With a busy work week right after racing, I didn’t have a lot of spare time to work on the 86. I did make some good use of the little time I had to teardown the spare motor and get it ready for the machine shop. I am documenting that process on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzkNYW0j2sywupuQ_jg85Q/featured

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I still had to pull my blown motor from the AE86 to figure out what went wrong. My hunch is the oil pump gear went out and caused a sudden drop in psi. Which caused the oil starvation and that small second in oil pressure drop caused the motor to blow.

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The one day I was off in the week I went to work on the AE86. I already disconnected the engine wiring, fuel lines, and all fluids drained. That day I had to hook up the engine hoist and unbolt the engine and tranny mounts. Having pulled out the 4age motor in the past, it wasn’t that hard after your first time. But I always double checked the motor wasn’t snagging on a line or wire.

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I pulled the motor with the transmission, because from the general conscesusons its a lot easier to put it back in that way then trying to stab the motor to the transmission. The transmission looked good on visual inspection and no leaks since I replaced all the transmission gaskets.

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The really nice thing with the motor and transmission out is the ease of access to all the bolts. Next, I separated the tranny from the motor and making sure I take pictures of the process, so I’ll remember on how to put it back together. The clutch looked kind of thin, but will make sure with when I measure the thickness. But then again, wont hurt to replace.

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With the motor separated, I was going to go back home to get my engine stand. But thanks to track friends at the shop, they had a couple of spare stands. I borrowed one of them and since the motor was on the stand, I had some time left in the day. I continued on and disassembled the motor. Having the spare motor recently taken apart, I knew from memory what I had to do with this motor, without the manual in hand.

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I took off the head and cylinder #1 looked visually good. The valves has some scratches from the aftermath but no cracks or gash marks. I’m hoping it will be useable but I’ll get confirmation from the machine shop. Then I continued on to the bottom end, to really see the carnage.

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As I flipped the block you could hear all the metal chunks from the oil pan. The bearing for cylinder 1 is nowhere to be found and its not fused to the crank. Once side of the con rod part of crank is burned, which I think is a sign of excessive heat from oil starvation. The piston broke in half and the con rod is bend in a bad way. Something failed and caused a chain reaction of unfortunate events.

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I continued on and started to removed pistons 2-4. The con rod bolts wasn’t loose, so I don’t think the con rod bolts failed that caused the motor to blow up. But the con rod bearings looked scored. Signs of poor oil lubrication meaning oil starvation. Then I continued to removed the main caps for the crankshaft. The main bearing looked new and no scoring. This tells me the lubrication was good for the main bearing but since the bearings on the con rods looked scratched up and worn out. I didn’t feel gouging though.

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The hole in the block location means its the first areas to be lubricated from the pump. This makes me think oil pump failed or the sloshing of the oil caused a slight air in the oil pick up that I had brief moment in oil loss the motor went boom. To rule out oil pump failure is to open the oil pump and check the gears. The oil pump body didnt have any damage. But to make sure I took apart the pump to see if it the gears inside are broken. Well, the gears in the pump are not broken and its the updated toyota gears too.

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This tells me the pump is functioning properly and with no other damage. The conclusion: motor blew up because of higher cornering Gs, which caused the oil to slouch one side creating a air pocket for the oil pick up. This caused a drop in oil pressure soo low the protective film of oil was gone. The metal to metal contact made the rod bearing fail, and that failure caused a chain reaction which ultimately lead to demise of the motor.

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Things to learn from this is even with proper baffle pan and up pressure spring, you still get oil starvation. Having a gripper tire increases that chance. Upgrading the oil system is a must for any track car. For the next build I will add an accusump, and have additional oil drains from the head. The accusump will provided additional oil if it senses a dip in oil pressure. Adding an extra drain from the head will allow oil to drain quicker down to the pan.

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I do hope these measures will make my motor last more then 1.5yrs of track use. But if my 2nd motor fails then I’m going dry sump.

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Stay tuned.

On my last post, I blew the motor right after placing 3rd on Race 1 and 2. My plan is to pull the motor and inspect what caused the failure. Currently, work has been busy and haven’t found the time yet to pull the motor. At least I can tear down the spare motor in my garage and just make sure I can use the spare for a rebuild ver 2.0.

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The history with my spare motor is it came off my AE86 originally, but once I got the motor running properly, it started to smoke from the tail pipe like a steam locomotive. Compresson test shown it was low on compression and needed a rebuild. Thats when I bought another 4age, which also needed to be rebuild. I found out that old motors just needs to be rebuild, and something I’ve come to accept.

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Thankfully, I kept the spare 4age, but wasn’t expecting to use it after 1.5 yrs tracking on the other motor. Something happened failed suddenly at the track. Thats I think right now, after looking at the oil log from the AiM telemetry. I had good oil pressure relative to the rpm. Then turn 5, I suddenly lost pressure at 16 psi, while it was at 6000 rpm. That split second is what made the motor blow.

Now it time to start the tear down on the spare and get it ready for the machine shop.

Thanks for reading and following along on this journey!

Last weekend I had a race at Eagles Canyon Raceway, with NASA. I got my car prepped and ready for the event. With new Advan tires, I was excited to try them out. I arrived on a Friday afternoon in anticipation for the 2 day races. With camp set up, and after eating out the friends, I called it a night.

The next day, I woke to sound of cars running and I knew I had to get ready. Practice felt great with the car newfound grip. For my car, 32psi hot is the sweet spot for grip. Then in qualifying, I managed to get 4th place for grid. I was surprised becuase the last two race events I placed last or 2nd to last. So it was nice feeling to place mid grid.

Race 1 I had some great wheel to wheel action. I had a close battle for 3rd place with 2 other drivers, all while 60 plus cars entry with 6 different classes. Two other drivers and I where switching positions, trying to get the 3rd place finish. I ended up passing the 3 place car on the last corner! I saw the checkered flag and was ecstatic. Here is the video:

Race 2 you grid where you placed on the last race. Since I got 3rd I want to keep that position hopefully. And I wanted to prove to myself the 3rd place win wasn’t just luck. I knew I had to keep my position or hopefully gain position in this race. It was anther great battle for 3rd place. I wasnt able to close the gap with the 2nd place car. But then the full course yellow happened and I used it to my advantage. With full course yellow, you can not pass anyone regardless of classing. Naturally the faster cars from the another class caught up to me while I was trying to chase the 2nd place car. Well the Spec Miata that caught to me was on my bumper and one corner he passed me. I didn’t really get mad since its from a different class. But the Spec Miata driver had contact with the 2nd place car in my class. Thankfully the incident wasn’t too bad but I can the 2nd driver was mad. We caught to the train of Spec Miatas in the full course yellow. Eventually the full course yellow became a waving green flag on the start finish line. It was back to racing! I tried to stay on the tail of the 2nd place car but I just couldn’t close the gap. Eventually the 4th place car was starting to catch up to me. I was getting worried. Then on top of that a spec miata caught up to our battle. I wanted to give the Spec Miata a pass but learning from past mistakes. The 4th place car will use the draft from the Spec Miata to pass me. I didn’t know what to do. Should let the Spec Miata pass or not? Well I ended just driving hard and if the Spec Miata wanted to pass me they will pass around my racing line. It wasnt going to be easy. Then on the last corner I carried a bit too much speed and did a tiny drift. The mistake allowed the spec miata to pass me on corner exit but I was still carrying enough speed that the 4th place could pass on checkered. Man sooo intense.

After race 2, you have the award ceremony. Heard my name called, and got my 3rd place trophy! I was sooo happy, I couldn’t stop smiling. My first podium finish! Of course I drank hard and had some delicious tacos with the homies. It was great, and looking forward for tomorrow. I hope I could use the momentum to get another podium finish.

Day 2 I woke up late, and bit hungover. I missed my early morning practice, but wasnt too worried. The car fit great and I didn’t feel like I needed to make changes.

On my qualifying session, everything was great till mid session. Coming out turn 5 I heard a bang then metal clanking. Immediately turn off the car and went off track to avoid spilling possible fluids on track. Here is the video moments before the big bang:

No warings, just went. The qualifying session ended and safety crew was able scoop me up with a flatbed tow. Props to the safety and corner workers. Without them, we would be able to have track event. So thank you.

The safety crew unload the car back into the paddock. I inspect the damage. I though it was the tranny since the oil drip on the flat bed smelled like gear oil. I jack up the car expecting to see a hole in the tranny. Turns out the tranny and driveshaft is fine. I noticed oil dripping on the front driver wheel. I popped the hood and see hole in the block.

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The motor blew and from the damage its probably a oil issue. I might oil starved, or oil pump failure. I could also be the con rod bolts failed. The motor did live its rebuilt life on track with 16 track events and 3 drift days. Plus it gave me a podium finish before it let go. Thats racing for ya.

My plan is to pull the motor, tear down, and see what might have failed. I have a spare motor that I will rebuild and hopefully make it last longer the 1.5yrs of tracking. I will be documenting the build process.

Since I’ll be using my spare motor, its time to find more 4age motors as spares. Thankfully the track and 4age community are supportive. I was about find some potential motors I might be picking up. With racing, it always good to carry spares.

My next race is in June at Hallet. By some chance the 86 wont be ready, I’ll do Spec Miata and borrow my friend’s spare car. I love racing and track days soo much, its hard not to stop. Just have to pick yourself back up and come out better.

Thanks for reading and hopefully see y’all at the track too!

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Got my Advan A050 tires mounted on the spare track rims. The fitment is more aggressive then my TE37. On the initial test-drive, my car was rubbing very bad where I can see smoke coming off the tires. I gingerly drove it back home and went to work.

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I rolled and pulled the fenders that my friend let me borrow. I used the Power By Max fender roller because that is the only roller that is low car friendly. I initially bought an Amazon fender roller originally, but from trial and error, it was just too big to fit under the fender.

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After rolling and pulling the fenders, another quick test drive showed I was still rubbing. The next option is to raise the car! I’ve adjusted the suspension multiple times and figured how to adjust the preload right. You can see it in this video:

Then finally another test drive. No more issues! My spare track wheels all dialed and no more rubbing. Just in time for the next race! Ill be at NASA Eagle Canyon, and hopefully to see yall there!

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