As you may have heard...

[sperry]

...yes my car blew up a third motor over the weekend.

Friday night, I was on my way to Gruppe-S to get some new fuel injectors installed/tuned. I stopped in Sacramento to drop off some tires at Aaron's (sybir) house. Getting back on the freeway, just shifted to 4th gear 4000rpm, about 7-10psi, 165F oil temp, 100psi oil pressure, about 1200F EGTs, the car hesitated (which it's done before and was the reason I was on my way to Gruppe-S) then made a horrendous noise. Sounded kinda like a table saw being braked to a stop, I think it was the clutch slipping under full pressure because the motor had stopped turning.

I pushed the clutch in, and rolled to a stop. Called Aaron, who grabbed Matt (sonicsuby) and came out and picked my ass up. We used Aaron's AAA to get a tow truck (the drive of which was actually pretty cool, and took his time to make sure we got the car on the flatbed w/o damaging the intercooler or bumper) and towed the car to Paul's shop in Roseville.

Mike Warfield from Gruppe-S came out Sunday morning w/ his truck and trailer and picked up the car (Mike's the man 'cause he was took the time to come out and get the car even though he was supposed to be working on their rally car for next weekend's Rim Rally.. thanks a ton Mike!).

So the car's back at Gruppe-S. They're pulling the front of the motor apart. So far all they know is that the bolt holding the passenger intake cam gear is sheared, and that the timing belt jump timing. Which explaines the odd buldge in this picture.



They're gonna pull more apart and peak inside the heads w/ a borascope to see if everything's wrecked in there or not.

[JC]

Dude that sucks! You have had the worst luck with that car. You gonna go with another STi shortblock still or use a Gruppe-S block?

[khail19]

Scott sucks. Quit blowing up motors so there will be some left for the rest of us.

[sperry]

I don't know what I'm doing yet. It depends on the state of the motor, and how much (if any) of the repair would be covered by Gruppe-S. If everything is trashed and the bill is on me, I'm actually thinking about parting out the car. I've got like $16k in parts in that thing at current used part prices... but parting it out will be a nightmare as far as how long it will take, and how much of a hassle it'll be. Plus, I have no idea what I'd drive instead.

Right now, I'm just playing the waiting game to see how bad things actually are. The only thing I know for sure is that it looks like I'm going to be without a car for another race season.

[khail19]

Originally Posted by sperry

The only thing I know for sure is that it looks like I'm going to be without a car for another race season.

I just read an article in SCC about the Honda Fit race car. It's calling your name!

[cody]

Holy crap Dude. That's just insane. Talk about crap for luck.

[JonnydaJibba]

Geez, third time isn't a charm I guess. That stinks.

[Duckie]

sorry to hear =(

[MPREZIV]

that sucks Scott. made me wanna cry...

You can co-drive my slow ass bitch for auto-x this season if you want!

[Nick Koan]

No luck man, just no luck.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by MPREZIV

that sucks Scott. made me wanna cry...

You can co-drive my slow ass bitch for auto-x this season if you want!

Thanks for the offer. I'm not sure what I want to do about autocross. After co-driving all last season in MikeK's car, I'm really not looking forward to doing it again... two driver cars are a PITA.

To be honest, right now I'm thinking I'll just be helping out at autocross this season and not driving. Half the fun of racing for me is building the car to beat the competition... so just driving someone else's car is like playing just half the sport, at full price. Plus, I'm going to miss at least 1/4 of the Trials season which will pretty much eliminate me from being competative, and that was really what I was focusing on this season.

[JC]

I've got an automatic Legacy wagon race car calling your name.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by JC

I've got an automatic Legacy wagon race car calling your name.

Hopefully I won't need that:

I just talked to MikeW... he told me "I should buy a lottery ticket". Being the half-empty type of guy I am, I immediately assumed I was gonna need lottery-like dollars to fix the motor. Turns out, he meant that I am one lucky bastard (this time).

Looks like the only thing that broke was the cam gear bolt. The intake valves on that cam happened to stay shut when it failed, so it seems that they escaped damage from the pistons. Mike and Tommy already have the motor running again. The 1/3 cylinders passed the leak-down test w/ flying colors, and since the timing may have jumped, they're testing the 2/4 side now. If they pass, I'm hoping to toss in the new injectors, get it on the dyno, and get it back up to Reno before this weekend's event.

Here's to crossed-fingers.

[Nick Koan]

Originally Posted by nKoan

Wierd luck man, just wierd luck.

Fixed my old post

[sybir]

Thank god.

[sperry]

The 2/4 bank leaked-down 3%. Motor looks okay... we'll see what happens when it's retuned tomorrow. Hopefully nothing else breaks, I'd really like to make this weekend's Trials event.

[A1337STI]

Sorry to hear about your car situation. Hopefully only that 1 bolt broke and soon your ride is all better ! *Crosses his fingers*

[sp00ln]

Damn, I was about to talk you into getting a 6-bolt DSM! Half the troubles, half the cost, twice the speed. Yeah?

*EDIT*

Oh, and I'm glad to hear that your motor survived.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by sp00ln

Damn, I was about to talk you into getting a 6-bolt DSM! Half the troubles, half the cost, twice the speed. Yeah?

*EDIT*

Oh, and I'm glad to hear that your motor survived.

Cheap, Fast, Reliable: Pick two.

DSM = Cheap & Fast.

Apparenly my WRX = just Fast.

You might convince me that a DSM is an upgrade at this point. Hopefully after things are back together and tuned, the motor will last a while.

[tysonK]

thank the lord!

Hopefully better than ever!

[ScottyS]

Originally Posted by tysonK

thank the lord!

Hopefully better than ever!

+1

Good thing you're not old enough to worry about heart problems...although you might develop some nervous twitches and the tendency to hear non-existant sounds during the next race season.
This weekend I helped annual a friend's aircraft, and one of the cylinders tested for a compression leak, even though we had been making a decent 143mph in still air that morning...reground the exhaust valve that afternoon...flying back home (after removing and reinstalling a whole cylinder on a single-engine aircraft) we were listening for anything remotely resembling a hiccup (and staying close to the highway, I might add). Only post-annual problem was the failure of the landing gear hydraulic pump upon arrival yesterday --- but the emergency gear-release option worked. Crap!

[Dean]

Glad it isn't as terrible as it could have been. I assume the other bolts will be checeked...

[MPREZIV]

Whew! That sounds like a bullet dodged if I've ever heard of one!


I didn't think you'd wanna drive my HP lacking car anyway Scott, but I figured I'd offer!

[Double Phister]

Originally Posted by ScottyS

tendency to hear non-existant sounds

Damn, I hate that. "What was that?" "I don't think it used to do that." Sometimes I wonder why I modifiy things. Usually after it goes wrong.


Scott, Sounds like you might make it out of this one. Best of luck.

[sti deede]

*crosses fingers for more good luck*