New year and first track session in the 86! For the most party she is 90% done, and was iching to start the new year right with a track session.

I went to a members day at Motor Sport Ranch Houston (MSRH), and it alway less packed then a normal track event. That mean less cars, so I can test and tune it, and also more seat time!!

First Sunday of the year and I woke up pretty early so I can get ready to hit the track. The only had the speedo, tach and afr gauges hooked up. I had my water temp sesnor and that was hooked up into the laptop but I couldn’t see what my temps was at the track. Risky, I know, but after 200 miles of driving and no overheating, I figured it must be good.

But then… issues happened. My car suddenly lost power on the corner exit.

At first, I though I did a Takumi and blew the motor. But I didn’t see white smoke or trail of oil. My heart sank, because I just got her running and then it just died.

I got towed back into the pits and when I started the car I didn’t hear the fuel pump prime. Naturally I thought it was the pump that was the issue. But thanks to track friends, they said to check the electrical connections first. Well, its all checked out. I was able to get 12v into the fuel pump but the pump wasn’t priming. For sure it was the fuel pump.

I didn’t trailer my car, but some my track friends brought a trailer and able to trailer my car back home. I was bummed, but it could have been worse like a blown motor on fresh rebuild. And fuel pumps are cheap.

When I got back home, I wanted to work on the 86 and begin dropping the tank to access the pump. But I wanted to make sure 100% its my fuel pump. I hooked up my laptop to the ecu so I can test the fuel pump. Weirdly, I wasn’t getting any power to the ecu. The ecu power wire is connected straight to the battery and sure enough it was loose!!! When I tighten back the wire, the ecu turned on and heard the fuel pump primed! She ran!!!

I still had some time left, and immediately drove back to track! I wanted my seat time and to adjust the suspension dampening. Best part was when I got back it was an open track! Meaning, you can go be at the track as long as you please.

In the YouTube video, the she is running well but my diff noise got louder and louder. I will definitely need to rebuild the rear end. Thankfully, parts for those isn’t too expensive. Shit box life, probably needed a rebuild anyways.

I ran her 30 mins at a time, and I was just having fun out there. The 86 feels like a bigger go kart. Handling is predicable, and never snappy. The response on the ITB is crisp.

I saw some other issues I had, but nothing expensive and easy fixes. Right now the biggest issue is rear diff whining. Thats point of test and tune sessions. You take it to the track to find any issues before a track event.

The best thing about the track life are the people are genueinly nice and always willing to help out. Shout out to all the friends and people that helped my out this far!

I had soo much fun, and looking forward to 2020. Hopefully it will be a good year!