I was racing my friend tonight and while i was shifting my friend told me he could see tons of sparks comming from out under my hood and down to my wheel well.. I looked and i saw the same thing.. anyone ever have this happen? Not sure where the sparks are comming out of.. i checked the engine bay and everything looked fine.... The only thing I can think it might be is the engine hitting the hood but I dont see how that would cause so many sparks... anyone?

 

i have no idea, but i would deffinatly
get it checke out ASAP, peoples cars burn
to the ground of minor things like that


-chris

 

my overly-bald tires used to throw sparks when i was a nitrous junkie, but id say youve got a loose electrical connection somewhere that hits a ground when you run it hard. possibly at the battery, since it isnt blowing a fuse. also, what kind of suspension setup do you have? if its too low, an axle could be rubbing something? just a thought....

 

hmm.. the battery.. i didn't think about that.. I am running coilovers dropped about 3 inches all around.. didn't think about the axle.. but isn't that kind of low to be throwing sparks out my hood? I don't know aboutt he battery since the battery is on the other side where there are no sparks.... so you dont think this could happen cuz the engine is hitting the hood when i shift hard?

 

no the engine hitting the hood wont cause sparks

your header could be rubbing the ground

 

Ok so there goes my theory.. I dunno then.. Its definitely comming from the driver side.. any ideas how to diagnose this? maybe drive it with the hood off?? can i get pulled over for that?

 

i dont think you can get pulled over for not having a hood. i now here in ohio its not against the law...sherif even said its ok. try it at dusk to see it better. good luck

 

Honestly even if i took the hood off and drove it.. the only thing I could confirm is that the sparks aren't comming from the engine hitting the hood which has already been pretty much discredited by most... I guess I could always take it to a dyno but I dont even need to dyno tune right now... i could put it up on jack stands and drive it but its pretty dangerious especially if i have to shift hard! any other clever ideas you guys can come up with i'd appreciate it. Thanks

 

I say if you have it dropped 3 inches you were most likely scrapping the ground....maybe caused from the weight distribution when shifting???


[Modified by civicgirl114, 7:34 PM 1/14/2003]

 

Get under the car and look for really shiny metal, with a ground finish!!!

 

I really don't think the bottom of my car is scraping the ground.. I've checked under the car and dont see any shiny spots.. the header clears the ground by a good 6 inches so I dont think i gotta worry about that.. any other suggestions? THanks for all the input from you guys by the way..

 

Ok I now find that the sparks are actually comming out of my wheel weel and NOT my hood.. its just the sparks start down the wheel well and i guess some of the left over sparks shot up to the hood which made it look like it was from the hood.. now my question is what could cause this? someone suggested an axle hitting something down there but i dont understand why this would only happen when i shift hard then? what could the axle be hitting?

 

its probably not an axle, i was just brainstorming. how are the brakes? are the alternator wires grounding somewhere? maybe the bearings are shot?? i dont know this is a new one, but im still thinkin........

 

weird, don't know what to say, everyone has pretty much covered everything, since you said it happens when you shift hard, do you mean just leaving it floored and shifting, or slamming the shifter really hard into gear?? hows your cluth feel, i might look in there, check the flywheel and clutch,

 

Yeah man this one has me about as stumped as can be! Let me explain a little better when this happens.. i see sparks ONLY when i shift hard as in shifting when i race someone... I have a clutchnet stage 2 clutch and stock flywheel.. not sure how the sparks would come from the right side to the left wheel well... I honestly have no clue where this could be comming from.. the brakes seem plausible but still if it was the brakes I could probably tell from driving.. any other ideas?

 

man all i know is your problem has pissed me off. if it only happens when you shift hard, then that means it sparks when the front of your car lunges down, then up. have you jacked it up and inspected it good?? there has to be an obvious place thats grinded-looking

 

has YOU pissed off?? this is my damn car! imagine how pissed off I am???
lol...
anyway yeah i have been under my car quite a few times.. but haven't really been under to check for what could be grinding.. i'll get under it this weekend and give you all an update.. but if anyone can think of anything else let me know

 

I have had sparks coming out of my alternator when the bearings were going bad. But you would be able to hear that. Im voting on the alt, because i dont know of anything else that could throw sparks from down there besides a wire.


22lbGSR, the front end actually rises when you shift or accelerate hard.


[Modified by CrazyTegger, 8:18 PM 1/17/2003]

 

Ive seen sparks. From the Brake pads get big enough to look like it coming from the hood. Maybe that's what it is.

well after reading your other post im not sure because of the grinding , but just trying to help.


[Modified by HybridcivicLS-T, 3:19 PM 1/16/2003]

 

when you push in the clutch, the front end goes down, then you shift, then you release the clutch, and the front end goes back up. (hence...when the front of your car lunges down, then up....)
the front is always "up" while youre racing, and it goes down when you shift, then back up


[Modified by 22lbGS-R, 9:30 PM 1/16/2003]

 

Thanks for your input but how could it be the altenator? what would shifting hard during racing have anything to do with altenator running any differently? just from the movement in the enginebay???

 

what does it sound like?

if anything gives off sparks, you might be hearing something too?

what does it smell like?

if anything gives off sparks, you might be smelling something too?

what colour are the sparks?

greenish = copper, red/orange = steel/iron...

have you looked everywhere in the LHS wheel area?

if something is releasing enough energy to give off sparks, you WILL be able to see the effects of this in the surrounding area...

t..

 

The color of the sparks are orange and yellow, I can't really smell or hear anything cuz it happens kinda fast and sudden... But i'm gonna check down there and see if there's any metal scraped..