure this is when the fire actually started judging by how quickly it escalated, I don't think the smell before was anything actually burning.

I think yours may be the best theory going so far. 

Are R title cars unable to have full insurance coverage?  I thought you could still get full coverage on them?  I'd definitely see if insurance will cover the FRS.  Yes, it happened during an auto-x but I'd still call them and see, maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised...