General Chat
Q:
I posted a help thread a few days ago about a differential leaking oil on my trip to Hallett. Well, the trip got a whole lot worse after that. Here's the complete story (I think it's pretty funny now).
The Z Club of Texas goes to Hallett Motor Speedway in Hallett Oklahoma every year and I've gone every year for 3 years now. Last year my friend went with me with his car and he got hooked on it and was planning to go with me this year too. We've been planning and preparing things for the whole year to go.
The plan was for both of us to drive up on Friday, stay at a hotel, race on saturday and sunday, and leave sunday night. First thing that went wrong was on Thursday, my friend's car was stolen. Sucks, but my friend still wanted to go. On Friday I'm loading things up and I figure out that I can't fit 4 wheels and tires in the Z with a passenger and other cargo (toolbox, clothes, jack, etc). So I decided to split the load between the Z and my other car, a little Toyota Starlet hatchback and let my friend drive the Toyota up to Oklahoma with me.
Driving the last 100 miles of the 350 mile trip, the rear axle seal on the Toyota busted and started leaking differential oil. We got to the hotel, but the trip home was looking to be much more interesting.
On Saturday my friend and I went to the track (about 30 miles from the hotel) in the Z. Driving the Z on the track and everything was fine, except the engine was running a bit hot. I finished one session and checked my overflow tank afterwards. Coolant was low so I added water. The next session out I got two laps in before the overflow tank started overflowing and spraying on my windshield, so I pitted in. I assumed, pretty stupidly, that I must have over-filled the overflow tank and dumped some out. Went out for the third session and drove it for 5 laps and completely ignored the overflow tank spraying water on the windshield until a corner worker yelled at me while I passed through a slow turn-- I thought he said something about smoke, so I pitted in again. I think thats when I blew the headgasket, but I didn't realise it yet. The car still seemed to run just fine other than a miss on number 6. I changed a spark plug in 6 and it stopped missing. I didn't see any smoke, so I figured it was fine (DUMB).
To head back to the hotel, I topped off the coolant again. On the way there it became clear the car was overheating again, but I figured if I kept a high gear, low revs and high speed it would keep it cool enough to get back to the hotel (DUMB). Got to the hotel exit and noticed lots of white smoke and as I slowed down to exit the engine died and didn't start up again. My friend and I pushed it to the hotel parking lot. Driving it 30 miles overheating with a bad headgasket is most likely how I warped the head (but I didn't think so at the time, I was in wishful thinking dummy mindset).
Back at the Hotel I called some people in the Z Club and basically told them I was screwed. One of the guys said he would help and we decided to change the headgasket on Sunday. We had to drive to Oklahoma city to get the closest Z headgasket on Saturday night. On Sunday we trailored the Z back to the track and started working on changing the headgasket.
Changing the headgasket with the help of the fellow Z member (his name is Brent) was very educational. I've watched my Step-Dad change the headgasket on a Z before but never did it myself. I knew we would need a chain tensioner and didn't have any way to make the wedge shaped block of wood to use so we were worrying about that part for a while. We ended up using a long flat head screw driver and basically hammered the screwdriver down there handle first. With the improvised chain tensioner in place we pulled the cam sprocket with our fingers crossed. Amazingly it worked.
We pulled the head with the intake and exhaust manifolds still attached. Looking at the pistons and cylinder walls everyone was suprised they looked completely undamaged from the abuse. On the old headgasket you could see where number 6 had a scorch mark on the ring around the piston.
After a couple of hours we had the new gasket on, the head in place, and everything else attached. I changed the oil in it and when I drained the old oil I noticed only a very small amount of coolant in the oil, maybe one ounce or less.
With the new headgasket installed and the engine running, the people helping me out went home. It was around 5:30 on Sunday and the event was over. We loaded up the Z and headed back for the Hotel to pick up the Toyota, but only got less than a mile away before it started overheating again, and it didn't run very well. At that point I did the only smart thing I did the whole weekend, I called the people at the track and told them the situation. They told me to come back and they would help us get home somehow.
Back at the track the owners there called a wrecker run by a guy they know and he said he'd tow us home for $550 that night. That was looking like the best and really only option left so I told him to come and get us. The wrecker brought his flatbed. We towed the Z on the flatbed and hauled the Toyota on the back. 350 miles later I was home.
I went there prepared to deal with a lot of situations, but that cant help you if you make dumb choices. The trip was very costly for me and I'll have to save up money for a bit to get everything fixed, but I don't feel too bad because I know everything that went wrong was because of bad choices I made. Not bad luck or bad karma, I was just dumb and next time I'll be a bit wiser and maker smarter decisions.
Pretty funny to take two cars, break both of them, and have to get towed home.
Oh, some small bits of good news from the trip. First is I drove 390 miles in the Z on 13.5 gallons of gas-- thats 28.8 mpg! I guess my megasquirt tune isn't a gas guzzler like I thought it was, I just needed to keep my foot out of the turbo and cruise.
The other bit of good news was I had one lap where I ran the car and did a really good lap and had a lot of fun. I managed to 'get into the zone' and I got a new best lap time for myself. I probably would have done even better if I had the chance to run more sessions without the car having problems... but at least I got in one good lap. It confirmed that the car had the potential to go fast and i had the ability to drive it fast.
Okay, enough long post. Hope you enjoyed it.
1980 280ZX, now with L28ET and Megasquirt 'n Spark Extra
Pallnet Fuel Rail, KYB Gas-A-djust Shocks, Advan A048 Tires
ACT Clutch Disc & Pressure Plate, Steel Braided Brake Lines
A:
Excellent story!
Wisdom is a toll road that usually comes at great cost. I hope you've paid your fare! ;)
72 WooHoo!! In good shape too...
72 Rolling Chassis (RB or LS1?)
80 NA SCCA ST2/CP (Car + Tree = Dead)
82 NA 3.0L the rust monster got it
82 ZXT 3.1L, 25psi! Hit in the right rear. ;(
83 parts car
92 TT Sold! ;(
02 Looking for an '03 made in '02
A:
So "Chaoticmass" is an appropriate name for your car? LOL.
Glad ya made it back! Great story.
A:
Rofl, hybrid ... I was kind of wondering where the name came from.
Sorry it turned out so bad for you, good luck finding everything to get your car running again.
1978 280Z Turbo MS
1981 280ZXT - scrapyard
A:
so what happened the second time where it would run right?
==============================================
High Performance NA L28 engine, Performance Suspension, Full Interior, 2500lbs, and room for 3 HOT girls in the car!
shift_2+2
13.9 @102.7 on 205mm street tires and 110 octane :-)
A:
Have you figured out why it's overheating??
Phil
1981 280zxt
5-speed conversion,3.9 R200,Eibach springs,Tokico struts,Energy Suspension,K&N CAI,AutoMeter A/F, Boost, Fuel Gauges,Cusco Strut Bar,Greddy B Spec II boost control,Jeffp 3in mandrel exhaust,Magnaflow,Spearco Cooler, HKS BOV, 10 psi
A:
Thx for the story.
Things will be better as soon as you win the Powerball.
Good luck.
Rusty but running.
Polish cell phone and two tubes of Aluma-seal.
And, now we are historic.
A:
Not sure what the root cause of the overheating was. It ran all the way to Tulsa for 5 hours straight with the temp gauge pegged right in the middle. Never had any overheating issues daily driving it. Didn't know of any leaks, no puddles under the car or anything.
After the day I had with the car yesterday changing the headgasket I'm about sick of looking at it for a week or so.
I fixed the Toyota today. The wheel bearing got worn out and started tearing itself apart, breaking the wheel axle seal and making it leak. Bearing had less than half the bearings left in it and all kinds of chunks of metal inside. The differential wasn't damaged. Replaced the bearing and seal, and topped off the oil. So at least I have something to take me to work and back until I fix the Z.
1980 280ZX, now with L28ET and Megasquirt 'n Spark Extra
Pallnet Fuel Rail, KYB Gas-A-djust Shocks, Advan A048 Tires
ACT Clutch Disc & Pressure Plate, Steel Braided Brake Lines
A:
I think you're cursed. That's the ONLY logical explanation.
1972 240z w/L28, tokico shocks and springs, and a 5 speed waiting. Also running high performance ultra mega blinker fluid, that's at least an extra 50hp to the wheels.
1987 Toyota Supra Turbo 5-speed. Belongs to me until my friend get's back from Iraq.
A:
Comrad Grrr:
Nah, I don't think so. I think a lot of the misery could have been avoided if I had spent more time checking things and making sure everything was in top shape mechanically. Of course you cant check EVERYTHING, so you take a chance that something you didn't check will fail. Hopefully if you're prepared enough you can mitigate those chances. I took a chance and it bit me in the ass. Thats my fault.
1980 280ZX, now with L28ET and Megasquirt 'n Spark Extra
Pallnet Fuel Rail, KYB Gas-A-djust Shocks, Advan A048 Tires
ACT Clutch Disc & Pressure Plate, Steel Braided Brake Lines