318iS - Fasts failing to load

[Cal]

Looks like a lot of fun to me!

[e30guy]

It was a lot of fun. I'm just dirty I missed out on the dryer night sessions. Would have been awesome!

I've basically got on the motivation train and will be prepping this for the final Circuit Club day at Wakefield, Dec 3. Hopefully its dry and not too hot. The new lift pump is in the mail and I'll run over the car with the spanners.

[e30guy]

More Pics! Credit has to go to the PhotoG Stefan Trajkovski who camped out in the weather taking awesome shots of everyone who dared to circulate. My old man is the blue suit, it's good to get him out there in the competition scene again, He has taken a back seat over the last few years while we focused on getting this E30 thing off the ground. Now he comes and has a pedal too (probably helps the car is a lil more interesting).















This is currently sitting in the driveway awaiting Friday to arrive before we load up and head off to Wakefield with CircuitClub again. I'm hoping the rain moves off!

[333pg333]

Cool shots. Good on your Dad for getting out there again. I'm jealous.

[wagoner]

great pics!! looks fucking tough.

[e30guy]

went to wakey and broke it again. getting new bottom end and shiz, will upload a video at some point of when it goes bang, pretty uneventful, but #2, #3 Eagle conrods are gone and the crank has 10 thou bend.

Stripping the first engine this evening to see if I have a straight crank in that. Pistons, rods, new oil pump, gaskets, ARP Studs etc already paid for. Head will get a service and the big sticks. Getting a new turbine housing to suit external (hopefully bring the turbo on a bit quicker), ceramic coat some shit and do the new ECU / re-wire.

Hopefully after all this it will play nice and have proper datalogging going on.

Yes did look at other engine options, all going to run about the same as the new bottom end + all the extra fab work. Can't be arsed. Just going to build this one tough and carefully. Not relying on someone else second hand shit.

[TT]

soooo why is it breaking?
I may have missed it but it didn't seem like an overly stressed engine.

[denmaster]

oil sump?

[morerevsm3]

went to wakey and broke it again. getting new bottom end and shiz, will upload a video at some point of when it goes bang, pretty uneventful, but #2, #3 Eagle conrods are gone and the crank has 10 thou bend.

Stripping the first engine this evening to see if I have a straight crank in that. Pistons, rods, new oil pump, gaskets, ARP Studs etc already paid for. Head will get a service and the big sticks. Getting a new turbine housing to suit external (hopefully bring the turbo on a bit quicker), ceramic coat some shit and do the new ECU / re-wire.

Hopefully after all this it will play nice and have proper datalogging going on.

Yes did look at other engine options, all going to run about the same as the new bottom end + all the extra fab work. Can't be arsed. Just going to build this one tough and carefully. Not relying on someone else second hand shit.

there is a guy that races a very quick 1.8L turbo IP car that has had multiple engine failures this year, usually broken pistons, that has recently discovered the Vipec is not seeing every cylinder at random intervals, so fires cylinders at incorrect time etc...

[e30guy]

I have herd of the car Morerevs, don't know much about it though. I'm moving away from the Vipec to the DTA I have.

Has the batwing sump. I don't think this failure was oil related. The first engine suffered oil starvation before I bought it (from QLD, I'm in NSW, unlucky).

This engine has always been a bit "knocky", "slappy" couldn't really tell. At EC the bottom boostline fell off the wastegate and overboosted to the heavens (enough to damage the turbo), "knocky" noise was more noticeable. Threw the dice on it anyway and it went kaput.

Also TT, was running TD06 @ 21psi, not overly stressed, but fair load. Wasn't making the power though, 220kw. Thinking standard cams were causing me dramas here as 220 is really getting up there on standard S13 cams, you can only push through inefficiency so much.

I am also going to be fitting the accusump I have here as a precaution, a GTiR oil pump (higher flowing) and looking into oil drain potential problems. With the last engine the leak down test also came back at 50% this wouldn't have helped the oil trying to make its way back down to the sump at all.

Anyone have any experience with modified oil drains on SR's? I'm thinking about enlarging drains, polishing sharp edges etc? External hoses from head to sump?

Besides all that SR's are reknown for bearing problems....I'm just unlucky I guess. Hoping its the "somenody else's second-hand shit" factor and that by building it myself and checking all specs thoroughly it will be good.

[morerevsm3]

I would be worried about fitting a higher volume pump on an engine with known drain back problems

[lonewolf]

do you have the bearings with the 3x holes, and the slots in the block?
FYI sr20ve pump flows even better than GTIR, but as above might not be the best thing...

[e30guy]

email notifications don't work? Al, we mentioned this concern to the engine machinist and whether or not we should be doing something about the drains. He mentioned the big hole in the front for the timing chain... I figure with the go then stop in a hurry motion of circuit racing that this should drain the head sufficiently?

Lonewolf, I have ACL race bearings. There have 2 holes only and the other hole is much smaller (this appears to be for the front bearing where the pivot for the timing guide is fed oil). I have read about the slotting of the block modification but have not gone that far yet. Is it a known result? I'm thinking the accusump will pick up any little mishaps with oil supply but if it is a just a case of poor design that results in the failure? (these things do seem pretty shit compared to the BMW engines design wise)

Also the GTiR pump is the thickest of them all I believe? Is the VE a better design of pump? But I guess it doesn't bolt straight onto the S13 block / head?

In other news I am currently filing piston rings and have a rather nice pile of engine pieces.

[Guido]

(these things do seem pretty shit compared to the BMW engines design wise)

I'll tell 260DET on you!

[e30guy]

next question. What is considered acceptable deck height? My pistons are sticking out the block :/

[e30guy]

Alright forget the deck height question everything seems to be working out ok.

So I bought some ARP Main Studs and now I need to get the block line bored because it is a floppy piece of shit that twists out of spec when torqued up. So much that the crank locks!

I Believe we have discovered why the second engine failed. We were looking at all the mashed up bearings and I notice they were all 0.25 under-size (rods and mains). #3 Main also showed a funny wear pattern. So we mic'd up the crank and yep, #3 Main bearing is tapered! The theory is this would cause it to be dumping oil and as #3 rod is fed from the main, starve #3 rod of oil. This would also explain why the engine was slappy from the get go. The engine had obviously had a very hard life and would appear wasn't put together quite right. Then the bottom line falls off my waste gate and accidently shoved somewhere over 30psi in it at Eastern Creek. Go to Wakefield with the slightly noisier engine and then scratch our heads when it goes pop. I guess it is good that I now have an answer rather than wondering why!

Now where am I going with everything? Specs of the new engine:

Replacement Crank (from first engine) ground 0.25mm (10 thou)
Manely Rods and ARP2000 Bolts
CP 87mm 8.5:1 Pistons
GTiR Oil Pump
S15 Timing Chain Kit
BC Racing Adjustable Cam Gears
ARP Head Studs
Cosworth 1.1mm Headgasket
Block Decked
Head Decked, serviced
fitting the HKS 264 / 272 cams (In / Ex)
HKS Valve Springs
Tomei Rocker Arm Stoppers
ARP Main studs
changing turbo to TD06SL2 with 8cm External Gate Housing
Cermaic Coating a bunch of shit
Changing injectors to Top Feed rail and ID1000s, will also fit my SARD Fuel Reg.
Also Fitting the DTA S60 Ecu
3 Quart Accusump
Davies EWP

now some pics. Everyone loves pics!

Small Fortune:


Ready to tackle this thing head on:


ARP Mainstuds. The latest bout of trouble. Block needs to head back to machinist for Line Boring....SR20 block distorts too much with the extra clamping and the crank locks up :/


If only this was final assembly. Dummy assembly. Cams timed up and checking valve clearences. Also Bolted on the existing turbo and dump to mount the front pipe to the block.


Ready to fit the new turbo and begin dump pipe construction.

[Alex.P]

Hope this new engine goes well for you. Nothing worse than continuos dramas.

[e30guy]

You know about that all to well. Best of luck with the up coming testing. Hope your cooling issues are sorted. Hopefully I'll be back out on the track soon enough and see you round!

[e30guy]

Alright I am slowly piecing this thing together bit by bit. It's been a long fight, but I'm hanging in there.

Long Block all but nipped up:



Spent Asutralia day throwing together a new turbo oil feed, oil drain (not shown) and doing some work on the coolant lines:



And we also started hanging wires on it for the new ECU:

[333pg333]

I don't know much about BMW motors but after all your disappointments due to the oiling issues, isn't there a dry sump system available? Sure, you need to strengthen the block where you can too.

[e30guy]

PG this is an SR20.....a Nissan piece of junk. Yep there are dry sump kits. $4k worth. Thats just about what the build of this engine has cost me!

The first engine was rooted before I bought it, chalk that up to experience. We have since found there were a number of factors that led to the death of the second engine. The biggest one being "hmm it seems a bit knocky, must just be the pistons....or something". The engine always had a slight knock and we believe this was #3 Big end running a little dry because #3 Main (the supply to the bigend) was ground tapered and was dumping excess oil, starving the big end. Then at EC we jammed 30psi + down it's throat when a boost control line failed. This significantly damaged the fragile bottom end that was already on it's way to failure.

We then ignored the fact the slight knock was now more knocky and louder and took it to wakefield. The intention was to pull it post wakefield and do the rebuild so at the end of the day not a great deal has been lost. It's cost me the rods, which for these engines are cheap! $340 for a set of rods with ARP2000 bolts.

I have however upgraded the oil system. The GTiR oil pump is a higher flowing unit. We already had a larger capacity sump fitted and oil cooler. I am changing the oil cooler as a precaution (we have a spare so may as well) and additionally I am fitting a 3 quart accusump. This I am hoping will bridge any moments of oil starvation should I come across them.

I appreciate the concern and in the ideal world a Dry sump is the be all and end all. However it is far beyond my budget at this point and I believe that we may just have it covered as it is. Having said all this I may be heading a different route in 12 months so it might well end up being someone elses problem I have a few friends playing with the BMW engine and they are making some pretty big power somewhat reliably. We will see. Right now I'm just itching to get this thing wrapped up and going again.

[e30guy]

Got sick of looking at it

[e30guy]

Tuner goes on holidays half way through March so starting to get my boogey on. Another dump pipe.



His also swinging the vote on E85 and seeing Dale's recent results on E-Flex I might just do it! I have the fuel system to support it and will help with the life of everything (running cooler).

[e30guy]

Been doing some more work.

Go to install turbo....opps theres that exhaust stud that was fucked. Another day another part. All fixed with a Seal lock threaded insert.



Some more wrinkle black was applied. Loving it!



Hey hey, the power unit has landed



And so has the oil pump drive collar!



Some extra steering column gauges...heaps sick uleh



So the list of custom modification is looking like this:

- Move Alternator forward 5mm
- Make Oil Lines (picked up some black nylon braided lines and earls fittings)
- Finish off the electrical side of things
- Reassemble the engine bay!

Getting close now, it's a lil bit exciting.

[50RTD]

Nice work mate, looking great!

[e30guy]

Thanks mate! It's good to see you making headway on yours too.

The alternator has been moved forwards, the oil lines are made and I went to Melbourne for the weekend! Atleast that's what people tell me. BIG weekend was BIG. But now I'm back and we are full in the swing of making this jigger go. My Old man has put some time into the electrics over the weekend and that is getting closer.

Put some heat shit on the tank and installed the exhaust:


Lines and Wrinkle black everywhere


Few extra turbo lines and heat wraps


Closing in on the assemble everything and turn the electrics on mark!

[e30guy]

We have motorvation! Got the car running 11pm Saty and dragged it down to the dyno on Sunday. Spent all day there finding lots of little problems and fixing them. Called it quits when the fuel pressure began to become inconsistent. I have a piece of fuel hose (10mm opps) between the surge and the 044.....making life a bit hard for the old pump. Working out how hard I want to tackle the fuel system but we will be back for more power.

In any case the engine is run in nicely it would seem, the E85 is going well and the engine sounds sweet. No strange noises like the other two and has no problems revving right out

I forgot to take the dyno plots to work to scan but should post them tomorrow. In the meantime we have 190kW @ 9 psi boost. Very happy....given last time I left the dyno I had this figure at 14psi! Have also picked up a bunch of response with the new engine / turbine housing. have boost much earlier than previous.

Here is a short video after the dyno tuning.

[e30guy]

Fat dyno sheet for a fairly large turbo on low boost

[e30guy]

The tuner was whinging about my ear ache of a car so it now has a muffler and plumbed in screamer....More so I will be able to go to a few tracks with quite stringent noise limits.

[e30guy]

SKID