DeLorean Fire In Pennsylvania Today on I-81

[dmruschell]

Darryl, I'm sorry to hear about your car. Hopefully there will be a silver lining somewhere in this situation when it's all worked out.

With the topic of insurance and battling the insurance company to get what the car is worth, I figured I'd mention that there are many insurance companies that will issue Agreed Value policies on classic cars. You tell the insurance company how much you want to insure the car for, and that's how much you get if the car is totaled (or up to that amount if the car is repairable). I watched my dad battle with Allstate over a wrecked, previously mint-condition 1960 Impala back in the late 90's. With a current appraisal of $10k, he finally got $4,000 from Allstate after years of going back and forth with them. When I started getting old/classic cars, I didn't want that to happen to me.

Now, I only own classic cars, and have 2 as daily drivers. Grundy will insure ANY car, ANY year as a daily driver under an Agreed value policy. They also have very inexpensive classic car Agreed Value policies as well. After being rear ended in a 61 Vette I inherited from my dad and seeing the $18k+ repair estimate, I'm very happy I had/have that kind of insurance coverage. I'm not trying to sound like an advertisement, but I hate seeing people get screwed by their insurance company because the values of classic cars don't follow the normal depreciation curve. I also hate to see cars totaled and/or scrapped because the insurance company would rather give the owner what THEY think the car is worth rather then pay for the repairs that may be less than what the car is ACTUALLY worth. With Agreed Value policies the owner of the car decides what the car is worth (within reason, but all of my cars are insured for probably more than I could sell them for, and easily enough to buy another in at least comparable condition).

[Mydmc5898]

I decided that when I return to owning a DeLorean it will have a much different life style. I was trying and successful at getting 5898 to be a daily driver. I really had little left to work on. However once I return to ownership of which ever vin. I more than likely will be married then. My fiancée and I want kids so I'm sure that isn't to far into the future. She and talked and although 5898 was mine. I would like the next one to be a joint choice. She really was liking the car and wanted to learn how to drive it. It was out night out car too. This way when it breaks down I can also say "you wanted one too!"

But I will go with classic car insurance and a classic plate as well. I'm sure it will be driven a lot less. I like the agreed value too. I'm really not sure what they will I've me. So far it has exceeded 30k in a repair quote. They totaled it, obviously. I am curious to know what they will decide. The said with in 48hrs, so today or tomorrow hopefully!
It will be bitter sweet.
More bitter.

Thanks to for the information!
Darryl

[Josh]

Thanks for the update Darryl! Let us know how things go!

Very sneaky move with the joint decision... haha. but of course it will always be running perfect!

[Mydmc5898]

I'm sorry I didn't mean to be sneaky!
I do believe the remains will be going to a good home. I'm sure it will be on the road one way or another. The future new owner will take excellent care of it.

I do have a small update. Liberty gave me the buy back price plus the buy out as well. Once the money is in hand and the car is with it's new owner I promise to post all the details including the cost or rebuild and brake down of an itemized list. Plus any other documentation I could post.
Also I did submit pretty much every document I could find. I do feel their price was very fair.


Again thanks everyone!
-Darryl

[Josh]

Glad to hear you are getting a reasonable amount for the car! Hopefully things keep going smoothly.

[Rich]

I think the D is more susceptible to fire because we run 75 PSI fuel pressure. The injector lines only se 45 PSI. EFI engines run about 50 PSI but their fuel rails are solid pipe. Of course the age of the fuel hoses has a lot to do with it. A fire extinguisher may prevent most damage from these fires.

Interesting thought there. Could there be anything to it? If this were true then wouldn't we be seeing lots of immolated European K-Jet cars - which were made by the millions during a 21 year stretch - all running the same fuel pressures that a D runs?

See excerpt here from Wikipedia showing all the car mfgrs that used similar/same FI system as a D:

K-Jetronic (1973–1994)

...The 'K' stands for German: "Kontinuierlich", meaning continuous. This is different from pulsed injection systems, in that the fuel flows continuously from all injectors, while the fuel pump pressurises the fuel up to approximately 5 bar (72.5 psi)....... K-Jetronic debuted in the 1973.5 Porsche 911T.....and was later installed into a number of Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lotus, Ferrari, Peugeot, Renault, Volvo, Saab, DeLorean and Ford automobiles.

So, is a DeLorean susceptible to fire? Probably. Is it more susceptible to fire than millions of European cars made over a 2-decade long period? Probably not.

I am setting aside whether the fire in this particular unfortunate incident was or was not fuel-related. I'm only commenting that whatever else is good or bad about cars made with K-Jetronic systems there were lots and lots of them made for a long time and they all pretty much behave like each other with respect to maintenance, trouble-shooting, reliability and parts.

[thirdmanj]

Interesting thought there. Could there be anything to it? If this were true then wouldn't we be seeing lots of immolated European K-Jet cars - which were made by the millions during a 21 year stretch - all running the same fuel pressures that a D runs?

See excerpt here from Wikipedia showing all the car mfgrs that used similar/same FI system as a D:

K-Jetronic (1973–1994)

...The 'K' stands for German: "Kontinuierlich", meaning continuous. This is different from pulsed injection systems, in that the fuel flows continuously from all injectors, while the fuel pump pressurises the fuel up to approximately 5 bar (72.5 psi)....... K-Jetronic debuted in the 1973.5 Porsche 911T.....and was later installed into a number of Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lotus, Ferrari, Peugeot, Renault, Volvo, Saab, DeLorean and Ford automobiles.

So, is a DeLorean susceptible to fire? Probably. Is it more susceptible to fire than millions of European cars made over a 2-decade long period? Probably not.

I am setting aside whether the fire in this particular unfortunate incident was or was not fuel-related. I'm only commenting that whatever else is good or bad about cars made with K-Jetronic systems there were lots and lots of them made for a long time and they all pretty much behave like each other with respect to maintenance, trouble-shooting, reliability and parts.

Didn't the Diablo use two separate K-Jet systems tuned together?

[Tillsy]

Interesting thought there. Could there be anything to it? If this were true then wouldn't we be seeing lots of immolated European K-Jet cars - which were made by the millions during a 21 year stretch - all running the same fuel pressures that a D runs?

I too have considered the issue to be high pressure fuel system combined with age and deterioration due to extremely lack of use.

Of the immense cars you mention using k-jet over a 21 year stretch, how many of them are in the same category as the DeLorean - very low milage over a 30 year period?

Personally I didn't dear start my DeLorean for the first time until I had replaced almost every inch of my fuel system - only parts not yet done are the two FV lines (to be done shortly) and accumulator. During that process I found several splits in the original lines, so I have no doubt I would have left a pair of fire trails behind...

[DMCVegas]

So, is a DeLorean susceptible to fire? Probably.

Due to the use of Banjo fittings, and fuel hoses that can be damaged if the banjo fittings are pulled from the inner hoses. The former of the two is of primary importance because most people are not familiar with the function of Banjo fittings. They use crush-washers that are designed to be be deformed to fit the individual mating surfaces of the bolt, banjo fitting, and component (injector, distributor, filter, etc.). Your average mechanic only ever sees this in practice with oil drain bolts on engines. They constantly reuse those bolts, and only get a non-threatening drip or two that doesn't affect their car as much (save for all those oil stains). However with the higher pressures of K-Jet, lots more fuel will naturally spray out instead of slowly seep.

Again, it's due to mechanic ignorance. More than once I've been to a parts store to get a crush washer for the drain plug of another vehicle and had the comment that I'm the only person that ever comes in asking for those washers. Bottom line: People think that since you *can* reuse a washer on the drain plug, that you can reuse it anywhere.

[Mydmc5898]

The fire investigation is finished. I will have an official report hopefully soon. However I have to wait for their permission to post anything due to legal matters. Which means any names or company names have to be washed when I post it.

Luckily I was there while they investigated, so I do know the cause and I will share it once I'm given the ok.
I can say however
It was NOT electrical
It was NOT the muffler
It was NOT the fuel mixture

It is a fault with the 3.0 though.

Once I have the report or given permission to post/write I will.

-Darryl
5898