My engine has failed :(

Muncher · 7 Nov 2009 at 15:12

Had a trackday at Bedford GT today which ended after about 2 hours

My mate was driving it, said it felt a bit down on power, then he heard a noise which he said sounded like big ends or little ends. Backed right off and stopped as soon as we could. As we stopped the car just died.Also black flagged by a marshall who must have heard something wrong.

Not started it up again, oil level is normal, no big holes or signs of lost oil. When I first got out of the car I did smell oil though.

It's such a pain as I had paid tuition from a racing driver all day and the car was absolutely phenominal with the new Cornering Force setup, completely altered my perceptions of what the car is capable of.

jellybeard999 · 7 Nov 2009 at 15:16

The VX220 ?

Trifid · 7 Nov 2009 at 15:17

I had just seen your thread at vx220.org.uk and reread your supercharging thread. Did you go for stage 3 in the end?

Muncher · 7 Nov 2009 at 15:23

jellybeard999 said:
The VX220 ?

Yep.

Trifid - stage 2 at the moment, the new engine is under construction still but won't be ready in time for this.

hominid · 7 Nov 2009 at 15:32

First thoughts to me would be an oil starvation issue, especially on trackdays with some nice long corners to make all the oil stay to one side of the sump for a prolonged period of time, starving the oil pump. Did you have a baffled sump on it or do they come with one from the factory?

Sorry to hear it, was/is a very nice machine.

TaKeN · 7 Nov 2009 at 15:32

Bahh that sucks dude

s0ck · 7 Nov 2009 at 15:33

Suffice to say, you're a little annoyed?

Muncher · 7 Nov 2009 at 15:40

hominid said:
First thoughts to me would be an oil starvation issue, especially on trackdays with some nice long corners to make all the oil stay to one side of the sump for a prolonged period of time, starving the oil pump. Did you have a baffled sump on it or do they come with one from the factory?

Sorry to hear it, was/is a very nice machine.

It's a possibility I guess. The sump isn't really baffled.

NathanE · 7 Nov 2009 at 16:31

Just make sure your next engine has a baffled sump or an Accusump

Muncher · 7 Nov 2009 at 16:36

On the plus side the car was blisteringly quick, we were passing everything out there, the only thing I can't remember passing was a 997 GT3.

Thomas. PLease. · 7 Nov 2009 at 16:44

Go dry sumped

NathanE · 7 Nov 2009 at 16:52

Muncher said:
On the plus side the car was blisteringly quick, we were passing everything out there, the only thing I can't remember passing was a 997 GT3.

Get a Honda S2000 if you want to pass those

silversurfer · 7 Nov 2009 at 16:56

I also thought baffled sump, was it topped up to the max level on the dipstick. How many G can a car like that pull round corners, has to have some effect on fluids I would guess

Thomas. PLease. · 7 Nov 2009 at 17:02

silversurfer said:
I also thought baffled sump, was it topped up to the max level on the dipstick. How many G can a car like that pull round corners, has to have some effect on fluids I would guess

probably could get 1.1-1.2 g of lateral grip, depending on tyres and conditions I would have thought.

Westyfield2 · 7 Nov 2009 at 17:06

Thomas. PLease. said:
Go dry sumped

Quite a few people (including my dad on his 250BHP Westfield running slicks) still don't like the idea of Dry Sumps, as if the pump fails.... :eek:

.... so they run good Baffled Sumps instead.

Muncher · 7 Nov 2009 at 17:11

Thomas. PLease. said:
probably could get 1.1-1.2 g of lateral grip, depending on tyres and conditions I would have thought.

I haven't got the latest data with me but pre-suspension work it was pulling over 1G lateral, at a guess it may even be pulling 1.2G now, it's phenominal.

Thomas. PLease. · 7 Nov 2009 at 17:17

Westyfield2 said:
Quite a few people (including my dad on his 250BHP Westfield running slicks) still don't like the idea of Dry Sumps, as if the pump fails.... .... so they run good Baffled Sumps instead.

I didn't realise oil starvation affects longitudinal mounted engines as much. Thought it was mainly in transverse applications.

paradigm · 7 Nov 2009 at 17:22

I know this pain all too well, unlucky. Mine was caused by oil starvation resulting in a seized big-end

Dogbreath · 7 Nov 2009 at 17:31

Westyfield2 said:
Quite a few people (including my dad on his 250BHP Westfield running slicks) still don't like the idea of Dry Sumps, as if the pump fails.... .... so they run good Baffled Sumps instead.

You could say the same thing about the original pump though.

Dogbreath · 7 Nov 2009 at 17:32

double post