Assuming you are at the little road course by the drag strip, it is a fun place to AX. I always enjoyed that venue.

Good luck!

Good luck and have fun! I hope it holds together and shows well. I'd love to see you in GRM.

Disappointment. What can I say but... Disappointment.

The morning started off great. Car started right up. I was able to solve my idle problems by reversing two wires and generally the car was running well.

I went through the Concours section early and there was the rest of the day to put down a good AX time. However, before I took a run I had to plug the laptop into the car and actually drive it some. I had an unknown EFI map and the last thing I wanted to do was blow the motor by running lean on boost. Bad things happen when lean on boost..

So I plugged in the computer and went for a drive down the backroad that leads to the entrance to the raceway. I was just driving back and forth easily working my way up through the revs making sure everything was going well. Once I was satisfied that the AFRs were safe I turned on the camera and fillmed a few passes.

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The car was running great. Pulling hard and its definitely quick. I was starting to think of how fast an AX run I could get and then the shifter cable broke. I can fix that. However, upon rev down, the motor knocked right before It reached idle. It was not a good knocking sound but it was quick and then gone.

I shut the car off since i had to manually put the car in gear. It fired right away and I started driving back into the paddock area. As I was coming through the last set of gates the car knocked again and then shut off. the starter would not turn the motor. I decided to let it cool down before doing anything else. Besides, I had to fix the shifter before making a run.

I located a team with a welder and a generator and quickly had the car shifting. the motor would still not turn over. Not good.

Once it was cool enough I pulled the plugs. No sign of water. This means its not a blown headgasket. The oil looks clean but I have not pulled the filter. The motor is still locked.

It is so locked that I broke a 22mm socket trying to free it.

Done.

Kaput.

Finsihed.

Not to DNF was the only goal I set for the event. I did not even meet that one. And so... tonight I will have a good time and tomorrow I will start the long drive home.

Many thanks to all the teams that offer help. many thanks to Brad(?) from DIY Autotune that lent me his sun canopy so I could lay under the car and try to revive her. Many thanks to the GRM staffers who put on a great event.

I will be back. And I have a full year to sort Penny. She will return and she will pissed next year. Watch out! I really learned how things work at the Challenge.

btw, David Wallens is super cool. send me a PM if you want to continue discussions about your Carrera.

damn that sucks... I've been to the GRM and it's great. We were building an '88 Lincoln LSC 5.0 with a t5 but work got in the way and we sold t to a buddy thats going to finish it and compete in the Chump car series...

Get that engine replaced and go road racing with her..

Sorry to hear the news Jamie. You've now got 364 days to get her right. Stay safe on the way home.

Sorry to hear about the issues, but still a great story and one that is not yet finished! I've always wanted to do the GRM Challenge, but I just don't have the skillz. I'll certainly look forward to the continuation of this story and your run in 2012. Good luck!

Wow! I didn't expect a knock-> engine-lock failure, sucks! :eek:

A spun main bearing would leave a trail of sparkly stuff in the oil among other tell tale signs, a spun rod bearing would have made more noise, right?

So what could it be?

Is the ECU capable of giving any failure codes such as CHT or other heat related parameters being clipped?

Lots of questions I'm sure will run through your head on the drive home. Be assured there are a big flock of Pelicans rooting for your triumphant return!


Thanks for taking us along on the adventure, fingers crossed the damage is minimal and the repair - light on the wallet!

Safe journey home and hope the diagnosis is a quick one SmileWavy

Jason

Wow Jamie; I just found this thread. Great job on everything that you accomplished within the budget you had. That's incredible. I'm sorry that you didn't get to the dynamic part of the competition, but I'm pretty sure that you'll make it there next year and be stronger for it. What's the old saying -- "You have to lose some before you can win some".

Awesome Job!

Man, that really sucks! I can't wait for next year, and I'm curious about what the problem was this year.

Jamie. So sorry man.

I had high hopes for you Jamie. So sorry you DNF. Still, great job on getting Penny together.