Engine problem on track
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,597
Likes: 10
From: Cartersville Georgia
I'm just curious if it was a crazy race motor making 700hp strung out to within an inch of its life or a stockish LS3? One of my competitors went through three brand new motors this year all put together by the same household-name shop. Some people just don't get it right.
It let loose as I was reentering the full course at T-14 in traffic, just before the braking zone. I would guess the RPMs were 3-4000 at that point.
Thoughts appreciated. I'm out of ideas.
Jim
Pro
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 666
Likes: 28
From: Saratoga Springs NY
Man that sucks. Been there with my LS6 but if that happens with my race motor you better believe I won't be using the :cheers emoji anytime soon.
What heads are on that motor? When my stock LS6 went it appeared to be a broken valve, which tapped the piston a dozen times, finally braking the rod and punching a hole in the block. I'd think those ASA motors have stout bottoms. Why do you think you spun a rod bearing? Isn't that the exact thing the dry sump is supposed to protect against? Also FWIW my dad spun a bearing on his stock LS2 at WGI 10 years ago and the motor didn't blow, lots of awful noise in the bottom but he drove it off track and on a trailer. Wouldn't think something catastrophic would happen to the bottom of that motor with your setup without something breaking up top. just spitballing- I'm no motor expert just an expert at spending money on them.
Edit: oh wait. Just googled that motor - didn't realize it came right from Chevy. Looks like a stock bottom end complete with powered metal con rods, so I guess it's not a forged bottom end.
What heads are on that motor? When my stock LS6 went it appeared to be a broken valve, which tapped the piston a dozen times, finally braking the rod and punching a hole in the block. I'd think those ASA motors have stout bottoms. Why do you think you spun a rod bearing? Isn't that the exact thing the dry sump is supposed to protect against? Also FWIW my dad spun a bearing on his stock LS2 at WGI 10 years ago and the motor didn't blow, lots of awful noise in the bottom but he drove it off track and on a trailer. Wouldn't think something catastrophic would happen to the bottom of that motor with your setup without something breaking up top. just spitballing- I'm no motor expert just an expert at spending money on them.
Edit: oh wait. Just googled that motor - didn't realize it came right from Chevy. Looks like a stock bottom end complete with powered metal con rods, so I guess it's not a forged bottom end.
Last edited by StreetSpeed; Nov 6, 2016 at 07:17 AM.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 305
Likes: 15
From: Wilmington NC
Nothing crazy. It was an LS 376/525hp ASA road race create engine from GM Performance but I wiped a cam lobe in August and had it completely cleaned, inspected and reworked. During the rebuild, we put in a slightly larger cam and better springs but it was making less than 500 WHP. It also has a 4-stage ARE dry sump system. All of the lube system parts were sent out for ultrasonic cleaning and the ARE pump and Spintric were sent to ARE for cleaning and inspection. This system's capacity is over 3 gallons of oil and was slightly overfilled. We placed powerful magnets on the oil pan, dry sump tank and oil filter to trap any magnet residue from the wiped cam.
It let loose as I was reentering the full course at T-14 in traffic, just before the braking zone. I would guess the RPMs were 3-4000 at that point.
Thoughts appreciated. I'm out of ideas.
Jim
It let loose as I was reentering the full course at T-14 in traffic, just before the braking zone. I would guess the RPMs were 3-4000 at that point.
Thoughts appreciated. I'm out of ideas.
Jim
We always made our customers throw out oil coolers after any debris went through system. There was no amount of cleaning/flushing/ultrasonic that could completely clean them. This was 500-700hp oval track engines that see a lot of abuse in a weekly series from an engine builder with 40+ years and a lot of wins and track championships.
Could just be a rod fatigued.
Your car looked nice btw!
Last edited by zrtman1; Nov 6, 2016 at 08:07 AM.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,597
Likes: 10
From: Cartersville Georgia
Track Rat
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 6,466
Likes: 3,464
Real sorry to hear about the failure Jim, I know you had your fingers crossed going in. Didn't realize Jack had a failure as well.
Was the verdict on the red C6Z that the motor let go before it caught fire? I saw a bunch of hunks of metal at the top of the roller coaster before I got to the burning car.
Jeesh - tough weekend. It certainly started off auspiciously when 4 cars went off in black group on the first yellow lap of the first session on day 1.
Was the verdict on the red C6Z that the motor let go before it caught fire? I saw a bunch of hunks of metal at the top of the roller coaster before I got to the burning car.
Jeesh - tough weekend. It certainly started off auspiciously when 4 cars went off in black group on the first yellow lap of the first session on day 1.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 535
Likes: 92
From: Raleigh NC
Cut open my oil filter tonight. Definitely some metal shavings in the filter.
Got a chance to play with my inspection camera. Ran it down through the spark plug hole. I really expected to see a top chuck missing from the piston. And granted because of the angle I can't see the entire piston, but at least the half I could see was intact. But there was some vertical scars on the cylinder walls, but it's hard to tell how deep they are.
I also pressure checked the cooling system. Cold, it does leak down but very very slowly. I then started the car and let it get to operating temp. Doesn't seem to be pressuring the cooling system now. I had the tester at 15psi, and it settled at 16-17.5 psi hot. Needle was very stable. Hopefully there's a chance it didn't crack the block. Not holding my breath but hopeful.
Got a chance to play with my inspection camera. Ran it down through the spark plug hole. I really expected to see a top chuck missing from the piston. And granted because of the angle I can't see the entire piston, but at least the half I could see was intact. But there was some vertical scars on the cylinder walls, but it's hard to tell how deep they are.
I also pressure checked the cooling system. Cold, it does leak down but very very slowly. I then started the car and let it get to operating temp. Doesn't seem to be pressuring the cooling system now. I had the tester at 15psi, and it settled at 16-17.5 psi hot. Needle was very stable. Hopefully there's a chance it didn't crack the block. Not holding my breath but hopeful.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 305
Likes: 15
From: Wilmington NC
Cut open my oil filter tonight. Definitely some metal shavings in the filter.
Got a chance to play with my inspection camera. Ran it down through the spark plug hole. I really expected to see a top chuck missing from the piston. And granted because of the angle I can't see the entire piston, but at least the half I could see was intact. But there was some vertical scars on the cylinder walls, but it's hard to tell how deep they are.
I also pressure checked the cooling system. Cold, it does leak down but very very slowly. I then started the car and let it get to operating temp. Doesn't seem to be pressuring the cooling system now. I had the tester at 15psi, and it settled at 16-17.5 psi hot. Needle was very stable. Hopefully there's a chance it didn't crack the block. Not holding my breath but hopeful.
Got a chance to play with my inspection camera. Ran it down through the spark plug hole. I really expected to see a top chuck missing from the piston. And granted because of the angle I can't see the entire piston, but at least the half I could see was intact. But there was some vertical scars on the cylinder walls, but it's hard to tell how deep they are.
I also pressure checked the cooling system. Cold, it does leak down but very very slowly. I then started the car and let it get to operating temp. Doesn't seem to be pressuring the cooling system now. I had the tester at 15psi, and it settled at 16-17.5 psi hot. Needle was very stable. Hopefully there's a chance it didn't crack the block. Not holding my breath but hopeful.
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