Common failures?

#1

My cage is finished and the car should be going to paint in the next week.:woohoo: As I am putting the finishing touches on my build sheet, I am starting to wonder about common failure points.

My two main concerns are safety and reliability. I don’t get to race as often as I would like (I’m not unique there). In my 3 years of racing I have only had 3 mechanical DNFs (jammed tranny from bad shifting; cracked oil pan from an off; alternator crapped out). Those suck! I want to have a car that will be dead nuts reliable.

If you could roll the clock back, what failures have you folks had that could have been avoided in the build stage? I am starting with a rebuilt motor, trans and diff, so I am looking for other things to do to avoid weak points (e.g. new guibo, secure coil to fender, reinforced motor mount attachment…).

Thanks in advance!

Steve D.

Wish I'd Knowed That...Lessons Learned in Car Prep
#2

Steve D wrote:

[quote]My cage is finished and the car should be going to paint in the next week.:woohoo: As I am putting the finishing touches on my build sheet, I am starting to wonder about common failure points.

My two main concerns are safety and reliability. I don’t get to race as often as I would like (I’m not unique there). In my 3 years of racing I have only had 3 mechanical DNFs (jammed tranny from bad shifting; cracked oil pan from an off; alternator crapped out). Those suck! I want to have a car that will be dead nuts reliable.

If you could roll the clock back, what failures have you folks had that could have been avoided in the build stage? I am starting with a rebuilt motor, trans and diff, so I am looking for other things to do to avoid weak points (e.g. new guibo, secure coil to fender, reinforced motor mount attachment…).

Thanks in advance!

Steve D.[/quote]

-Guibo
-All bushings.
-Check rear camber and toe. If crappy, get eccentric RTABs.
-Check how sway bar links are attached. The endpoints where they attach to the car have to be reinforced really well.
-Always have spare brake rotors.
-Check heatshield covering passenger side motor mount.
-Factory3Performance oil pan shield.
-Rocker arm
-Driver

#3
  • bolt the coil to the fender well
#4

  • Replace the battery cables (running from battery to junction up front) and check all connections for corrosion

  • Zip tie the 3 relays down (fuel, main and can’t remember the 3rd in that cluster)

  • Safety wire the clamps that hold down the fire bottle :blush:

#5

Ranger wrote:

[quote]
-Driver[/quote]

I’m screwed.:S

This is great stuff. Thanks for the replies and keep 'em coming!

Steve D.

#6

TheRedBaron wrote:

[quote]- Replace the battery cables (running from battery to junction up front) and check all connections for corrosion

  • Zip tie the 3 relays down (fuel, main and can’t remember the 3rd in that cluster)

  • Safety wire the clamps that hold down the fire bottle :blush:[/quote]

3rd one is the O2 Sensor heater relay. Take a extra thermostat with you. That almost finished my first HPDE weekend.

John

#7

Bring extra radiator hoses, fuel hose, clamps, belts. Saw a rad hose go at the track once, I still check em for bubbles after every session.

Extra relays and fuses, I had a main relay go bad and it was a bear to track down at the track.

Check the ground strap near hood hinge and replace if worn. Or just clean/replace all grounds.

I’ve also had an ECU go bad and create a start/idle problem, but fortunately that was in my garage. I still bring a spare ECU to the track.

There’s a fusible link forward of the battery in the black shielding. Recommend replacing with a circuit breaker (IIRC it was 50a stock).

That’s all I can think of off hand that hasn’t already been mentioned.

#8

Fuel pump, set of wires, ECU,… oh and a clutch.

Those are the four major things that failed on my car in past 1 1/2 years.

Although I haven’t broken mine yet (knock on … something), the rocker arms are a very common failure point too.

You might as well just tow a donor car.

#9

As far as replacement during the build, Don’t forget wheel bearings, front control arms, Rebuild calipers.

Lots of good stuff about what to bring as spares but do the above during the build. At the track I mostly find I replace brake pads, rotors, and rebuild calipers.

I take a lot of spares and have donated lots of front wheel bearings lately.

At Mid-Ohio the following were used in and around where I was paddocked:

Brakes, rotors, caliper rebuild, front wheel bearing, rocker arm, front control arm, wheel studs, ECU. I can’t think of much else.

Good luck.

Michael
Great Lakes Region
#36

#10

Be sure to bypass the heater hose where it passes through the firewall to the heater core. My first DE in the car I got about 50 feet past turn 1 at CMP and the hose blew, pouring steaming hot water on my right foot! I sat there for the entire session before I could limp in.

Takes about 2 minutes to fix and is much safer in the end.

Check your driveshaft center support. I fragged mine at CMP last weekend…and it took the Guibo with it.

Make sure you have a strong fuel pump or pumps (depending on model), install a new fuel filter AND clean the crossover pipe, else you’ll be stalling after right handers within 5 or 6 laps.

All I can think of that hasn’t already been mentioned.

Duct tape and bailing wire, lots of it.

#11

Not really a specific part, but I’ll mention reinforcing your chassis for good measure. If you plan on keeping your car for a while, you’ll want to keep it stiff.

#12

jbtripp wrote:

My plan is to install new hoses, but keep the heater core in the loop. My first race car had a bypassed heater core and it made for some ugly rain enduros without defrost!!

Thanks everyone for the guidance!

Steve D.

#13

Ranger wrote: -Check heatshield covering passenger side motor mount.

Well I didn’t have one of these and found out I REALLY could have used one (does anyone have a picture of one?)

My exhaust broke at Pueblo two weeks ago, probably because the P.O.S. spec exhaust didn’t have the front support bracket on it. Both down pipes at the flange during qualifying. When I came in we pulled off the exhaust and tried to insulate the motor mount as best we could. But on inspecting the car last night I found that the passenger side urethane motor mount had melted away, I’m lucky that the steering rack boot is still intact.

Would the stock heat shield have saved it?

#14

Heat Resistant Plate - 11-81-1-128-513. List price is $5.41.

The plate would most likely have stopped the melting - depending on what the material was of the mount you have/had… I have heard that IEs are more prone to melting than others - I have AGK ones, which are pretty cheap and show no melting signs after 2 years.

I subscribe to the concept that all the bushings in the power train should be the same material - Engine Mounts, Tranny Mounts, Diff (and, to a lesser degree, Rear Trailing Arms). Reason is, I want each part to flex with the same resistance - I don’t want a rubber part twisting more than, say Delrin when they are all attached. Just my unscientific idea.

#15

Steve D wrote:

[quote]jbtripp wrote:

My plan is to install new hoses, but keep the heater core in the loop. My first race car had a bypassed heater core and it made for some ugly rain enduros without defrost!!

Thanks everyone for the guidance!

Steve D.[/quote]

Oh, you haven’t gutted the dash then…ok. :unsure:

#16

You can gut the dash and still have defrost. My crash bar runs across the top of the defroster flappers. By trimming away most of the ducting that attaches to the underside of the dashboard for the defroster vent routing, I’ve found that if I open the defroster flap and close the other two on the dash control and turn the fan up to 3 or 4, I get a pretty good blow through the center defrost area.

#17

thought I’d resurface this thread after a recent experience with the heater core - in my e30 M3 last weekend, the heater core burst and spewed hot coolant on my ankle. Honking big blisters to show for it. So, replace parts, bypass that heater core or install a splash shield of some sort to deflect the spray.
cheers,
bruce

#18

[quote]Guibo
-All bushings.
-Check rear camber and toe. If crappy, get eccentric RTABs.
-Check how sway bar links are attached. The endpoints where they attach to the car have to be reinforced really well.
-Always have spare brake rotors.
-Check heatshield covering passenger side motor mount.
-Factory3Performance oil pan shield.
-Rocker arm[/quote]
[/quote]

question,
where can I get a Factory3 performance oil pan shield, and is it better than say a 3/8’s piece of plywood that is painted the cool color of my car?

#19

lmoorefx wrote:

[quote]question,
where can I get a Factory3 performance oil pan shield, and is it better than say a 3/8’s piece of plywood that is painted the cool color of my car?[/quote]
Old thread. Chuck Taylor shut down Factory3, but you can reach him here by PM (ctbimmer screen name).

I don’t believe the rules permit plywood. Nor does plywood like to bend in the manner necessary to attach to the car and go around the leading edge of the oil pan.

#20

Steve D wrote:

[quote]lmoorefx wrote:

[quote]question,
where can I get a Factory3 performance oil pan shield, and is it better than say a 3/8’s piece of plywood that is painted the cool color of my car?[/quote]
Old thread. Chuck Taylor shut down Factory3, but you can reach him here by PM (ctbimmer screen name).

I don’t believe the rules permit plywood. Nor does plywood like to bend in the manner necessary to attach to the car and go around the leading edge of the oil pan.[/quote]
I requested a rule change for some flexibility on skid plates. With some luck, in a couple weeks you can be the proud father of a plywood oil pan shield.