wvumtnbkr Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 So, I was visiting another forum and the discussion of ecotec in champcar and lemons came up. I know of a few that have dun blowd up. Why? And how did you stop it from happening again? @Jer @cmi11er Thanks in advance! Rob R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewheelerZ Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 @miatainium 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDChristianson Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, wvumtnbkr said: So, I was visiting another forum and the discussion of ecotec in champcar and lemons came up. I know of a few that have dun blowd up. Why? And how did you stop it from happening again? @Jer @cmi11er Thanks in advance! Rob R. I think its an oiling issue that kills some of them. Attention to detail in installation and using (at least in the Miata) the ecotech Miata oil pan has kept ours alive. So far, knocking on wood.... Of and they really should not have the snot run out of them north of 7k all day long..... Edited September 16, 2019 by JDChristianson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jer Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 Keep them cool and keep them with oil. My biggest cause of failure was oil leaks. I went through 4 motors in a year. now, none in a year. Still driving the same one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jer Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 The two biggest things in my experience are : 1) getting the oil pan on correctly and let it set up, a 2) get the gasket in the correct please in the filter cylinder lid. Those are the common failure points in oil leaks. It's complicated by the fact that it's extremely difficult to get a good dipstick reading mid-race. Next to impossible. SO you can't just "add oil". Too much oil and it will blow back and drain out of the air filter. ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators E. Tyler Pedersen Posted September 16, 2019 Administrators Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 Rev them to 7k all the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDChristianson Posted September 17, 2019 Report Share Posted September 17, 2019 3 hours ago, E. Tyler Pedersen said: Rev them to 7k all the time No thats the E30 recipe, and works best if you tape off the grill on hot days. German cars love heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jer Posted September 17, 2019 Report Share Posted September 17, 2019 For Ecotecs use 10-30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miatainium Posted September 17, 2019 Report Share Posted September 17, 2019 Best way to keep Ecotecs together is not to race them ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55mini Posted September 17, 2019 Report Share Posted September 17, 2019 9 minutes ago, miatainium said: Best way to keep Ecotecs together is not to race them Hey now I just saw you race one recently!!!! No motor issues either :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitsbain Posted September 19, 2019 Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 On 9/16/2019 at 3:05 PM, wvumtnbkr said: So, I was visiting another forum and the discussion of ecotec in champcar and lemons came up. I know of a few that have dun blowd up. Why? And how did you stop it from happening again? @Jer @cmi11er Thanks in advance! Rob R. What are you planning to do to that RX7? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvumtnbkr Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Fitsbain said: What are you planning to do to that RX7? 3500 gm v6. The ecotec question came up from grm and I knew some people had issues with them. I was curious, that's all. There already is an ecotec powered 2nd gen rx7 racing champcar @cmi11er. Edited September 19, 2019 by wvumtnbkr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmi11er Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 (edited) Oil is huge. Our first race (Gingerman '18) we spun a bearing due to 1) mismanagement of race/first race jitters 2) oil pressure sender backed out and we lost too much oil. Silly mistake. We pretty much continually lose oil pressure in certain high load corners, so we overfill and make sure it doesn't get too low. We are also running the stock oil pan, and @55mini noted last race that we might actually have the engine mounted at a bit of an angle which doesn't help our pickup. We also spun a bearing at a track day, but that may have been due to a poor rebuild done by the team. The second major failure we had was the adapter plate - ALLOW THE LOCTITE TO SET PROPERLY. A full 24hrs is required. Our bolts backed out, sheared off and destroyed an engine and a transmission. Our race at Gingerman this year was significantly better, but we had a mystery oil leak that we think may be a crack in the oil filter housing on the block. And as mentioned previously, it is VERY difficult to read that poorly designed dipstick. It sprayed all over the intake side of the engine, hence the suspected high pressure oil galleries.. TBD. But what finished the race Sunday for us was another broken trans.. ouch. It's a hoot when it works! We just haven't been able to get the desired consistency. Finishing a race is tough business! We at least can say we finished over half of one race day now! Edited September 21, 2019 by cmi11er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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