Motor gave up, but I didn't.

[5.2 liters of democracy]

Disclaimer: This is meant to be a fun thread, not one to argue about the Voodoo motor. Please don't do that.

Story time!

I remember watching the Nürburgring videos of this car when it was still wearing pre-production camouflage and absolutely fell in love. The problem was I was still in college and couldn't make it work. Fast forward a couple years I was able to purchase one after seeing it for the first time in Monterey. I decided whatever it took I was going to have it and drive it hard.

Once I got the car I started with multiple HPDE events per month and moved up until I started running Time Trials. I wedged it into NASA's TT3 class and was actually quite successful, having some wins under my belt. Unfortunately at Chuckwalla the motor let go on the first session of day 2. It had 8,000 miles on it with roughly half being on track. There was no indication it was going to go. Exiting turn 15 and going into 14 (we were running CCW) the motor simply gurgled and oil pressure started dropping. I pulled off into the dirt and got the car off before the pressure dropped fully. There was tons of smoke from coolant getting into the exhaust, but no sign of oil. After a two-hour round trip to the nearest Auto Zone because Chuckwalla in the middle of nowhere, I removed the oil pan bolt to a still warm stream of coolant before all the oil came out. Before you ask about warranty, I am the warranty.

Here I am smoking alone on the corner like a cool French guy. One of my track buddies I knew purely form IG sent this my way:

After some great friends who were also there competing in time trial in their Mustangs helped me get the car loaded up, I made the trip home to check the head gaskets thinking one had critically failed. Deciding to check things out before taking the head off, I turned the motor over by hand and cylinder 2 didn't move. Lovely. At this point I decided to pull the engine and tear it down myself. I've never pulled an engine. You know what is great about pulling an engine? Having power tools. If you haven't purchased an electric ratchet and plan on doing anything remotely as stupid as I did, invest $300 in one. All thank you payments can be send to my PayPal address [email protected].

So what's the carnage? Feast your eyes upon this:

My working theory is the rod bearing in cylinder #2 gave up and created an emergency exit in the block as shown above. In doing so, it caused rod bearing #6 to spin and create the awesome heat-treated rod you see above.

So what's next? Well I replace the engine. The Mustang track community rules and I had posted about my engine giving up which led to five different guys reaching out to me about an RPG built motor that was for sale. I reached out to the gentleman as we had already been following each other's track content and told him I would take it. Here's a highly NSFW picture of an undressed built motor:

The goal now is to get the car down around 3,350 pounds, grab some new seats, get the wing installed, and get the new built Voodoo motor into this for TT2:

Summary: Things break. Don't cry, fix them and go back stronger.

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[ARAMP1]

Awesome post...great attitude! Thanks for sharing. Good luck with the fix and happy new year!

 

[Ock]

oooofta

 

[pilotgore]

Disclaimer: This is meant to be a fun thread, not one to argue about the Voodoo motor. Please don't do that.

Story time!

I remember watching the Nürburgring videos of this car when it was still wearing pre-production camouflage and absolutely fell in love. The problem was I was still in college and couldn't make it work. Fast forward a couple years I was able to purchase one after seeing it for the first time in Monterey. I decided whatever it took I was going to have it and drive it hard.

Once I got the car I started with multiple HPDE events per month and moved up until I started running Time Trials. I wedged it into NASA's TT3 class and was actually quite successful, having some wins under my belt. Unfortunately at Chuckwalla the motor let go on the first session of day 2. It had 8,000 miles on it with roughly half being on track. There was no indication it was going to go. Exiting turn 15 and going into 14 (we were running CCW) the motor simply gurgled and oil pressure started dropping. I pulled off into the dirt and got the car off before the pressure dropped fully. There was tons of smoke from coolant getting into the exhaust, but no sign of oil. After a two-hour round trip to the nearest Auto Zone because Chuckwalla in the middle of nowhere, I removed the oil pan bolt to a still warm stream of coolant before all the oil came out. Before you ask about warranty, I am the warranty.

Here I am smoking alone on the corner like a cool French guy. One of my track buddies I knew purely form IG sent this my way:

After some great friends who were also there competing in time trial in their Mustangs helped me get the car loaded up, I made the trip home to check the head gaskets thinking one had critically failed. Deciding to check things out before taking the head off, I turned the motor over by hand and cylinder 2 didn't move. Lovely. At this point I decided to pull the engine and tear it down myself. I've never pulled an engine. You know what is great about pulling an engine? Having power tools. If you haven't purchased an electric ratchet and plan on doing anything remotely as stupid as I did, invest $300 in one. All thank you payments can be send to my PayPal address [email protected].

So what's the carnage? Feast your eyes upon this:

My working theory is the rod bearing in cylinder #2 gave up and created an emergency exit in the block as shown above. In doing so, it caused rod bearing #6 to spin and create the awesome heat-treated rod you see above.

So what's next? Well I replace the engine. The Mustang track community rules and I had posted about my engine giving up which led to five different guys reaching out to me about an RPG built motor that was for sale. I reached out to the gentleman as we had already been following each other's track content and told him I would take it. Here's a highly NSFW picture of an undressed built motor:

The goal now is to get the car down around 3,350 pounds, grab some new seats, get the wing installed, and get the new built Voodoo motor into this for TT2:

Summary: Things break. Don't cry, fix them and go back stronger.

Simple guys like me go for a simple valve drop on track, but you sir went for total destruction. I salute you and your excellent carnage!!

 

[stanglife]

Nice comeback! I get the feeling that this platform has attracted a lot more people to hit the track - and those miles are simply really hard on engines. I think in the 3-400hp range, most of these would last a LOT longer but at 500+ and 4000ish track miles...you're on borrowed time, Voodoo or not.

I wonder if anyone would dare just STOP tracking about 2500 miles and inspect the bearings, if nothing else was apparently wrong with the motor? I know, hard to tear down a functional engine...but I know engines like in the E90 M3 are prone to bearing failure and it's almost considered a standard maintenance item for them.

 

[5.2 liters of democracy]

Simple guys like me go for a simple valve drop on track, but you sir went for total destruction. I salute you and your excellent carnage!!

I was very determined to have an engine block coffee table

 

[pilotgore]

I was very determined to have an engine block coffee table

A coffee table and a great story. The journey is the reward!!

 

[5.2 liters of democracy]

Nice comeback! I get the feeling that this platform has attracted a lot more people to hit the track - and those miles are simply really hard on engines. I think in the 3-400hp range, most of these would last a LOT longer but at 500+ and 4000ish track miles...you're on borrowed time, Voodoo or not.

I wonder if anyone would dare just STOP tracking about 2500 miles and inspect the bearings, if nothing else was apparently wrong with the motor? I know, hard to tear down a functional engine...but I know engines like in the E90 M3 are prone to bearing failure and it's almost considered a standard maintenance item for them.

I second that, but also would say the S197 played a huge role in bringing interest too. All my track buddies have S197s and S550s of all ranges. Spectacular platforms and even better people!

 

[stanglife]

It might be common knowledge but have there been any changes in the build from OEM on the new shortblock? PS - you saved a TON of money avoiding the valvetrain failure that was surely soon to follow! I'd take extra care to make sure no debris made its way up there.

Spoke too soon - I just noticed the followers in your picture. Hope damage was minimal!

 

[matthewr87]

If I were to make a coffee table out of that engine, I would utilize the Japanese philosophy of Kintsugi (an extension of Wabi Sabi) and utilize gold paint to fill in and highlight the damage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi

 

[luc]

Disclaimer: This is meant to be a fun thread, not one to argue about the Voodoo motor. Please don't do that.

Story time!

I remember watching the Nürburgring videos of this car when it was still wearing pre-production camouflage and absolutely fell in love. The problem was I was still in college and couldn't make it work. Fast forward a couple years I was able to purchase one after seeing it for the first time in Monterey. I decided whatever it took I was going to have it and drive it hard.

Once I got the car I started with multiple HPDE events per month and moved up until I started running Time Trials. I wedged it into NASA's TT3 class and was actually quite successful, having some wins under my belt. Unfortunately at Chuckwalla the motor let go on the first session of day 2. It had 8,000 miles on it with roughly half being on track. There was no indication it was going to go. Exiting turn 15 and going into 14 (we were running CCW) the motor simply gurgled and oil pressure started dropping. I pulled off into the dirt and got the car off before the pressure dropped fully. There was tons of smoke from coolant getting into the exhaust, but no sign of oil. After a two-hour round trip to the nearest Auto Zone because Chuckwalla in the middle of nowhere, I removed the oil pan bolt to a still warm stream of coolant before all the oil came out. Before you ask about warranty, I am the warranty.

Here I am smoking alone on the corner like a cool French guy. One of my track buddies I knew purely form IG sent this my way:

After some great friends who were also there competing in time trial in their Mustangs helped me get the car loaded up, I made the trip home to check the head gaskets thinking one had critically failed. Deciding to check things out before taking the head off, I turned the motor over by hand and cylinder 2 didn't move. Lovely. At this point I decided to pull the engine and tear it down myself. I've never pulled an engine. You know what is great about pulling an engine? Having power tools. If you haven't purchased an electric ratchet and plan on doing anything remotely as stupid as I did, invest $300 in one. All thank you payments can be send to my PayPal address [email protected].

So what's the carnage? Feast your eyes upon this:

My working theory is the rod bearing in cylinder #2 gave up and created an emergency exit in the block as shown above. In doing so, it caused rod bearing #6 to spin and create the awesome heat-treated rod you see above.

So what's next? Well I replace the engine. The Mustang track community rules and I had posted about my engine giving up which led to five different guys reaching out to me about an RPG built motor that was for sale. I reached out to the gentleman as we had already been following each other's track content and told him I would take it. Here's a highly NSFW picture of an undressed built motor:

The goal now is to get the car down around 3,350 pounds, grab some new seats, get the wing installed, and get the new built Voodoo motor into this for TT2:

Summary: Things break. Don't cry, fix them and go back stronger.

Like your corkscrew picture

 

[BryanCO]

Ouch! Go big or go home.

Great attitude, btw.

 

[5.2 liters of democracy]

It might be common knowledge but have there been any changes in the build from OEM on the new shortblock? PS - you saved a TON of money avoiding the valvetrain failure that was surely soon to follow! I'd take extra care to make sure no debris made its way up there.

Spoke too soon - I just noticed the followers in your picture. Hope damage was minimal!

On the gen 4? I'm not too sure.

As far as the valvetrain is concerned, those lifters were found loose in the heads but surprisingly the heads seem unscathed internally. I need to get them professionally inspected before I can say for sure though.

 

[Last One]

Great story and pics. Best of luck and happy motoring.

 

[TonyNJ]

Disclaimer: This is meant to be a fun thread, not one to argue about the Voodoo motor. Please don't do that.

Story time!

I remember watching the Nürburgring videos of this car when it was still wearing pre-production camouflage and absolutely fell in love. The problem was I was still in college and couldn't make it work. Fast forward a couple years I was able to purchase one after seeing it for the first time in Monterey. I decided whatever it took I was going to have it and drive it hard.

Once I got the car I started with multiple HPDE events per month and moved up until I started running Time Trials. I wedged it into NASA's TT3 class and was actually quite successful, having some wins under my belt. Unfortunately at Chuckwalla the motor let go on the first session of day 2. It had 8,000 miles on it with roughly half being on track. There was no indication it was going to go. Exiting turn 15 and going into 14 (we were running CCW) the motor simply gurgled and oil pressure started dropping. I pulled off into the dirt and got the car off before the pressure dropped fully. There was tons of smoke from coolant getting into the exhaust, but no sign of oil. After a two-hour round trip to the nearest Auto Zone because Chuckwalla in the middle of nowhere, I removed the oil pan bolt to a still warm stream of coolant before all the oil came out. Before you ask about warranty, I am the warranty.

Here I am smoking alone on the corner like a cool French guy. One of my track buddies I knew purely form IG sent this my way:

After some great friends who were also there competing in time trial in their Mustangs helped me get the car loaded up, I made the trip home to check the head gaskets thinking one had critically failed. Deciding to check things out before taking the head off, I turned the motor over by hand and cylinder 2 didn't move. Lovely. At this point I decided to pull the engine and tear it down myself. I've never pulled an engine. You know what is great about pulling an engine? Having power tools. If you haven't purchased an electric ratchet and plan on doing anything remotely as stupid as I did, invest $300 in one. All thank you payments can be send to my PayPal address [email protected].

So what's the carnage? Feast your eyes upon this:

My working theory is the rod bearing in cylinder #2 gave up and created an emergency exit in the block as shown above. In doing so, it caused rod bearing #6 to spin and create the awesome heat-treated rod you see above.

So what's next? Well I replace the engine. The Mustang track community rules and I had posted about my engine giving up which led to five different guys reaching out to me about an RPG built motor that was for sale. I reached out to the gentleman as we had already been following each other's track content and told him I would take it. Here's a highly NSFW picture of an undressed built motor:

The goal now is to get the car down around 3,350 pounds, grab some new seats, get the wing installed, and get the new built Voodoo motor into this for TT2:

Summary: Things break. Don't cry, fix them and go back stronger.

The new motor, is that still a flat plane or are you switching to cross? Will you be continuing this thread throughout the rebuild till you're back in action? I'll be tuned in. You're a savage.

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