Scott McIntyre
DSM Wiseman
- 309
- 44
- Mar 15, 2002
-
Halifax,
NS, Canada
Time for another race report...
Leading up to this event I had the rear suspension all apart replacing the stock bushing with a Prothane kits. I had done the front last year and was finally getting around to finishing the rear this year. While I had it apart, I also repainted all the suspension arms as they were looking quite nasty.
I also flushed the brake fluid, installed new Hawk HP+ brake pad and new rotors, reset the ride height, performed an alignment, and installed a 17psi wastegate actuator on my little T25. I finished everything late Saturday night, the day before the first event.
Before retiring for the evening, I took the car out for a quick run only to discover that the 17psi wastegate actuator was causing me to hit 24 psi of boost, even though my MBC was still set to 15 psi. I had figured that I’d only see 17 psi with the actuator installed and that it’d hold boost at higher RPM, where the stock one drops off. Well it certainly held boost, but way too much! It was getting late and I didn’t have time to play with it. So early Sunday morning I took it off and put the stock one back on before heading to the event.
On the way to the event I noticed that the car began to feel weak. A glance at the boost gauge revealed that I wasn’t building more than a couple psi of boost. Wonderful! Did I kill the T25 boosting to 24 psi the night before? Argh!
As I continued to drive, it occurred to me that the wastegate actuator arm may have popped off as the little clip did seem kinda weak & rusty. With my fingers crossed, I made my way to the event where a quick peek under the hood confirmed my suspicions. The arm popped off. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed with some haywire.
Now on to the racing…
First Run: The track was cold, the air was cold. Big wide racing tires need heat to stick, so it was very slippery. I managed to get one of quickest times of the first set of runs, but I also hit two cones from sliding around on the cold asphalt. D’oh!
Second Run: Same deal… cold and now spitting rain. On one corner, I got sideways and almost came to a complete stop before getting the car back on track, yet my time was only 1 second slower than the first run. Without that mistake, it would have been a very fast run.
Third Run: Things were looking up! The sun came out and the temperature raised a good 5-10 degrees. That meant more grip and faster times. I launched the car and was having a very good run until I reached a slalom section midway through the course where I began hearing an intermittent loud *clunk*. Oh sh#t!! I aborted the run and rolled into the paddock.
With the car jacked up in the pits, I checked all the suspension bits and looked for fluid leaks. Everything was tight and no leaks anywhere. Put the car back down and slowly drove around the paddock. From a standing start, it would sometimes make a loud clunk, but not always. Needless to say I was done for the day.
Limped the car home without issue. But when I did a tight left turn in the cul-de-sac, it clunked several times until I straightened the wheels out. It was like something had popped out of place in the turn then popped back inline after I straightened the wheel again.
The sound seemed to be coming from the front passenger wheel, so Monday morning I pulled the front passenger axle assembly out. After removing the boots and cleaning up the grease, I could not see any physically wrong with it. Nothing seemed broken or beat up in any way.
After posting my symptoms on a couple DSM forums, the responses suggest it may be my center differential. I’ve yet to drain the tranny fluid and check for metal bits. Will be doing that tomorrow night.
So needless to say, I didn’t do very well at the event. My only two runs which counted were both in the cold and had cone penalties. Once the sun came out, everyone’s times dropped while I lay on my back in the paddock under my broken car.
Leading up to this event I had the rear suspension all apart replacing the stock bushing with a Prothane kits. I had done the front last year and was finally getting around to finishing the rear this year. While I had it apart, I also repainted all the suspension arms as they were looking quite nasty.
I also flushed the brake fluid, installed new Hawk HP+ brake pad and new rotors, reset the ride height, performed an alignment, and installed a 17psi wastegate actuator on my little T25. I finished everything late Saturday night, the day before the first event.
Before retiring for the evening, I took the car out for a quick run only to discover that the 17psi wastegate actuator was causing me to hit 24 psi of boost, even though my MBC was still set to 15 psi. I had figured that I’d only see 17 psi with the actuator installed and that it’d hold boost at higher RPM, where the stock one drops off. Well it certainly held boost, but way too much! It was getting late and I didn’t have time to play with it. So early Sunday morning I took it off and put the stock one back on before heading to the event.
On the way to the event I noticed that the car began to feel weak. A glance at the boost gauge revealed that I wasn’t building more than a couple psi of boost. Wonderful! Did I kill the T25 boosting to 24 psi the night before? Argh!
As I continued to drive, it occurred to me that the wastegate actuator arm may have popped off as the little clip did seem kinda weak & rusty. With my fingers crossed, I made my way to the event where a quick peek under the hood confirmed my suspicions. The arm popped off. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed with some haywire.
Now on to the racing…
First Run: The track was cold, the air was cold. Big wide racing tires need heat to stick, so it was very slippery. I managed to get one of quickest times of the first set of runs, but I also hit two cones from sliding around on the cold asphalt. D’oh!
Second Run: Same deal… cold and now spitting rain. On one corner, I got sideways and almost came to a complete stop before getting the car back on track, yet my time was only 1 second slower than the first run. Without that mistake, it would have been a very fast run.
Third Run: Things were looking up! The sun came out and the temperature raised a good 5-10 degrees. That meant more grip and faster times. I launched the car and was having a very good run until I reached a slalom section midway through the course where I began hearing an intermittent loud *clunk*. Oh sh#t!! I aborted the run and rolled into the paddock.
With the car jacked up in the pits, I checked all the suspension bits and looked for fluid leaks. Everything was tight and no leaks anywhere. Put the car back down and slowly drove around the paddock. From a standing start, it would sometimes make a loud clunk, but not always. Needless to say I was done for the day.
Limped the car home without issue. But when I did a tight left turn in the cul-de-sac, it clunked several times until I straightened the wheels out. It was like something had popped out of place in the turn then popped back inline after I straightened the wheel again.
The sound seemed to be coming from the front passenger wheel, so Monday morning I pulled the front passenger axle assembly out. After removing the boots and cleaning up the grease, I could not see any physically wrong with it. Nothing seemed broken or beat up in any way.
After posting my symptoms on a couple DSM forums, the responses suggest it may be my center differential. I’ve yet to drain the tranny fluid and check for metal bits. Will be doing that tomorrow night.
So needless to say, I didn’t do very well at the event. My only two runs which counted were both in the cold and had cone penalties. Once the sun came out, everyone’s times dropped while I lay on my back in the paddock under my broken car.
