Well took the car to the track last night again. Got there a little late and was sorta rushed, but they were running open time trials so I got a run in pretty quick. First thing I did was check my fuel level again. It showing a 1/2 tank, so I figured I would be fine, remember my bog, because the fuel must move up away from the pickup and it bogs real bad. So I go out and do my burnout, stage and nail a .518 light, the takeout wasn't great I could feel the back end get a little squirly, at the top of 2nd gear again a major bog, then the car just takes off again, once the fuel is resupplied..I am absolutely sure it that, it feels just like when you run out of gas, as that is exactly what is happening. I crank through the rest of the run and knew I was really cookin, as I pulled right past the car beside me that red lighted and gained some distance during the bog. I ripped through the traps and it felt like a good MPH, but the ET was gonna be hosed due to the bog :(

It turned out to be 123.57 (new best MPH, but the ET was only 11.44) short time was an even 1.60, quite a bit off from my usual low 1.5. But was pretty pleased with my MPH. I knew we could fix the bog. And it also told me I need to fix that darn guage that went south.

The next run I did a few things besided add fuel+toluene. I adjusted my timing. The car in the previous run is using a crazy 42* total TIMING! I can't believe it either, but when tuning, it liked that timing, but I though I would move it back to 6* and see what happens, I had it at 12*. The tune has 36* total, so you have to add 6* to that to make it 42*. Anyways I took it back out.

This run the car I knew was not gonna like the timing, but it was too late turn back now, lets see what she has to offer at a more reasonalbe timing. The car wanted so stall etc, so I had to keep feathering the gas to keep it running. Did my burnout and staged. It was for the quickest cars so I was all alone. Took out and knew right away the power was no where near what it usually was. The bog was gone and I ripped through the gear. Got my slip and as I expected a slower ET. 11.5@118, I lost tons of power with the timing down low, but still at a higher than normal total advance for these cars. I can't describe why the car like that much timing, but its very obvious. So head back into the pits to meet dad. I was talking to him out the window as I went to put the car back into Park, telling him that we need to move the timing back to where it was, or add even more to see what that does. When I pushed the shifter foward something felt different, OH no not another tranny! But the trans worked fine on the run, logic said. I said to him it felt weird and he just gave me a look like, you have to be kidding. I parked the car and we turn the timing back to where it originally was, just about that time they called me to the staging lanes again for the final time trials. I got in the car and the idle was considerably better, no stalling etc. I moved the shifter back into drive and it felt like there was drag on it. I figured the heat from the open headers was melting something and making it gummy. I drove into the staging lanes. Shut the car off and was certainly concerned that everything was right. I turned the key to the "on" position and moved the shifter through the gears again, this time there was no clicking what so ever you normally hear. I used a little self control and said there is no way I'm taking this car down the strip if everythings not right. So I solicited some help from some guys behind me to push me back into the pits Certainly disappointed I old dad I thought the shifting linkage wasn't working right, and I wasn't gonna risk the car not shifting and overrevving the engine, especially in first, because it goes through that gear in a blink, and you would be up to 7k before you knew it if it didn't shift. I have a rev limiter I need to install, guess it would be wise of me to get on that.

Once we got the car up on the trailor I crawled under to see if it was indeed the cable, and not something in the tranny itself. SUre enough when I got under there the cable melted from the exhaust heat and once the housing was melted the cable birdcaged and then the crappy white metal piece in shifter linkage itself snapped :(

Although it was a disappointing setback, it could have been much worse, wih a tranny out or something. So this morning my boy hunter and I went out to the dealership and I let him help me with taking the headers off to allow Corky to use them on his car this Sunday to see if they make a difference for him.

I guess I should be happy that the car feels its getting stronger and the MPH keeps increasing every run it seems. I will have to figure out the fuel guage problem, any ideas? I was gonna pull it up out sometime this week maybe and see if maybe the float is sticking or anything obvious is wrong. Give me your thoughts on the pickup etc. :yesnod:


[Modified by ski_dwn_it, 11:28 AM 4/26/2003]

 

Whew....

Thank god its only a cable! You had me worried there! I thought it may have been something going through the motor from not running the air filter! You did get my warning that it wouldnt be worth it, right?

Well now you can put a shield around the stuff by the exhaust. Little by little, youre gonna get what you want.

 

I was a bit nervous reading the part where you thought the 700 took a crapper! I know the feeling, I am on 700R number 4! Glad to hear it was just the cable.

As for your new best mph, :cheers: Hopefully soon you can put that together with a 10 second time slip. :steering:

 

just working the bugs out...
you'll get it!

 

:skep: :D

 

You might want to start 'sticking' your tank to check your fuel levels. If you really have a half tank, I can't believe gas is sloshing away from the pickup because the pickup is right on the bottom of the tank and the shape of the tank kind of minimizes that - although I haven't felt the launch that thing has either !! One easy way to verify that is by running with a full tank. It wouldn't be good for your times but it will rule out some things.

You still have the stock pump?

 

Hey man you're right, it could have been worse and we're glad it wasn't!

Congrats on the Top Speed!

Keep us posted on what you use to keep the cables from melting!





[Modified by ld85, 4:04 PM 4/26/2003]

 

I would just forget the gas gauge's normal operation. Drain the tank, put a measured 10 gallons in and look at what it reads. :)

 

Great MPH, sounds like your really having fun, despite the little setbacks.

If you brought your car into the shop with the two fuel related concerns, I would first tell you that it is imperative I tape a fuel pressure gauge to the windshield and monitor it during several passes at the local track. You know, all in the interest in providing you with the best possible service.

In all seriousness though, I think your ready for a fuel pump module, which would include the pump and sending unit. Or, if your not overly concerned with gauge operation, the pump should be available seperately. While changing out the pump, use a pencil eraser to clean the sending unit contacts.

 

Dude that is some serious MPH......you should see 10s when you work out the bugs. And for God's sake get some turn downs for your headers before you burn the car to the ground.

 

I think what I am gonna do is take out the pump etc and see what it looks like in there. Never had it out before. Should be a pretty good learning experience at the least.

I know the guage is way off, I ran out of gas the one night and put 5 gal in it, it read 1/2 full! If I put 10 gal in it, I'm sure it would read full....mention that 5 gal is about 40 lbs, and that toluene in even denser than that. Anyways, the car I figure runs through about 1 gal per run, so it goes down quick. It usually runs good if I have it right at o above the exact half mark, but I hate when stuff is not right and I want it to read accurately. So has anyone had any sucess at fixing this thing?

THanks for all the concerns. Met Corky about 1hr ago along interstate 80, to give him my headers. Which leads me to my next comment. My little boy hunter and I went out this morning to take my headers off the car. The header gasket wasn't fit right, even though I checked it several times and it was blocking about 1/4inch on the lower side of the exhaust port! That had to be hurting a little. maybe that in itself is enough to crack a 10s run. Goes to show you no matter how careful you are doing stuff, that you can still have little mistakes that cost you HPs. That will surely be fixed on the next go around with the headers. Then off to the track again at the earliest chance.

Lets all hope that Corky nails a 10sec run with the headers and a few new chips I burned for him with a leaner mixture. His dyno was pretty rich. Go Cork go! :cheers:

 

1. Nice run.
2. Bummer about the tranny messing with you.
3. Are you collecting Data during your runs? Are your injectors going static during the stages where you are bogging down?

Keep up the good work Ski!

I was seriously thinking I'd need to go to SD until I started reading your posts!

 

Yeah I think if I could have hooked real good and not had the bog, that might have been darn close. I need to get some synthetic oil in it now, and also tweak a few things. I am also gonna have some spacers made so I can jack the back of the car up and toe the tires in at the bottom a little, like we did with Corkys. It really seemed to help his takeouts become more consistant. As you said ralph I think its just laying down the right combination to get there. I also want to get to a dyno that will let me play around, rather than 3 runs and out the door. I will have to call those guys down in state college, pa and see if I can work out a deal with them. Find the optimum timing, mine is cazy high I think, but maybe its due to the race gas, I logged a WOT run the other night and there were not a single knock count throughout. I pulled the plugs today when we did the headers and they are a nice light brown with no fly crap (detonation specs). Granted the best way to check plugs is run it up to whatever Rpm and kill the ignition then pull one out. But for all intense purposes, i am pretty sure the AFR is ok.

There is no substitution to being ableto tune at a dyno to maximize everything, its just the dynamics of the air, expecially with the intake we have, that might not be the same, but I think I could gain from it.

Talk to you all later! :cheers:

 

To answer your #3 question, I don't think I am. I am assuming that you are talking about all the posts on the thirgen. The latest results over there show that my injectors are definately pushing the envelope, but only for a split second, and the conclusions were they are probably not effecting performance, since remember I have an onboard WBO2 and am able to maintain a desired AFR without it going lean, also each time it bogs it fixed with just adding gas to the tank. The car has always had a problem with the bog, even stock, but now its compounded and more gas than ever is needed with the neck wrenching takeouts it has now. :D :thumbs:

I am gonna pull the pump etc out this week and see what things look like, perhaps just repositioning it will help. :cheers:

 

Have you ever thought about a fuel cell and a real pump? Getting into low 11's is about the right time to.

 

Glad to here it was only a cable!! Maybe some header wrap in that area will prevent future meltdowns. Good Luck next time out!! :cheers:

 

the cheap easy way to eliminate slosh as your problem would be to run with a full tank and see if it goes away. at least while testing. i also agree about making a couple passes with taping the fuel pressure gauge to the windshield.

BTW, what size injectors you running?? didn't see it on your profile.

somebody correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't a properly functioning stock pump good for quite a bit more HP than what ski is making?

 

racing with open headers on a C4 is always a bad idea. The fiberglass floor pan & tranny cables are very close to the exhaust cut out, so it was just a matter of time before something silly like this happened.

 

Jesse,

What is your ratio for the xylene mixture? How may gallons of xylene vs. gallons of gas?

I decreased my timing from 6 btdc to 0 btdc and added 2 gallons of xylene to my tank (3/4 tank). Now my knock counts are way down, however I still am getting of few counts w/timing retard @ WOT.

Seeing how you are getting Zero counts, I though it would be a good idea to try your recipe.

Thanks ! Hole-Shot


[Modified by Hole-Shot, 11:17 AM 4/27/2003]

 

I think I need to explain this a little better as some people seem to be confused. I do not have a problem with the fuel pump period, nor the injectors, nor the tune. The reason for the bog is the location of the pickup, and not an accurate reading guage. I the guage goes from nothing to full instantly almost. So I am not real sure what the fuel level is for sure. I used to get away with having very little in the tank, but now with the launches this thing has and constant pull, I am aware now that I need more gas.

The bog is not present when I run with more fuel, and my AFR is good though the entire run, these both tell me I am OK fuel wise. Its just the trials that I need to work through with the car.

YES I am gonna have some turndowns made this monday, I did not like the idea of running without the turndowns either, but we really did not have the option of having them available and racing the other night was a last minute decision.

I inspected the damage up on a lift and it was just to the wie covering material and the shifter cable. This will all be corrected with the turndowns. Nothing was done to the fiberglass, for those wondering. Granted, extended periods of idle etc would probably cause a problem, but the body is OK on mine.

GOnna have to add a few hampster somehow to get that 10s slip. Wonder how corky made out today with my headers and the new chips I did for him? :cheers: