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]

Chris: I know that may be possible and I could possibly just swap parts but I am sending the engine in for a full rebuild (as in B&B)...

Bulitt: The engine has a full external dry sump system...a few changes and additions are being implemented as I move forward in attempt to reduce the chance of this occurring again. Thanks.

Tony

[jd74914]

The engine has a full external dry sump system...a few changes and additions are being implemented as I move forward in attempt to reduce the chance of this occurring again. Thanks.

Not sure how much your engines/rebuilds cost, but if they are $$$ and you don't already run one you might want to consider going to a motorsports-grade engine controller (Life/Syvecs/MoTeC/AEM Infinity/...) with hardware protections based on oil pressure, fuel pressure, etc. Many of these have features like engine oil pressure protections which will dial the motor back or kill it if oil pressure is out of expected range and you are below some lateral acceleration threshold so you don't upset the car in the middle of a corner. I only mention it because I recall one of your pictures from long ago had what looked like a GM ECU mounted where the battery would normally be, and OEM controls don't normally have purpose-built safeties like this.