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Topic: Nationals Engine Woes
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Page 1 of 1 of 12 replies
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August 14, 2012 at
02:18:59 PM
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Was it just my imagination or did there seem to be a lot of blown/sick engines at the Nationals this year?
Any commonality to these problems that anyone is aware of, i.e. fueling issues, etc?
Inquiring minds want to know.
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August 14, 2012 at
02:53:26 PM
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just a guess on my part but #1 is I know the drivers talk alot about Knoxville being a track that is just flat out hard on motors, I believe mainly because your heavy into the throttle the whole time. #2 though is possibly the same as last year in the way that the temps weren't as high as some years when its 100 degrees, the cooler air makes any motor run better and harder and the trade off then is if the motor is running harder theres a better chance you can blow it up. also it could be that guys are just pushing there engines that much harder because of the importance, a point where in a normal race a guy might pull off to save the motor from complete meltdown, during the nationals will push it to try to make it.
Just my thoughts, I'm guessing others that know much more than me may have a better reason.
http://gph.is/XMLGff
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August 14, 2012 at
03:34:27 PM
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I recall listening to one of the radio broadcasts where Lasoski's motor was showing a little bit of smoke. They interviewed him in the pits and he said that it was nothing more than the engine being cold. So maybe that's some of what you saw, just cold/cool motors that really weren't sick.
Signature here.
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August 14, 2012 at
03:57:40 PM
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360sprint engines run 8qts of oil including what's in the filter (so roughly 7 1/4 quarts go in the tank)... I don't know how much oil a 410runs, but I do know that when we send our 360s off to get freshened, our builder, (and probably most) fill the filter full, then put 8qts in the tank, meaning the engine has 8 3/4 or so qts of oil.. When we get a fresh engine back it always blows smoke in hot laps because it's puking the excess oil... Most people that run the nationals run fresh motors, so that could be a big part of all the oil smoke... Just my opinion
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August 14, 2012 at
05:09:02 PM
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You are all correct. The most important tool a racer should have is a weather station. In a nutshell this helps teams determine how much to richen or lean an engine, of course the weather is the main factor. Some people tend to push the limits or simply don't adjust enough therefore burning a piston.
The internal breather oil tanks used now a days are touchy when it comes to the amount of oil in them. We have found that anything over 7 1/2 quarts will blow oil out. Therefore we tell our customers to put 7 quarts in the tank, it will have about a cup of oil in the pan and filter off the dyno. As someone suggested heating the oil is a must.
Great answers, hope this helps.
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August 14, 2012 at
05:58:11 PM
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Thanks for the info, gentlemen.
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August 14, 2012 at
06:14:29 PM
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I didn't think there were many more engine failures than usual, but it sure seemed like a lot of U Joint failures. I think I counted at least five, not including Sat. night. Can't remember all the names, but I think was what hit Jac on Thursday, and definitely what Cap Henry's crew told me about Wednesday. Cap is a great example of benefiting from the new Friday format. U Joint broke after one lap on Wednesday. Never got to run a heat, but was able to qualify on Friday.
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August 15, 2012 at
02:19:37 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Speedkills on August 14 2012 at 02:53:26 PM
just a guess on my part but #1 is I know the drivers talk alot about Knoxville being a track that is just flat out hard on motors, I believe mainly because your heavy into the throttle the whole time. #2 though is possibly the same as last year in the way that the temps weren't as high as some years when its 100 degrees, the cooler air makes any motor run better and harder and the trade off then is if the motor is running harder theres a better chance you can blow it up. also it could be that guys are just pushing there engines that much harder because of the importance, a point where in a normal race a guy might pull off to save the motor from complete meltdown, during the nationals will push it to try to make it.
Just my thoughts, I'm guessing others that know much more than me may have a better reason.
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Iknow for sure that alot of chevy engines were well over 9000 rpm and one car was pushing towards 10,000
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August 15, 2012 at
08:04:55 AM
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Hey Kelly, did the new Knoxville muffler have anything to do with it??
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August 15, 2012 at
09:33:37 AM
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I never really noticed this year, but how many actually "hot laps" or warmup laps prior to qualifying? Seems it used to be, you went out in your section then a couple optional open sets.
Some events I have been to this year hot laps and slow warm up laps are super breif(non-WOO).
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August 15, 2012 at
10:54:23 AM
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Mitch, we haven't seen much if any at all as far as the new mufflers affecting the performance of the engines.
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August 15, 2012 at
08:23:48 PM
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We've been hearing a lot about so called "throw away" engines that high budget teams are starting to use now. Our motor builder simply described them as an engine made only to run a handful of nights (usually between 4 and 6) and then the teams sell them. They have all the lightest of lightest parts, and do whatever they can to skimp horsepower out of them. If guys are running these at Knoxville (and I'm sure anyone that has one is), that may explain why there were are lot of motor failures.
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August 16, 2012 at
08:25:44 AM
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great
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