Q – My 928 caught fire. I pushed it out of the garage and saved the house but the car is a mess. Just before I pulled into the garage the engine started running rough and it was very down on power. I figured that I could limp it home but that was clearly a bad idea. Now I am told that the engine has two separate ignition systems, one for each bank, and that when one side of the engine shuts down, the fuel injectors keep spraying fuel into the hot catalytic convertors and that is what caused the fire! So now my car is burned and I feel burned as well. To make matters worse, my insurance company wants to total the car but I love it and I do not want to let it go. How could this happen and how can I make sure it never happens again? Pete
A – I am sorry to hear of your loss but I bet your wife appreciates that you were there when it went “poof” and saved the house. I was surprised that the ignition system is split but the fuel injection system is not. Failing to take that into account has caused a number of fires in this model and it would seem simple to engineer a way to shut the injectors down if half the engine was not firing. I will think about that and let you know what I find in another issue. Modern cars cannot flood the convertor with fuel since a cylinder misfire is detected by the computer and that shuts that cylinders injector down.
On the insurance problem, you should always have a vehicle you love insured to an agreed value, not a stated value. And be sure to set your limits high enough to not only replace the car, but to bring the replacement car up to the standard of your present car. Many people fail to do that and buy less insurance than they need. Face it, no one likes to pay for insurance but if you cheap out to save money, don’t complain when a catastrophe occurs.
There are many ways to get excellent coverage and a reasonable price. If you have a classic car, and you do, you should shop for classic car insurance and even consider historic plates as well. There are often restrictions with this kind of insurance as well as the historic plates but they serve a purpose at a very low price without compromising your coverage. MC