Prior to your race did you have your cooling system "open" - (i.e. -pull a
radiator or hose or any other part ) - then refill the system with coolant
and then not bleed the radiators or the inlet on top of the head ?
"Cavitation" may have caused your problem - steam/pressure build up may have
blow off a hose ? !
Do you use a Stant Pressure Tester now when prepping your car before a race
?
Gil
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth Kirkland" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2006 10:27 PM
Subject: Re: [F500] Melted 494 piston question
Guys,
Would a lethal lean condition have been reflected in
high EGT readings? I run a little rich for some
insurance and was getting readings of ~1080 F. that
day on the cylinder with the plug deposits.
Since I lost 3 quarts of coolant to the leak during
the race, my initial reaction was to blame it on high
water temp.
Is there a particularly good way to flush a crankcase?
Thanks for all of the excellent information,
Kenneth
--- Richard Schmidt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Chris,
You are correct. Unless Ken messed with the timing,
my guess is that it is
just a lean situation.
Also, I did forget to mention the "clean the
crankcase" thing. I was
getting a little long in my note and left that off,
but it is important.
I don't have a "stack" of melted pistons, just 6
or 7 of them. Most of
them from the Kawasaki, one from the 494. Guess I
am a slow learner. You
would think that after a couple, I would get the
idea, to lean, to bad !
All caused by lean conditions, for some reason or
another.
Richard
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Reinhardt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2006 4:56 PM
Subject: Re: [F500] Melted 494 piston question
> Richard I would clarify that a little bit. The
top of the piston and plug
deposists are dead givaways for DETONATION!!!!
Usually timming, but could
be a lean deto. A temp related sieze you would see
the tell tale "4 Corner"
stick meaning the piston expanded evenly all the way
around. Lack of lube,
will generally give a score on both skirts, along
with blue'd wrist pin
bearing. A lean sieze is usually a melt on the top
of the piston closest to
the exhuast port.
> Warning!!!! A bunch of that aluminum that used
to be a piston, is now
in the crankcase. I would not even think of just
cleaning up the jug and
stuffing a piston in it unless I had a race that
day, otherwise flush the
crankcase best you can.
>
> CR
> PS I have a stack of 125 pistons with every type
sieze you could
imagine!!!
>
> Richard Schmidt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Ken,
>
> I doubt that your piston melt down has to do with
high water temp.
Aluminum
> deposits on the spark plug is a sign of a melted
piston. Most likely
caused
> by too lean a fuel mixture to that cylinder. Lack
of proper lubrication
> could also cause a piston to seize, but this would
not cause the top of
the
> piston to melt.
>
> A lean running engine will run hotter and put more
energy into the
coolant,
> but this an effect, not the cause.
>
> Do not attempt to rotate your engine any more than
you have. This could
> cause more damage. The fix is to disassemble the
top end of the engine and
> remove the affected cylinder and piston. Carefully
inspect the other
> cylinder walls and piston for damage. It may not
be necessary to remove
the
> other cylinder if no damage can be seen to the
piston and cylinder walls.
>
> You can easily remove the aluminum welded to the
cylinder wall using
common
> hydrochloric acid used for pool maintenance. Be
sure to do this outdoors
> and wear a good pair of rubber gloves. Make sure
you are up-wind from the
> cylinder and just pore a little at a time in the
cylinder. You will get a
> lot of bubbling action. Carefully rinse the
cylinder with water and
examine
> it. Use a steel bristle brush to remove any
oxidation. If some aluminum
> still remains, repeat. The acid will not harm the
steel liner. Be careful
> not to get the acid on the other aluminum parts of
the cylinder.
>
> When all the aluminum is gone, inspect the
cylinder for scoring. If you
> broke a ring, you may have scoring. Depending on
how bad it is, you may
just
> be able to use a hone on the cylinder to remove
some of the scoring and
get
> a cross hatch pattern again.
>
> Get a new piston and rings and reassemble. Piece
of cake !
>
> As for the fastest way to get going again, replace
the engine, most likely
> no more that two hours of work. Of course you have
to have a standby
engine.
> If possible, never go to the track without a
backup engine. It may seem
> like an extra expense, but if you add up all the
expenses of just getting
to
> the track and entry fees, you will soon realize
that you will actually
save
> money if you have a back up engine to run on
Sunday rather than go home.
>
> Richard
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kenneth Kirkland"
> To:
> Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 10:32 PM
> Subject: [F500] Melted 494 piston question
>
>
> > Hello all!!!
> >
> > I'm an F5 newbie running my first season of
regionals
> > in the Midwest Division. I've been lurking on
the list
> > for a while but haven't had a question to pose
yet. My
> > first is a doozy.
> >
> > Apparently, a piston in my 494 melted down due
to high
> > water temps during a regional at Hallett on
8/6/06.
> > There are some wonderfully shiny metallic
deposits on
> > the spark plug in the left cylinder. The crank
will
> > only turn about 45 degrees, with some metal on
metal
> > sounds accompanying what little rotation there
is.
> >
> > I had hoped to run one more regional before the
end of
> > the year to get a national license when I renew
my
> > license in early '07. What's the best approach
to
> > remedy this situation? Redo the top end? Bolt in
an
> > entire rebuilt engine? What symptoms would
dictate the
> > need to work on the bottom end?
> >
> >
> > Thanks for any and all assistance,
> > Kenneth Kirkland
> > MiDiv #18
> > www.kirklandracing.com
________________________________
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________________________________
FormulaCar Magazine - A Proud Supporter of Formula 500
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Subscribe Today! www.formulacarmag.com or 519-624-2003
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