Engine damage

Bad start this year. 

The fuel surge on last trackday caused more damage than I initially thought.

Damaged spark plugs. These are from cylinder #2, #3 and #4

A compression gave the figures 14.5, 12.5, 12.0, 13.5 bar and they're supposed to be within 10%. Some oil in the bad cylinders increased the compression quite a lot. According to Google that puts the suspicion to damaged piston rings. I also see a little bit of smoke from the breather.

I had to take the engine apart.

The pistons are damaged, and so is the block. I put the block into the trunk of the daily driver and asked around among professionals and the verdict is that three pistons are gone, the block can be saved but it would be easier and cheaper to simply buy a new one. Fortunately the head and the rods are not damaged at all.

Damaged block and #3 piston

Damaged piston

I found a good document about piston damage.

Except that, all bearings and everything else looks as new.

The people I've asked about the engine agrees with my theory of what happened - the alternator stopped charging, and when the battery discharged during the day the fuel pump could not keep up on the long Mantorp straight and the engine run lean.

Mantorp first time 2013

This years first trackday was a warm day with blue skies on Mantorp and a huge mix of different types of cars.

Things didn't go that well. It started with me being a bit late.

Then there was a Porsche that spilled oil on a long section of the track. (Those German cars....)
Then someone else went off and one corner was covered with gravel and the track was closed again.
When I finally got the tires warm there was too much traffic and no clear laps.

Engine problems

Lost top end power and the top speed on the straight was a bit too low. It got worse and worse, so I stopped driving and went home instead, worried that there was something very wrong with the engine.

When I got home I did some troubleshooting and found out the alternator warning light connector was broken, and that prevented the battery being charged. (Stupid design!) My speculation is that the battery's voltage went down during the day and caused the fuel pump not being able to keep up the pressure when the fuel demand was peaking, making the engine run lean. Running an engine like this lean is not good at all and could cause fatal pre-ignition.

I need some way to prevent this from happening again.

I would like to be able to log the fuel pressure, and have some warning system for a fuel or oil pressure drop.

Here is a video I found describing how voltage affects the fuel pump flow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjykWzDr1Kk

Noise check

A couple of months ago I bought a cheap noise meter from Hong Kong, and today I asked someone to measure the drive-by noise of my car.

The guy told me it made 106.4 dbA!

In many race circuits in this country have from this season a drive-by noise limit of 95dbA.

I started measuring the other cars, and no-one, except a stock Corvette, was below that limit.

Then I moved a little, and all readings changed. Then the wind changed, and the readings changed as well. Then I realized I could not get the same reading twice for the same car.

It seems like measuring noise at a race track is not an exact science.

I refuse to think my car makes as much noise as 106db, but I'm not surprised I have to do something about it if I'd like to drive on other circuits. I just don't know what yet.

What about all the work done this winter?

All good!

The roll cage... stayed in place. 

The suspension bushes hold together. The car felt nice and precise.

The exhaust manifold was not leaking!

The silencer mounts did not break.

No oil spew from the catch tank.

Engine did not leak oil from the front cover

Overall the car feels wonderful. Too bad I was worrying about the engine instead of enjoying myself.

I did not have the aeroscreen mounted as I didn't think it would do much difference. At the end of the straight the force against the helmet was overwhelming. I must put the aeroscreen back on.