Engine...
Yanked the engine out last Friday with the help of Topload here on the Forum and disassembled it for the trip to the machine shop. Long story short is that #8 exhaust lifter (CC 875-16) apparently decided it had enough of life and came apart. Of course having an exhaust valve stuck closed while an engine is running at 4000+ rpm is generally a bad thing. In an effort to escape the cylinder, the spent gases took out the head gasket. That led to a loss of coolant, etc. I was on the track when this happened and my oil temp at the time was ~275* Given the very high temps, a valve seat popped out as the head cooled. Not knowing the amount of damage I had sustained, I attempted to turn the engine over and ended up gouging a piston and cylinder head with the seat. It's clear the seat came out after the fact as there's no damage to the cylinder wall. Such is life when playing on the track.

Red Line Oil
I've run Red Line oil (10W30) for many years. As those who know me can attest, my car is run extremely hard but...I'm very proactive regarding maintenance. Given fairly regular floggings over the years on the dragstrip, auto-x course, and road course, I was not very optimistic about what we were going to find. The bottom end was completely torn down for inspection and was in fact found to be in outstanding condition. It's in such good condition that the cylinders need nothing more than a clean-up to help the new rings seat, the crank requires nothing, and the rods require nothing. Rings, connecting rod bearings will be standard size. The mains will be .001 OS, same as what was in there from the factory. My machinist attributes the wear (or lack thereof) to my maintenance regimen and high quality oil. This is not to say that other synthetics would or would not have resulted in similar findings. However, I often see posts claiming Red Line is a poor choice because it's not "certified". My experience supports the claim that it is a high quality product.

I'll be up and running again in about two weeks. Once the engine is broken in and the dyno oil removed, I guarantee that Red Line will be in the crankcase as I head back to the track :)

FWIW :)

 

Sorry to hear about your engine problems, but you definitely have the right attitude about it - SH ** Happens when you race.

I do have a few questions for my "information database".

What are the specs on the cam you were running; lobe numbers too if you don;t mind sharing?
What were the usual max RPMs that you turn when you race.
How many runs, approximately, did you have on the engine before this happened.

I'm just trying to get some 'ballpark' info for my future consideration.

Thanks,

Jake

 

I'm running the LT4 HOT Cam (.525/.525, 218/228 duration @.050).

The engine regularly saw 6600rpm and 6800 was not unusual. On the track it generally spent all of its time above 4000rpm. Sessions last from 15 to 30 minutes depending on the track.

No idea how many runs on the bottom end in total and none since I put the cam in last year. However, it did have nearly 1,000 road course track miles since the cam :)

The bottom end had been untouched and had roughly 75,000 miles on it.

 

Redline is one of the best around. I have been running it in everything I own for years and agree 100% with your findings.

Also Redline makes a break-in oil. You may have to talk the factory into selling it direct as most dealers are not stocking it or even know of it.

 

I use RedLine manual tranny oil in my ZF6. Good stuff! Made a lot of difference in the way it shifts. Don't they more or less cater to racers?