Engine reliability mods for road racing?
- Thread starter ///m3
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Yep. And the only reason I'm still alive and married is because I sold my M3 the day we left for the event. So now we have the extra cash to fix the motor. Here are some of the grueling pictures:
Well that will do it.
And this is piston #1 huh?
And this is piston #1 huh?
Yep. That'll definitely do it. It is piston #1. Piston #3 (adjacent piston, depending on how you number them) showed signs that it was going to be next in a few short seconds. The other two on that bank look fine.
I'm leaning towards some sort of O2 sensor failure, but it never threw a Check Engine Light. I'll be getting the injectors checked out though too.
When O2 sensors fail, they throw low voltages, which the computer interprets as a lean condition, so it throws fuel at it trying to make it rich. Upshot: O2 sensor failures cause the engine to go rich. That there looks like lean damage. I'd look into your fuel delivery system.
+1 on the fuel system. Also, when you get it running again, throw in some gauges. Monitoring your IAT2s may have also prevented this - in the event that a dead IC pump quickly skyrocketted your temps. The engine fail-safe of pulling timing isn't always fast enough. Good luck with your build.
It looks like you got the car really hot and the piston couldn't expand anymore and scored the cylinder walls. My first engine looked similar, slightly scored walls and piston damage.
The hoods will be the 2 huge openings.
The hoods will be the 2 huge openings.
+2 on lean damage. Lots of melted aluminum means the fuel system didn't deliver for whatever reason. Very impressive melting I might add. Almost like a plasma torch torched right through.
Oh yeah, a big reliability mod is removing the forced induction and going naturally aspirated. Not that I listen to my own advice... its just way more expensive and time consuming to manage any kind of boost on a track and not just heat related elements.
Oh yeah, a big reliability mod is removing the forced induction and going naturally aspirated. Not that I listen to my own advice... its just way more expensive and time consuming to manage any kind of boost on a track and not just heat related elements.
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Most of the 03/04 cobra's don't have any problems on track other then cooling in which some of us have already addressed.
Most of the problems Maynor is taking about is aftermarket blower kits. I believe he had countless problems.
I know that from experience too after trying to put a Vortech on my M3. It put 400 hp to the wheels and handle like crazy but it never made it though a single session on the track without breaking or leaking something. That's the reason I just sold it.
So the plan for it now is to rebuild and port the blower, run a 3.1 pulley, Canton oil pan and possibly put a set of headers on it. That should keep it cool enough until I finish building the 5.0L Miata and retire the Cobra from heavy track duty.
Anyone recommend a place to get the fuel injectors checked out?
Thanks for the help.
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I was talking in generalities actually and I'm not advocating a switch. From a true on-track reliability point of view, naturally aspirated motors are less complex, lighter and have less sub-systems with less parts to go wrong in the first place.
There isn't as much latitude for sub-system failures on a boosted motor like there is on an N/A motor. Obviously, any motor can fail regardless but you're less likely to see a melted piston due to a lean condition on an un-boosted motor, as an example.
In my case, the supercharger is actually the single most reliable piece of equipment on the car. Silly as that sounds. It just adds complexity, weight (in the wrong place) and additional points of potential failure.
The cooling challenges are the same as the 03/04 cars which is where most of the modifications come into play. I'm pretty happy tracking a boosted car now that the overall combo is stable but little issues still rear up and cause some downtime which takes away from seat time which is where I want to spend all my time.
If I had an option for an N/A 500 hp motor at the time I committed to full-time open tracking, I would have jumped on it versus the boosted route. I'm not recommending an N/A switch but it is now an option in the mod motor world if you're considering a new motor. That's all.
John
By the way, that is one cool wife if she lets you track her car!
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M3 I feel the pain. I was at sebring last weekend in run grp 4. I could only run on Sat. due to coolant leak. With 20+ track days only problems in other sessions have been IRS overheating (blackflaged) and intercooler pump failure. Only the intercooler pump sent me home. I run 3.1 pulley and can hang with most stangs on track but can't keep up with the vettes. There were plenty of vettes there for a svt event.
KeefCobra
KeefCobra
How are those hoods coming? ;-)
My contact sold his part in the business. For anyone local it's going to cost more then i am willing to spend to get the molds done (1800.00 +) plus the actual cost of time and materials to get the hoods fabricated. So for now it's one hood at a time.
She's out there too, running as hard as I am. She runs in the advance group with SVTOA and PCA.
I just happened to be driving it when it blew up.
She just primed it for you. :rollseyes
No worries. The ones you are doing now with a the large openings look great. :beer:
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