Hey everyone!
Looking for some advice as to what went wrong and steps to correct:
99 Miata
Last weekend we ran the 3 hour enduro and the next day ran a 30 min sprint race.
After the enduro we did a dyno and came out with 108hp with the restrictor in place (120 without). This is an engine that had done 120hp in a previous build. Car was rebuilt about 4 race hours ago with new rods / pistons after suffering failure from broken water hose.
3/4 of the way through the sprint race we heard what sounded like bearing noise and retired.
Pulled the engine and found:
- Metal shavings in oil pan
- Bent connecting rod
- Bearings on same rod turned into splinters
- All other bearings / rods / pistons looked fine
- 1.5 quarts of oil left in the pan.
- No obvious oil leaks anywhere on the engine
- Valves looked OK visually, left it with the machine shop to verify
- Cylinder walls looked fine
- Crankshaft took enough damage to be put out to pasture
Just ordered the oil pressure / water temp gauge kit from advanced-auto. Trying to figure out where the oil went (bad rings?) and any additional next steps to take (Fuel / Air gauge?)
Colin