I recently bought a 1991 legacy AWD wagon that I am trying to bring back to life. The back carpet area over the exhaust caught fire due to the muffler getting too hot. It happened before I bought the car and the story is that it happened while it was idleing. I know this is rare, but has Anyone ever seen this before.

ive heard of cats getting hot and starting fires,but mufflers?I suppose its possible.where did the heat shielding go?

Acually the heat shielding is still there. I too have heard of cats getting red hot. It melted the carpet and the padding underneath had to be removed as it was charcoal and smelly.

My 1987 GL had a melted bumper, but it was due to an aftermarket muffler that had been tucked up too close.

Acually the heat shielding is still there. I too have heard of cats getting red hot. It melted the carpet and the padding underneath had to be removed as it was charcoal and smelly.

 

was this in the area of the back seat or the rear cargo area??

 

i cooked the capet i had on the bed of a 90 nissan pickup, damn near killed my dog.

 

the muffler / pipe was boogered and rotten and it was pointed at the bed.

new pipes fixed it.

The muffler on that car doesn't get that hot even sitting there ideling. If the muffler got that hot then the cat would have been WAY hotter (since it's closer to the heat source) I really don't think that carpet back there is going to combust from a muffler that's not only behind a heatshield but also behind other layers of metal and dapening material under the carpet. Before a muffler got hot enough to cause that to happen other parts of the exhaust would have been even hotter and done the same thing elsewhere in the car.

 

 

I just don't buy the story... unless we are missing some key details? Was there an exhuast leak right there? Was someone under there welding to fix something? Either there's more to the story or the story is bogus because this doesn't add up.

Edited May 20, 201015 yr by MorganM

That is the story I was told by the PO. The area in front of the cat and behind the cat show no signs of heat damage. The only area showing heat damage is the cargo area carpet, the plastic cover over the spare tire, and part of the mud flap on the driver rear side. I will inspect the muffler for holes (that is a good point)

Is the plastic on the bumper also melted?

I ask this because my 89 RX was like what you described.

But it was from running the engine so hard and low on oil it eventually threw a rod out the top of the block. But before that happened, it also melted a lot of the plastic in the area around the muffler and inside the rear compartment.

The PO may not be telling you the entire story for sure.

Yep, I saw it and was shocked as well!

Was this a smokers car? Sounds to me more like someone threw a cigarette out the window, and it came back in and landed on the carpet in the cargo area.

 

I think it would have to be throwing flames out of the muffler to get hot enough to catch the interior of the car on fire.

Kind of difficult to burn the mudflap this way tho.

Was this a smokers car? Sounds to me more like someone threw a cigarette out the window, and it came back in and landed on the carpet in the cargo area.

 

I think it would have to be throwing flames out of the muffler to get hot enough to catch the interior of the car on fire.

 

Rob, picture time.

Kind of difficult to burn the mudflap this way tho.

 

I guess we'll go with the flames out of the muffler theory then...

Rob, picture time.

 

I'll see if I can find some.

 

Shot of the rear bumper after I got the car.

 

Edited May 21, 201015 yr by Turbone

The muffler on that car doesn't get that hot even sitting there ideling. If the muffler got that hot then the cat would have been WAY hotter (since it's closer to the heat source) I really don't think that carpet back there is going to combust from a muffler that's not only behind a heatshield but also behind other layers of metal and dapening material under the carpet. Before a muffler got hot enough to cause that to happen other parts of the exhaust would have been even hotter and done the same thing elsewhere in the car.

 

 

I just don't buy the story... unless we are missing some key details? Was there an exhuast leak right there? Was someone under there welding to fix something? Either there's more to the story or the story is bogus because this doesn't add up.

 

+1 on your not being told the complete story, or being told a bogus story. Rear mufflers never over heat as described, while the rest of the muffler system is unaffected.

if exhaust has break in it, pointing towards something, it can definitely melt, and possibly ignite over time. Once I carried a bike on back of my Acura, and the tire was near the tailpipe. After 900 miles, yeah, it burned the tire to a crisp.