The race story that never happened

[Slow old poop]

I use VP 103 Turbo-Blue unleaded. The car seems to really like it and that's what we tune with. Last time I bought gas it was in March and it was $6.50 a gallon... am I in for a rude awakening?:

I just bought race gas here in Cedar Rapids: $3.85 for 110 leaded.

We are hoping to finally get the car to the track on Sunday for the NASA event at MidAmerica. Right now, we are waiting for a trailer wheel to show up from Summit, then we have to figure out why -- all of a sudden -- the tach quits and the check engine light comes on. Put the data logger on it, right? No, it's off in another car right now, but will be back tonight. Crikies, if it ain't one thing, it's another, as Roseanne Rosannadanna used to say. If we get it to MAM on Sunday, it will be the first time on track since last October. I don't expect to be competitive, ### we'll just be running 10 psi to make sure all the parts in the new engine are working together and the data logger doesn't go into alarm mode, but I sure would like to see it go 20 minutes on track without a problem.

Rich

 

[Greg Collier]

Hey Rich, long time no hear... as far as the fuel goes, I need to move to Iowa

So what's the NASA event? Who's the director over there?

 

[Slow old poop]

Hey Rich, long time no hear... as far as the fuel goes, I need to move to Iowa So what's the NASA event? Who's the director over there?

Dave Royce. It's at Midamerica Motorplex (MAM), south of Council Bluffs.

I took the Eclispe out for a run tonight, and it quit on me, a half mile from the house. Whatever the intermittent wiring problem was that made the tach quit, just became a major fault. We towed it home, and will diagnose it in the morning when we can see better. Gotta be a bad connection, somewhere.

Rich

 

[terefic181]

Nice to see you back on the forum, Rich, yet sorry to hear your having some problems. It seems like we all have our ups and downs with these cars. I'm sure you'll get the bugs out of it in time for Mid America.

 

[Slow old poop]

Nice to see you back on the forum, Rich, yet sorry to hear your having some problems. It seems like we all have our ups and downs with these cars. I'm sure you'll get the bugs out of it in time for Mid America.

No, not quite.
We replaced the bad wheel on the trailer, repacked the wheel bearings, fixed the nail in the truck tire, discovered the Eclipse's cam position sensor was loose, fixed that, re-tuned the APEXI to run leaner (because the spark had gotten itself so advanced, we had adjusted it way too rich), then discovered that one of the spark plug wires was shorting out, killing the tach and throwing a check engine light. It's 4:30 in the afternoon. I don't think we'll find replacement spark plug wires this afternoon. *sigh* Another race weekend lost.

Rich

 

[Greg Collier]

No, not quite.
We replaced the bad wheel on the trailer, repacked the wheel bearings, fixed the nail in the truck tire, discovered the Eclipse's cam position sensor was loose, fixed that, re-tuned the APEXI to run leaner (because the spark had gotten itself so advanced, we had adjusted it way too rich), then discovered that one of the spark plug wires was shorting out, killing the tach and throwing a check engine light. It's 4:30 in the afternoon. I don't think we'll find replacement spark plug wires this afternoon. *sigh* Another race weekend lost.

Rich

Well at least all your limbs are in tact This is definitely the appropriate thread for talking about the ones that get away. Sometimes if fell like we're beating 's

 

[tstkl]

No, not quite.
We replaced the bad wheel on the trailer, repacked the wheel bearings, fixed the nail in the truck tire, discovered the Eclipse's cam position sensor was loose, fixed that, re-tuned the APEXI to run leaner (because the spark had gotten itself so advanced, we had adjusted it way too rich), then discovered that one of the spark plug wires was shorting out, killing the tach and throwing a check engine light. It's 4:30 in the afternoon. I don't think we'll find replacement spark plug wires this afternoon. *sigh* Another race weekend lost.

Rich

and this my friend, is why whenever I replace something that was working with something better, I keep said working crappier thing. That way I have a "spare" even at 1 am on a sunday night in the middle of nowhere, call someone up, tell them where to find said piece have them bring it to me, and whip out my 129 (now more along the lines of 150+) peice tool box I have with my talon at all times, and go to work.

 

[terefic181]

No, not quite.
We replaced the bad wheel on the trailer, repacked the wheel bearings, fixed the nail in the truck tire, discovered the Eclipse's cam position sensor was loose, fixed that, re-tuned the APEXI to run leaner (because the spark had gotten itself so advanced, we had adjusted it way too rich), then discovered that one of the spark plug wires was shorting out, killing the tach and throwing a check engine light. It's 4:30 in the afternoon. I don't think we'll find replacement spark plug wires this afternoon. *sigh* Another race weekend lost.

Rich

Well, if ya can't find some new wires, slap some silicone on yours and get out there!!
Sorry to hear about your weekend, as I said, it seems like, we're all experiening some of it this year.

Better luck on your next outing!!!

 

[Slow old poop]

Well, if ya can't find some new wires, slap some silicone on yours and get out there!!

It's the plug wire that comes out of the coil, and turns a sharp corner around the aftermarket fuel pressure regulator. Apparently, this particular wire or coil drives the tach, and every time it shorted out we would lose the tach, get a check engine light, and run on three cylinders. We could read rpm off the data logger and Apexi, but this signal somehow affects the ECU. We really couldn't just wrap silicon around it, ### it's a very tight bend and cramped in there, and I did not want to chance screwing stuff up on a new engine. We plan to move the coils out of their hole under the airbox, and onto the firewall or something to eliminate the tight bend. So I ordered a set of Magnecores from SloBoy, and we'll fix it properly.

Rich

 

[Zero Bar]

It's the plug wire that comes out of the coil, Rich

I get this too, on all the dsm's I've owned they've all done it. Don't know why because I put the wire back in as tight as it will go. I've wondered how to fix this problem and I might need to move the coil somewhere else also.

 

[Slow old poop]

I get this too, on all the dsm's I've owned they've all done it. Don't know why because I put the wire back in as tight as it will go. I've wondered how to fix this problem and I might need to move the coil somewhere else also.

As I've noted before here, ever since we blew the motor last year, had AMS build a 2.3 stroker, and then put it back in, we have had nothing but trouble. Little electrical gremlins out the wazoo, stripped out bolts, mismatched everything, all complicated by the fact that we work on the car on weekends, need a part, and have to order it on Monday -- like the Magnecores -- so it's been two steps forward and one step back since February.

The car was originally built to run One Lap in 2003, and it seemed to be built OK, but we've discovered that the original builders took a lot of shortcuts that have come back to plague us. Also, upon reflection, I realize that some of the problems probably stem from the age of the car (it's a 1990). This accounts for some of the wiring gremilins inside the stock harness, and a little bit of "tired iron" (aluminum, actually) from taking things apart so many times. Other problems stem from disturbing the status quo -- that is, some of the wiring problems would not have occurred if we hadn't mioved the harness whilst replacing the motor. For example, maybe the spark plug wire is shorting out because we disturbed it.

There's a lesson here, I suppose: Replace everything when building a track car and don't try to make do with old stock parts. If we had replaced the original wiring harness way back, we wouldn't have been stymied by electrical gremlins today.

Somebody should write a book on how to mod a DSM. It would be nice to know about things like moving the coil packs, bracing the downpipe, getting cooling air to the turbo, mounting an oil cooler, and so on. All that stuff is on the forum here, but it's not all in one place.

If somebody wants to write it, I'll edit it. That's what I do for a living. It means you don't have to write glorious prose, because I'll fix it and make you sound like a pro writer. (We editors like to say we make chicken salad out of chicken shit.)

Rich

 

[missouri_dsm]

actually that book is being finished as we speak. David Buschur is a big contributor to the book and it should be released within the next couple weeks. David said they will be selling them at the shootout this year also. I plan on buying one there. If you need more info. http://buschurforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15335

 

[Slow old poop]

actually that book is being finished as we speak. David Buschur is a big contributor to the book and it should be released within the next couple weeks. David said they will be selling them at the shootout this year also. I plan on buying one there. If you need more info. http://buschurforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15335

I wonder if it will cover road racing, or just drag racing. If not, maybe we can add a few extra chapters to it for the second edition.

Rich

 

[missouri_dsm]

not sure. It should since buschur has done some road racing. They have their own time attack evo.

 

[mavisky]

not sure. It should since buschur has done some road racing. They have their own time attack evo.

True, but they've only been doing that for the last year or so, and only with EVO's.

I'd be more tempted to listen to Tommy Archer, Mueller, DG, Leon, Greg, or any of the other dsm'ers who've been out there actually racing DSM's and not just evo's. Now if I was to build a high hp motor you can bet I'd be on the horn with Dave in an instant. As the engine supplier for Shep Racing you can obviously tell he knows what he's doing in that department.

 

[Greg Collier]

Slow old poopIf somebody wants to write it, I'll edit it. That's what I do for a living. It means you don't have to write glorious prose, because I'll fix it and make you sound like a pro writer. (We editors like to say we make chicken salad out of chicken shit.)
Rich

I have 3 manuscripts I've written that have nothing to do with cars. I'll send them right over...