I may be putting the cart before the horse on this one, but here goes.

So my car is a DD/Occaisional Track Car. Had to run an errand at work yesterday, got 3 miles away and car lost power and oil pressure. Cut it off immediately and pulled to the side of the road. Check the oil cap, oil in the valve train. Check dipstick, oil in the pan. Check all around the car, no leaks. I've had some odd noises for the last week, thought it was the broken bolt on my dp causing it. With some of the symptoms I am certain the oil pump has failed. Not sure why until I can inspect it on Monday. If by chance I did not catch it in time and metal got into the motor I am looking to get a built shortblock.

With that in mind I come to you guys for advice. I would like to know some of the experiences you guys have had with this and what helped you decide in who to get your motor from. I am not looking for the complete cheapest way out, but rather the best value for my dollar. I have enough cash in my unexpected expenses fund to cover what I need to do with this, but would still like to get the most for my dollar.

Here are some more specific questions I'd like answered if possible.

1. What was the turn around time on the short block assuming you did the core exchange?

2. What modifications are need to make the cylinder head mate to the 4g64 block if going with a motor from MAP (since they use the 4g64 in everything but the 2.3l)?

3. With my goals of eventually running TT3 (maybe later than sooner now), what displacement would be best with a stock turbo?

4. Standard rod length, or long rod?

5. What compression ratio for TT/W2W?

6. Any thing I missed in my questions?

Thank you to anyone that provides a bit of advice.

 

Oil pump failures are generally progressive. Do you know what kind of oil pump it is? Gerotor, vane, gear type?

Also, filterhead is post oil pump, so you shouldn't have sent any garbage to your bearings/internals.

Did the oil switch come on before or after your motor slowed to a stop? Also if you heard noises, are you sure they weren't coming from the bottom end?

 

Thanks for the reply. Boy did I learn a lot about the motor today. I had my hand on the key when the light came on so I caught it in time. What we found out was.....

The timing belt shredded. I was 5k away from doing it and going to start ordering parts this week. Bent all but 3 valves, but there is only a small scratch here and there on the pistons. So.... the short block is saved. I will be hearing back from MAP tomorrow on my quote for all the parts I need as well as a few upgrades.

 

Shaun, really sorry to hear about this man....sucks that you bent the valves. I will say this though, if you are going with the high rev springs (5041 kit) from gsc with the s2's it may be a blessing in disguise as far as the install goes. When we tried to install the cams, springs and retainers with the head on my car (using the hand spring compressor/retainer remover) we had to put so much pressure on the new springs that we dropped a valve in to the cylinder....so had to pull the head off anyways. Made it much easier to install the springs, but still took alot of effort...these springs are STOUT!

Side note.....just did my first track day at AMP last week with the s2's and tscomptune.....the car feels alot stronger out of the corners and holds the power up top alot better. Looks like my next mod will be an upgraded intercooler, as I'm pretty sure I am heatsoaking the stocker with the extra power toward the end of my 25 minute sessions. You may be ok though since you are running e85 now and you will get the cooling effects of that fuel.

I also had my acd tuned by Matt at ACD tuning, man it really makes a difference. Car feels much more neutral and I was able to step the back end out in the sweepers to help turn the car.

 

Bummers Shaun. I'm still slowly building mine. Sound like you got lucky with the bottom end. What I ended up doing, because the bottom wnd in my car was toast, was I bought a used motor from a salvage yard in Florida. Took that one apart and started beefing up everything that was questionable. I have just run out of motivation since I'm doing all the work myself. Hope all works out for and your back on the road in no time!

Cheers,

Craig B

 

Matt, I did end up going with the high rev springs and ti retainers. Just looking forward to getting the car back by the end of next week hopefully. I went with OEM valves and they got to the shop yesterday.

What were your final numbers from Tom? What were your impressions of AMP?

With the stock intercooler, anything above 23psi on extended track session really kills you towards the end of the session.

Craig, hope you get motivated to finish it. I want to see it on track again . I went ahead and bit the bullet and decided to pay for the work to be done as I know I would loose interest in it as well.

If either of you were planning to head to RA in December I will be there in spectator capacity as this has eaten up my consumables budget for the remainder of the year, plus some lol.

 

Shaun,
I am not sure what the final numbers are on my tune yet, Tom is actually still making some adjustments to it. The last log we did showed 365 whp at 24 psi on the VD, and Tom said he expected it to pick up a few more. Very happy with how the car feels with the cams and the tune, made the car tourquier, and it holds the power up top alot better. I think you will be very pleased with the s2's, especially on e85. Do you have a IX turbo, or still on the VIII?

This was actually my second time at AMP, but my first time on track since the cams and tune. AMP is alot of fun....much lower speed than RA (only one semi-straight, barely get into fifth gear), but alot more technical with more elevation changes, and has more sweeper type turns. Its alot easier to push your limits at AMP than RA....i felt comfortable on track alot quicker. Its definitely one to check out when you get a chance....pretty easy on brakes and tires too. I am still on my first set of rs-3's and dtc-60's, with four track days and 10k plus street miles.. Yeah, I ma definitely gonna have to upgrade the intercooler soon, or plan on spiking with 110 octane....thats what I ended up doing at AMP to keep it from knocking.

I plan on being at RA in december, hopefullty I can jump up to DE2. If you end up not being able to run your car, I'll let you take me out in my car for a session if you want. Will you be instructing?

 

I think you should be in the 370's easily with your combo. I am still on the 9.8 stock turbo. I am hoping the cams shift allow me to hold a lot better up top. With the comp weight I am going for I need 347whp. I would have made that number on e85 alone, but the cams will help flatten out the curve.

I am leaning towards going and just instructing. I hate missing out on time at the track when I am able to take time off from work.