We took it over to the test course to check in on everything shortly after lunch. I think I took it out for a run on the test course first. It was so nice to be back in my game, after a mediocre performance at Prosolo in a car I was unfamiliar with. I flew off the line, around there first few tight turns and headed through the long straight into the back slalom. But in the long straight, it didn't feel quite right. It was having some power (actually fuel) cuts at full throttle. Strange, but, not something we're unfamiliar with. So after my run, we switched seats, and Clint drove it. It did the same thing for him. Not good... so we pulled the car back over to our paddock spot to investigate.
First thing to check for: boost leaks. Any coupler on the air piping that's loose, could cause unexpected air loss and result in fuel cut by the ECU. We investigated every coupler and checked for any defects in the piping itself. Heck, I think we even took it all off the car to investigate! Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, we resecured it and took it for another test run.
Same thing.
Next on the list, was spark plugs. Those are easy enough to swap, and Clint had an extra set with him. So we replace all 4 spark plugs and hit the test course again. Still breaking up at Full Throttle.
So now, we move down the list of diagnostics to wondering if it's fuel-related. We pull it back over to the trailer and swap in our extra fuel pump.
Did I mention that our extra fuel pump was the one that was installed on my car? At least we know it works!
At this point, this was essentially our last idea of what could cause the problem and still be fixed easily on site, so we were really hoping for the best this time. We had run the car low on fuel at the last event, so we were wondering if we may have damaged the fuel pump at that time.We finished the swap and headed back out to the test course. Huge bummer- it's still running poorly.
With most hope now lost, we head back to our Paddock spot and pull the spark plugs again to check in on them. Typically, if there's a problem with combustion, you can see different signs of that from looking at your spark plugs. What we found on our spark plugs, was fluid. Probably oil. That's not good. I mean, that's not "we're not running this event," bad... That's more like "we're not running this season," bad. If indeed there is oil in the cylinders where the spark plugs sit, that means our motor is damaged and will need to be pulled out, disassembled, and fully serviced (rebuilt).
I don't even have words for how big of a let-down that was. This was supposed to be my year. I got the scholarship, and I'm sure I'll never have the chance to do this many events again. And now, we don't have our car to drive, and we are at a loss for what to do. This was just the first event for the car out of 7 on the books.
As far as the Lincoln champ tour goes, that was that. After that discovery, we just didn't have it in us to try and find co-drives for the weekend (though I'm sure we could have). Plus, I was looking for the confidence boost in driving a car that I'm familiar with, after driving the Miata the days prior. We stuck around for the first day of competition to hang out with, and cheer on our local competitors that were there. We left early on their day two to get started home. Clint had driven the truck and trailer almost 14 hours from Detroit, just to find out the car was broken.
We tried to make the best of it anyway, but it really was quite disappointing.
Following this event, two things happened.
First, I made the decision to move forward with de-modifying my Mazdaspeed3 to align it with a class where it will be competitive (STH). I bought it with a larger, aftermarket turbo installed. It made good power and it was certainly fun, but not ideal for autocross- my motorsport of choice. Bigger turbos such as that, take longer to spool up and provide extra boost and power to your motor. At autocross, you typically want that power available as soon as possible, having a smaller turbo is actually advantageous. Also, it put me in a ridiculous class that I would never be fully prepared for in it.
Second, 10 days later, after copious amounts of diagnostics, Clint eventually identified the fluid sitting on the pistons in the cylinders as fuel, and diagnosed the problem as leaky fuel injectors. He ordered new injectors, installed them, and had a fully functional race car ready again and, still two days before our next scheduled national event at that!
Next up will be Finger Lakes, NY. Regardless of how we and the car perform there, that trip should be full of Adventure. I'm flying up to Detroit so that Clint and I can drive together through Canada to get there. It will be our first international travel together! And, a lot more fun than driving to these events on our own.
I have one goal for the next event. Don't. Break. And if I can sneak driving well in there too, that would be even better!
Another great article!
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