It did it again

Hi Ty,

Well went to school #3 today and made it through he first on track session and the first lap of session two and all hell broke loose again. Lost power, ok timing sliped, timing reset and back out on the track. Lost power again along with this loud pounding sound. Put it up on the ramps and pulled the drain plug. Out comes 8 quarts of very thin 10W40 and a strong smell of gasline. Engine had 2 hours on it after the rebuild.

I am real tempted to saw it up and put the parts on ebay.

Can you say SPEC MIATA?

I sure can. Can you say TOO SMALL http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif

Seriously, if I were your size I'd be thinking about SM, they're just not made for a 6'-04", 240 lb driver.

Soren has one set up for lagre drivers, no top, cage extended up above the windshield, etc., but even still, my legs are just too long to get comfortable.

Have you done a post mortem on the engine? It may not be bad, or it may be junk, you just can't tell until you get it apart. Who did the rebuild? Maybe he'd be willing to work with you on finding the root of the problem.

If you do decide to switch let me know, I want first dibs on all of your 14x7 wheels http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/wink.gif

Ty

Pulled and partially disassembled it yesterday. The number one rod bearing halves were stacked,welded togeather, and welded to the crank. Bearing pieces and metal dust everywhere in the engine. There was oil in the #2&6 cyls. No water in the oil, but when the pan was drained it was over half full in a 15 quart drain pan with a strong smell of gas. The only thing common to the LaJunta motor and this one was the head and the ECU.

I'm going to look into sticking a completly different stock engine, upgrading to a 3L 24 valve engine (7M) and changing to ITE, or parting it out and going with a pre-built sorted out car. Got you down for 1st dibs on all the wheels if I go with choice C.

There is definatly NOT going to be any regional only races at the NN in feb. Just in case you wanted any more not so good news. March will be the next regional. Oh well it gives me a little extra time to fix the Supra or find a reliable race car.

Supra's aren't exactly popular in IT, but is ther anyone who builds a race engine for your car? If there is, I'd call them and see what they'd want for a 'semi-race' engine. In other words, an engine built down from the edge, cost and power wise, that will be reliable for your first year or so. Finish your license requirements, get some seat time, and then start thinking about upgrading your powerplant. Maybe you could buy this hypothetical 'semi-race' engine and after the first year pull it and send it back to the builder for the works.

I guess I got lucky and my car came with the engine that's in it now. I haven't done a damn thing to it (the engine) except port match the head and inspect (not replace) the main bearings. Soren's guys have her now for some suspension upgrades and an MSD ignition. I'll probably run the Valentine's day R/R at Firebird and if I'm pretty well sorted at that point I'll start building a 'real' race motor.

I'll ask Soren if he thinks this (semi-race to full race after a year) is a good plan, and if he knows of a shop you might contact. He might even do it; I don't know how much Toyota experience he has. I'm sure he won't do it himself if he's never built one before.

Ty

I'm still looking at a few possible solutions. I was given a card for a shop in Houston that builds Toyota race motors and has different levels of prep. And their is the "cheap" 40-60k pulls from the japaneese domestic rust bucket option. Or another junkyard motor. Even if I do decide to sell, it will be easier if it has a working engine in it.

What was the cause of the bearing failure? Oil starvation? Maybe try ARP main bearing cap bolts? Without knowing what failed, it's hard to build any "hardened" fixes to solve the problem.

Maybe the valves hit the pistons during your first timing slip, and that caused the rod/bearing to fail.

Are there any valve marks on the pistons?

What failed on the motor @ LaJunta? From what you describe, it also was a bottom end failure, correct?

These are a straight 6 motor correct? They do put out plenty of torque, like the 240Z. Sounds like something in the crank/bearing assembly needs to be "upgraded".



------------------
Tim Linerud
San Francisco Region SCCA
#95 GP Wabbit (Bent)
http://linerud.myvnc.com/racing/index.html

Jerry,
Sorry to hear about your problems with
the Supra. We were looking for you Sunday morning on the grid, but nobody told me you had engine troubles. Please contact me if you need any help.

Jeff Watson
#63 SP Supra Turbo

Tim,

Some how gas is getting into the oil and thining it out causing the bearing failure. After the knock started we drained the oil pan and 8 quarts came out. I only put 5 quarts of oil in. There was no water in the oil so that was not the source of the excess volume.

Jeff,

At least I made it on the track at TWS for one session + a couple laps. The car has potential, it just needs a reliable engine and a little development. It has stock shocks/springs in the front and KYB/Eibachs in the back. This seems to cause the nose dive too much and the back brakes lock up at times.

I'm thinking maybe a 7M, some 14" Brembos, 17" tire/wheel upgrade, and a big ole aluminum wing to plant the rear end. Of course this would require a step up to ITE.

BTW, Did the red SP Supra give you a run? He had a little trouble getting it started Saturday but seemed to have it working by the end of the day. With any luck at all I'll see you at the March event.

Wow, when you said you were up to eight quarts in two hours I didn't realize you only started with five. I figured you had a seven quart pan.

How in the he!! is all that gas getting in your crankcase? Is that an EFI engine? Sorry I can't be more help, I'm completely ignorant about Toyota's.

BTW, the R/R at Arroyo Seco is on for sure for the weekend of 5/6/7 March. I know it's a long tow, but it is closer to you than LaJunta http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif

Ty

Multi-port EFI. Some possibilities I am going to check:

Stuck injector

bad valve

I screwed up and did not properly align the rings (I did have good compression on all six, but I am going to look anyway)

Other than that I'm open to suggestions.

Quote:

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Originally posted by jhooten:

BTW, Did the red SP Supra give you a run? He had a little trouble getting it started Saturday but seemed to have it working by the end of the day.

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I would say my friend Ivan had a little trouble during the warmup lap for qualifing.
He hit the outside wall coming out of the last turn before the front straight (turn 12). Saw the green flag...punched the gas..and it was all over in a split second.

His car was banged up pretty bad, but I think he can fix it before the March event.

Jeff Watson

Update:

Went to the junk yard and found a HIGH miliage 5M in a Cressida wagon. It looked good on the outside and the glove box was full of oil change receipts and assorted other maintenence paperwork. Maybe grandma didn't hot rod it too much. It goes in today, if the rain has passed us by. With any luck it will get me by until I get somebody to assemble my rapidly growing pile of parts in to a real (class legal) race motor. http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif


Jeff,
Yes I hope Ivan gets it going in time it was a good looking car.

Will we ever see a new Supra? Or what is Toyota using to fill that spot in their line up?

See you in March.