My Engine caught fire... Spring-lock-connector FTL - MORE PICTURES

[Madgyver]

Sorry about the fire but I'm glad you saved it.
It could of been a whole lot worse than what it turned out to be.

 

[jesus888]

Sorry about the fire but I'm glad you saved it.
It could of been a whole lot worse than what it turned out to be.

Agreed... buddy said it just got dropped off at his place... so hopefully I'll have some more pictures to post within the next day or so...

 

[chuck]

I too am sorry to hear of your problem. The lock may keep the spring lock together enough to keep it from leaking but the spring lock is the lock. If it is fully engauged it can't come off, infact they are hard to get off with the tool. As already typed if they are not fully together can fall apart. After you put it together pull on it while rolling it around trying to get it apart then put the clip on. I don't sell the clips because there are lots of them in the boneyards and the dealers have them and when you get a used fuel rail they are there.

 

[jesus888]

Thanks for posting, Chuck... it's been a tough road... truck still only has 300 miles on it, and feels like it's been "in progress" for the last almost 6 yrs... oh well. We'll look around for the clips and make sure the spring lock is tight when we get to that point.

2 things are still odd to me. #1 that the spring lock took about 100 miles of driving (with some pretty spirited driving included) to come loose and #2 that the fuel ignited... didnt think hot headers would cause combustion...

 

[Ratch]

Is the clip the answer? or should I look into changing to AN-type stuff? Clearly, I would prefer the clip, cost wise, but I really don't want this to ever happen again. Honestly, if it was me driving I probably woulda just stepped back and been like... daaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnn (for fear of being burned/blown up).... luckily my friend had the presence of mind to hop out and spray that extinguisher on it...

Is there anywhere specific that I can order the clip? Does anyone have one laying around ?

The safety clip is , as alreasdy mentioned, not the actual retaining feature. The spring lock is the connector and the clip is a backup.

As Viperwolf stated, you have to really pull hard to make sure the spring locks are fully seated and locked. When you connect them you should feel/hear them click. And the clip is a backup feature and should be installed but I have seen many vehicles without them with no problems.

If you visit a u-pull it salvage yard, you can probably get them for free.

If the connector was only partially seated I can see where it held as long as it did. I have pulled really hard on an a/c spring lock and it held, only to have it pop loose when charging the system.

 

[00gyrhed]

it could have been a lot worse. My buddy wathed his BMW burn to the ground in 92.

 

[ransil]

I always make sure they click in and give em a pull test..