Engine Failure at speed... Options

[Cracker]

Well, it is not "if an issue will occur on a race track" but rather just a matter of when! Sunday morning was gorgeous at roughly 65 degrees and cloud cover. The grip was surprisingly good and the dense, cool-ish air enabled the engine to run really strong.

The night before, a few of us "walked the track", taking in the nuances that really can only be seen on foot, kneeling down and taking our time. More drivers should take advantage of this to become more familiar with details that are completely missed behind the wheel of a car. Anywho...

We were discussing an asphalt patch that is on entry into the downhill section to turn 10a...specifically, how the patch had an elevated center with ramps on either side. A friend mentioned, "hitting that at speed would cause quite the jolt to the car and driver". Also of concern was the potential loss of grip and the unsettling of the chassis at such a critical point. He was correct as I bore out witness the next morning.

We have still not found the smoking gun and only hope it is not internal; the top-end is fully functional with each of the valves operation correctly. The engine does not turn over quickly and that obviously is a cause of rather great concern. I have been doing track events for some time now, over 15-years, and have never encountered such a failure.

I guess I can say...enjoy the failure at my expense.

PS: Talk about cutting it close...lose an engine down the hill; try to jump start the engine at turn 10a and just BARELY make it up the hill over T11 to glide back to the hot pits. Whew - that was close! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Cheers!

Tony


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRvMJeXJxTQ




My son came in from college - great memories at the track with him!

[Cracker]

The electrical narrative is boosted by the loss of power to "all things powered by the ecu" - that are visible from the onboard camera. The fuel pressure gauge is the white faced unit just to the left of the shift knob. I have fuel pressure indicated at about 10:30 (which is a correct and accurate indicator) and by the time I turn into 10a - it is at zero or 7:30. Conclusion: Either the ECU DIED at that moment or the ecu lost its lifeblood - power. I can only hope that there wasn't collateral damage caused by an abrupt engine cut...

PS: I thought I locked up the fronts again and you can see me glance in the rear view mirror - I was looking for a trail of smoke. Felt very similar to that prior experience but without the engine noise - it was kinda weird.

Tony

[Chris914n6]

I can only hope that there wasn't collateral damage caused by an abrupt engine cut...

Tony

Millions of cars do that everyday (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Only issue would be if you lost sparks at that RPM and it was still squirting fuel, which could be ignited by the cat, which I doubt you have, and burned it.

Awesome racing video, but boy does that look like a rough track to do a bunch on laps on.

[Cracker]

I have a process and technique to slow the car - its not only the brakes that accomplish it...off-throttle at that speed with the engine cut is what I am referring too. THEN, I proceeded to shift through the gears, as I normally would - THEN, I tried to jump-start the engine just prior to turning into T10a - I used 3rd gear. It didn't catch and I JUST had enough momentum to crest the hill and on down to the pits. But you already knew all of that... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

T

Millions of cars do that everyday (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)