[bpal1211]

It’s a sad day. I’m driving along yesterday and began smelling gas, like very strong smelling. 5 seconds later, engine power cuts. Next I hear a pop. I look in my rear view mirror and see flames. I’ve never sprinted faster in my life, I threw the car in park and ran out. 10 seconds later the car BURST into flames and was reduced to a scrap of metal.

I am very confused and saddened by this situation.

Earlier in the day I went to a very reputable tuning shop and they found many minor issues with the car, including a major exhaust leak just after the passenger side cat. They would not move forward with their tuning due to these issues. They did however, instal a flex fuel kit. No tune for it, no E85 was ran in the car.

I can’t help but feel this is my fault for installing the kit. I need any advice possible... has anyone heard of this happening after a flex fuel kit instal? Could something else have caused the issue? Thanks everyone. Glad to just be alive but now the hard part comes - dealing with insurance.

God bless.

[DemonZL1]

line popped off for the flex fuel kit?

[bpal11]

Originally Posted by CarbonZLE

line popped off for the flex fuel kit?

I'm guessing that's what happened, or the fuel line popped all together. It's just weird because it's an OEM fuel line.

[DemonZL1]

it's possible to "install" the line without it locking.

[nancygrl]

You had work done with the fuel system and shortly later have fuel leak that resulted in the devastating fire. Seems like the shop didn't install something correctly. Hope you can get things resolved, and glad you got out and are ok. Car can be replaced.

[puppykat33]

that makes my heart hurt seeing those pics bud. sorry about your ride

[arpad_m]

A very sad sight indeed. I feel for you man, even just seeing such a great car go to waste is painful. On the other hand, you lived to share the story, and aren't in a hospital with 3rd degree disfiguring burns either.

Hope it'll work out with your insurance company, as improper flex fuel kit installation could definitely have caused it (say, if the new fuel line and/or failsafe clips weren't popped back correctly, which is hardly possible to determine at this point).

[DaveC113]

Just tell your insurance what happened and if they feel it's appropriate they will ask the shop's insurance to cover it. Seems like there's a 99.99% chance it's their fault. Sorry that happened, what a huge PITA!

[vtirocz]

Which flex fuel kit did you have installed? It seems likely that it was an installation issue, but just thinking if it was an issue with the parts (quality issue, damaged parts, etc.). Was the kit brand new?

[avalonandl]

Originally Posted by CarbonZLE

line popped off for the flex fuel kit?

BINGO we have a winner.....

[NYJets12]

Happy to see you got out in time and didn’t get burnt.

[bpal1211]

Originally Posted by vtirocz

Which flex fuel kit did you have installed? It seems likely that it was an installation issue, but just thinking if it was an issue with the parts (quality issue, damaged parts, etc.). Was the kit brand new?

It was a lethal performance kit. I mean it uses OEM GM parts so I doubt it was failure on the fuel line itself. Thanks for all the well wishes guys. Watching it burn was no doubt one of the saddest moments of my life. But like you all said it can be be replaced and I came out completely unharmed. Just make sure if anyone is getting an E85 kit installed to have it triple checked. I just put 2500$ into the car and all of the parts were burned, it's a shame but maybe it happened for a reason.

[bpal1211]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

A very sad sight indeed. I feel for you man, even just seeing such a great car go to waste is painful. On the other hand, you lived to share the story, and aren't in a hospital with 3rd degree disfiguring burns either.

Hope it'll work out with your insurance company, as improper flex fuel kit installation could definitely have caused it (say, if the new fuel line and/or failsafe clips weren't popped back correctly, which is hardly possible to determine at this point).

Thanks man, means a lot. The support is really helping, not getting much from the family because they think I'm dumb for doing the flex fuel kit. (Maybe I am but it still hurts lol)

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by bpal1211

Thanks man, means a lot. The support is really helping, not getting much from the family because they think I'm dumb for doing the flex fuel kit. (Maybe I am but it still hurts lol)

Nah, as you said, these things happen for a reason, and of course hindsight is 20/20, it's so easy to say you shoulda done this, shoulda done that...

I made an extremely dumb mistake a few months ago and demolished the entire front end, the repair bill was north of $17k (insurance covered it minus deductible), and I hardly slept any for two nights, thinking about how I should've avoided it. At the end of the day, I had to admit the car and keeping it near perfect slowly became an idol, so a little [ego] crushing was in order.