I was talking with one of the Porsche Cup Car mechanics and he told me of a new feature in the later year cup cars. They now have a pressure sensor in the crankcase that is tied to the master alarm. Once a baseline is determined they set the warning light to go off once that number is exceeded.

Seems like a great early warning to impending doom. Those who have AIM dash or Race Logic could do the same.

 

If you have excess crankcase pressure, the doom is no longer impending.

 

It's gotta be better than waiting for a rod through the block. Some drivers don't stop when they feel power is down. They charge on till things go boom.

 

Just use a boost gauge on a nipple and read it. You will know when the engine is dying.

 

Crank pressure sensor won't help with that, though. It will let you know the moment you break a ringland or hole a piston, but it won't give you any indication that you've spun a bearing or stretched a rod.

It's a great sensor to have for on-the-fly diagnostics, which is an important factor in a car that sees time at 12+ hour races (Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, Thunderhill, etc). For a club racer or an HPDE car, it's nothing a post-event compression/leakdown test won't clue you in on.

 

Porsche people are funny. I am reminded of the aftermarket kit you can buy for the 996 engine which is essentially a sensor that alerts you that your IMS bearing has failed and you need a new engine.

 

Kinda surprised they don't have an anal pressure alarm

 

This does bring up the question of unusual alarms. For instance is anyone running a coolant pressure alarm/gauge? It would have saved at least 1 race motor on a team I was crewing with. A screwdriver had nicked a heater core hose, and slowly let out all the coolant. Melted the head and block.

 

i do,
i know i'm not in some 12h race, but i'm running some prosport premium with an audio warning in case you reach the pre-set limit.

it allready helped a lot when i bursted a coolant hose going to the turbo.
it was only a pin sizez hole, but my gauges went up well before my cluster.

 

double post sorry

 

I think the idea is the alarm tells you it needs an expensive repair and saves you an even more expensive entire engine replacement.

 

My coolant bypass block is tapped for a AIM pressure sensor. It's on the list to do. I think this is a great idea to know the system has lost pressure and overheat will likely follow.

 

In theory, yes. Assuming you notice the little LED flashing at you, and you immediately stop and call a tow truck, there is a chance that you may only require a $2,000 repair instead of a $20,000 repair.

 

I pick up on lights much faster than I do a gauge. I plan on setting up some alarms through my ECU to warn me of a few different parameters.

 

I had one and it got removed in the maintenance shuffle last year. It will go back on for this year, along with warnings for lean conditions (TPS+WB02 combo), low fuel pressure, and possibly diff/tranny temps.