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Started the car up on stands and waited for the leak to show itself. I was actively watching the crank when oil appeared beneath it and starting flowing out.
Assumed it was the main crank seal but was still confused how the oil wasn't getting flung around on the crank. Then I took things apart and removed the crank pulley and timing gear. It then became apparent where the oil was coming from:
It's coming from the area between the pan and the bottom of the oil pump housing! Best case scenario maybe? I tightened one of the oil pan bolts and am slathering this bitch up with some silicone and gonna see what happens:
Oh I also drained the oil and checked the magnetic plug...no shiny bits but there was a small amount of dark metal filings that like look iron filament. I assume this is from the piston rings seating?
Got the engine running again, no leaks!! It's so cool seeing how precise the timing is when using the timing light because of the 36 tooth wheel. It's completely stationary when using the timing light instead of wiggling around when I had the stock 4 tooth wheel. One thing I need to figure out still is the VVT...it's not working. Not sure if it's the unit, my wiring, or my ECU settings yet. Oh I installed the new headers too after wrapping them.
Got the coilovers installed and I need to lower my ride height a good bit but the one drive I did with them was promising. The car feels alive now and I have better control. The koni setup I was running was smooth but there was very little movement. I'll report back once I've put some miles on them.
Last thing I did over the weekend was installing this duckbill spoiler from Galvez Customs.
Adjusted my bushings and top hats as they were clanging around a bit. The rears showed evidence of spring rubbing against the coilover sleeve. Much much better now, really excited about the potential this suspension setup has. Can't wait to get on track with these, I can feel the road and what the car is doing so much better now. Very confidence inspiring. Also got the hardtop back on and changed the mounting of the spoiler...
Got the VVT solenoid wiring figured out and took a drive without any errors showing up, but the car didn't feel much different. That's because it still wasn't working. I had 'range check measured values' turned off, turning it on caused a VVT1 error. I then properly calibrated the min and max angles and turned error checking back on without it coming on and could feel the difference right away.
I played with the VVT intake table some more today and felt even more of a difference, especially once I calibrated the settings further by setting my min duty cycle. That seemed to help just as much as setting the angles, it has significantly more zoom zoom in it. I've put about 250 miles on the motor so far and 200 since fixing the oil leak; it's been a pain getting here at times, but I'm finally starting to appreciate it
I swapped out my 7" 700/400 springs for 6" 750/450 with zero rate helper springs. Wasn't able to get as low as I wanted with the 7" springs unless I bottomed out the sleeve nut to the point where not all the threads were engaged. The new spring setup feels noticeably smoother/composed. I also just got my set of SadFab poly bushing sleeves, not sure when I'm going to install those but I am very pleased with how the car is handling.
I think I'm going to switch back to the nb2 header instead of the header I recently put on. I don't like that it rubs against the chassis (and probably the transmission at times) and the reliability, fitment, and heat shielding of the stock nb2 header will make me feel better than the few horsepower the new header might give me.
My VVT is now working intermittently. It started happening after an oil change to Amsoil and a K&N gold filter. I can see in tunerstudio (and feel in the engine response) that the VVT angle is stuck at 0 even though the target is not. Then it just starts working out of nowhere. It doesn't seem like its related to anything, I've tested a bunch of potential associations over the past few days and it seems totally random. It doesn't seem related to oil pressure because when its working, it works whether im at 30 psi around idle or 60 psi at WOT. The car feels great when its active and much more "meh" without it, so it's definitely bothering me. The troubleshooting shall continue...
Got the VVT working again and no issues with it in the last couple hundred miles of driving. Car feels great. I did put the nb2 header back on too.
Went autocrossing for the first time in a couple years this past weekend. It's great seeing all the different cars and getting to talk to people, but man, I can't help but thinking how stupid it really is. There is absolutely no comparison to track driving. I was running just under 40 seconds on the course setup but it felt like 20 seconds, and also looked like it only took 20 seconds when watching my dashcam videos. The only thought I had in my mind after watching my videos was "wow, this is ******* stupid". I really need to get back on track with my new setup but I am between jobs and money is really tight for me right now, can't justify the expense until I get my **** together.
Went to my first track day of the year and since the rebuild this past weekend. Oregon Raceway Park. What a fun track!! Drove 6 hours there Friday night, tracked all day on Saturday and drove 6 hours back that night. Other than a weird issue that I thought was fuel starvation when trying to downshift and rev-match, the car performed flawlessly.
During hard braking and trying to blip the throttle, I would get no throttle response...which caused me to keep the clutch in and try it again with the same result and eventually the car dying. It caused me to go 4 wheels off during the first session. I had a bit under a half tank, filled up to a full tank and it seemed better, but still died on me once or twice. I resorted to not rev-matching and just downshifting, which worked, but definitely not a solution. My only thought at this point is there is too much slack in the throttle cable (which I've been loosening to try and combat the shitty Skunk2 throttle body high-idle, even though I have a new spring hole drilled) and maybe the cable is binding up when I'm blipping it and its still retracting from being at WOT. I'm going to try tightening it back up and see if that helps. I still don't understand why the car was dying with the clutch left in though, so maybe there is some sort of fuel issue. Maybe time I swap out the fuel pump for the DW200 I've had sitting around.
The best lap I managed at ORP was a 2:10, I can definitely push it harder but had a blast and didn't break anything, so that's a success in my book. Its no excuse but having to drive 6 hours home does stick in the back of my mind and keep me from "sending it".
03-30-2020, 06:58 PM
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