Crossing the T's and Dotting the I's - back in the saddle.
12-04-2011, 12:38 AM
#1
Race Director
Thread Starter
Crossing the T's and Dotting the I's - back in the saddle.
Now that my car is back together and running after a 36 month hiatus, I need to jump back in and finish all the unfinished bits.
The first thing that jumped out when driving home from Englandgreen (who did a standup job debugging and chasing down the electrical gremlins and installing a new Mcleod twin disk clutch) was the steering slop.
There is about a 1.5" steering deadzone when steering straight.
Where do I start lookign to tighten all this up? Now once turned and engaged the steering is spot on and very precise, but its the dead zone at center I do not like.
The second is the tendency to run high oil temps even in mild traffic with ambient temps int he 70*F range. Oil still creeps up to 250*. I have a DeWitts large radiator with IOC and a heat extractor hood that seems to get the air out of the engine bay - but stillt hat oil keeps creepign skyward - at this point rad course trackdays are still out of the quesiton.
The third thing would be a roll bar/cage that does not turn the car into a crawl over the bars never want to run on the street again. Are there any roll bars that tie into the frame rails behind the seat so that they offer proper roll over protection? I undertand side proteciton is more desirable, but I am not looking to make the car a "4 times a year driver".
So, fire away with suggestions
The first thing that jumped out when driving home from Englandgreen (who did a standup job debugging and chasing down the electrical gremlins and installing a new Mcleod twin disk clutch) was the steering slop.
There is about a 1.5" steering deadzone when steering straight.
Where do I start lookign to tighten all this up? Now once turned and engaged the steering is spot on and very precise, but its the dead zone at center I do not like.
The second is the tendency to run high oil temps even in mild traffic with ambient temps int he 70*F range. Oil still creeps up to 250*. I have a DeWitts large radiator with IOC and a heat extractor hood that seems to get the air out of the engine bay - but stillt hat oil keeps creepign skyward - at this point rad course trackdays are still out of the quesiton.
The third thing would be a roll bar/cage that does not turn the car into a crawl over the bars never want to run on the street again. Are there any roll bars that tie into the frame rails behind the seat so that they offer proper roll over protection? I undertand side proteciton is more desirable, but I am not looking to make the car a "4 times a year driver".
So, fire away with suggestions
Last edited by RC45; 12-04-2011 at 02:18 AM.
12-04-2011, 03:53 AM
#2
high oil temps with normal coolant temps - something is off. even without the oil cooler you should not be reaching 250 degrees in street driving (or is it 250 on the track?).
oil temp sensor? something wrong with the oil itself (it is not 36 months old, is it??)
oil temp sensor? something wrong with the oil itself (it is not 36 months old, is it??)
12-04-2011, 04:42 AM
#3
Race Director
Thread Starter
Could this be a symptom of bad oil flow/ Blocked oilpassage somewhere? The oil may simply not be flowign everywhere correctly?
Is it possible to plumb some flow/pressure senors in at various points to be sure the flow is adequate all the way along the path?
And this is still street driving - am still breaking in the new clutch, so I have not even got ont he loud pedal properly yet.
I am thinking a dedicated oil cooler and no longer routing oil through the IOC in the DeWitts may help.
12-04-2011, 09:38 AM
#4
Premium Supporting Vendor
The plumbing of the oil temp sensor is an important factor here. I've seen many different types of adaptors that take the oil from the stock oil temp sensing point and send it to the cooler. Some sense on the way to the cooler, some sense on the way back - easily a 20F spread between reported oil temps.
Another factor is the coolant temp given an integrated cooler - your oil temp will closely follow coolant temp. Unless you have modified your fan set points, in stop and go traffic (e.g. street driving) with little airflow to the radiator, the fan setpoints will drive coolant temp. In most Vette's the high temp fan setting is ON at about 235F. If your coolant temp is around 230F I would not be surprised at all to see oil temps at 250F.
On the track this will likely change as the airflow will be higher through the radiator and the fans will not play a key role.
I would check your oil temp vs. coolant temp - if the oil slightly higher than coolant you have nothing to worrry about.
By the way, what AMSOIL are you running? There is a wide spread of anti-wear additives given the current API restrictions on phosphorus (800 ppm max) in the options.
1. AMSOIL Signature Series 100% Synthetic 5w30 (Product Code ASLQT)
(phosphorus max 800 ppm - normally about 700 ppm with zinc ~800 ppm)
This is AMSOIL's best API SN spec oil which meets GM dexos1 specs. In my opinion, like any street oil - not suitable for the track.
2. AMSOIL Dominator Synthetic 10w30 Racing Motor Oil (Product Code RD30QT)
(zinc – 1575 ppm, phosphorus 1474 ppm)
This is what I use at the track. This oil does not meet API SN or any GM specs, and does not have sufficient detergents/dispersants for street use. I change my oil at about ~500 miles.
3. AMSOIL Z-ROD 10w30 Synthetic Motor Oil (Product Code ZRTQT)
(zinc – 1440 ppm, phosphorus 1320 ppm)
This is a middle ground option. This oil does not meet API SN or any GM specs, but does have high levels of anti-wear additives and enough detergents for ~3-5k mile (or one year) oil change intervals. I'd use this oil in a dual use street/track car out of warranty.
For anyone interested in any of the above, always happy to get it for my fellow drivers at dealer wholesale, about 25% below retail via the AMSOIL Preferred Customer Program. Drop me a PM if interested.
Another factor is the coolant temp given an integrated cooler - your oil temp will closely follow coolant temp. Unless you have modified your fan set points, in stop and go traffic (e.g. street driving) with little airflow to the radiator, the fan setpoints will drive coolant temp. In most Vette's the high temp fan setting is ON at about 235F. If your coolant temp is around 230F I would not be surprised at all to see oil temps at 250F.
On the track this will likely change as the airflow will be higher through the radiator and the fans will not play a key role.
I would check your oil temp vs. coolant temp - if the oil slightly higher than coolant you have nothing to worrry about.
By the way, what AMSOIL are you running? There is a wide spread of anti-wear additives given the current API restrictions on phosphorus (800 ppm max) in the options.
1. AMSOIL Signature Series 100% Synthetic 5w30 (Product Code ASLQT)
(phosphorus max 800 ppm - normally about 700 ppm with zinc ~800 ppm)
This is AMSOIL's best API SN spec oil which meets GM dexos1 specs. In my opinion, like any street oil - not suitable for the track.
2. AMSOIL Dominator Synthetic 10w30 Racing Motor Oil (Product Code RD30QT)
(zinc – 1575 ppm, phosphorus 1474 ppm)
This is what I use at the track. This oil does not meet API SN or any GM specs, and does not have sufficient detergents/dispersants for street use. I change my oil at about ~500 miles.
3. AMSOIL Z-ROD 10w30 Synthetic Motor Oil (Product Code ZRTQT)
(zinc – 1440 ppm, phosphorus 1320 ppm)
This is a middle ground option. This oil does not meet API SN or any GM specs, but does have high levels of anti-wear additives and enough detergents for ~3-5k mile (or one year) oil change intervals. I'd use this oil in a dual use street/track car out of warranty.
For anyone interested in any of the above, always happy to get it for my fellow drivers at dealer wholesale, about 25% below retail via the AMSOIL Preferred Customer Program. Drop me a PM if interested.
__________________
C66 Racing #66 NASA ST2, SCCA T2
AMSOIL Dealer (Forum Vendor)
AMSOIL Ordering Information (Retail sales using reference #1206638 benefit the forum.)
AMSOIL Preferred Customer Program (Members buy at Wholesale - a savings of about 25%)
AMSOIL Catalog
C66 Racing #66 NASA ST2, SCCA T2
AMSOIL Dealer (Forum Vendor)
AMSOIL Ordering Information (Retail sales using reference #1206638 benefit the forum.)
AMSOIL Preferred Customer Program (Members buy at Wholesale - a savings of about 25%)
AMSOIL Catalog
12-05-2011, 06:18 PM
#5
Race Director
Thread Starter
There must still be an electronic gremlin in the system.
Today it is about 50*F out, the car shows ambient temp as 69*F. The oil temp now shows as "Oil Temperature - Low", yet water is 190*F and oil pressure is 38psi at idle and 49psi underway.
Still shows Oil Level - Low as well.
Then to top it off as I decided to step on the loud pedal this afternoon the car just decided to "Active Handling" me by clamping the right hand front brake causing me to veer hard to the right crossing a full lane on the freeway. Lucky no cars near by - this is not the first time the AH system has decided to simply grab full brake on the front to "save the car" while underway in a straight line.
This was the first time it did it under acceleration though - previously it would just grab a handful of brake while cruising at 60mph.
This is why I normally drive with the AH off. I can no longer trust the system.
But it looks like I need to chase this oil level/temp gremlin down first.
Today it is about 50*F out, the car shows ambient temp as 69*F. The oil temp now shows as "Oil Temperature - Low", yet water is 190*F and oil pressure is 38psi at idle and 49psi underway.
Still shows Oil Level - Low as well.
Then to top it off as I decided to step on the loud pedal this afternoon the car just decided to "Active Handling" me by clamping the right hand front brake causing me to veer hard to the right crossing a full lane on the freeway. Lucky no cars near by - this is not the first time the AH system has decided to simply grab full brake on the front to "save the car" while underway in a straight line.
This was the first time it did it under acceleration though - previously it would just grab a handful of brake while cruising at 60mph.
This is why I normally drive with the AH off. I can no longer trust the system.
But it looks like I need to chase this oil level/temp gremlin down first.
