24 Hours of Lemons

fiestafrank · Post by **fiestafrank** » September 4th, 2007, 10:54 pm

Please see our post in wanted to buy - we are also looking for technical help. What kind of mechanical faiilures can we expect racing a basically stock V6 for 24 hours straight? Are there weak points that we shoould look out for?

Also, how does someone get special permission to post parts for sale on thsi forum.

Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

2RotorsNaDream · Post by **2RotorsNaDream** » September 4th, 2007, 11:45 pm

You have to have 30 posts at least to list anything for sale. And I dont think any car is built for racing 24 hours straight, you may have to work it internally to do that.

TREVO123 · Post by **TREVO123** » September 5th, 2007, 1:23 am

if u do keep the fans wired on and pull the thermostat so it stays colder..

mr1in6billion · Post by **mr1in6billion** » September 5th, 2007, 4:53 am

Illa Killa wrote:And I dont think any car is built for racing 24 hours straight, you may have to work it internally to do that.

You've obviously never been to the 24 hours of lemons. 100 degree heat outside, 300K miles on the odometer, burning through corners, bouncing off the redline, and those bucket still last the full 12 hours.

Strip the car. By strip I mean the cabin should have one seat and a steering wheel. Strip the engine bay. By strip I mean leave a bare engine and an ecu. Take the battery out while you're at it, that thing weighs a ton. The coolant overflow can be replaced with an empty water bottle. Forget wiring the fans, just pull them out (it's not like you'll be stopped anywhere), don't forget to pull the fan wiring (and all the other wiring in the car too). That hatch has to come off (according to the rules since it has glass). All your lights and bumpers need to go also.

G'luck

fiestafrank · Post by **fiestafrank** » September 5th, 2007, 9:59 am

Thanks for the friendly advice. Actually a little more info was probably due on my part. Have raced Imporved Touring for years including 24 Hours of Nelson so I think we're fine on that part. What we don't know is what's prone to failure on MX3's.

For example, on my Fiesta I know a few things. Hubs are prone to breaking, outer 2 cylinders tend to run lean, oil pan requires baffling or starvation occurs, water pump cavitates at extended high rpms, motor mounts break which casues shifting problems as the linkage moves around etc etc etc

So, are their weak points on the MX3 V6. So far I've read posts about replacing timing chains (common to most vehicles) and water pump failures (glad I know about that ahead of time). What else should we look out for?

fiestafrank · Post by **fiestafrank** » September 5th, 2007, 10:15 am

And oh yes, the car is stripped and is being prepared to the limit of the rules

Post by **Mooneggs** » September 5th, 2007, 10:54 am

can you post some pics... I'm interested to see what it looks like!

Post by **Custommx3** » September 5th, 2007, 2:05 pm

Items prone to failure:

CV Joints

Distributor (see HEI mod for the fix)

fiestafrank · Post by **fiestafrank** » September 5th, 2007, 2:30 pm

Custommx3 - thanks for the advice, we'll look at changing the distributor before the race if we can fit it in within our $500 budget and if not, make sure we have the parts at the event.

Mooneggs - you can keep track of our build of the vehicle at http://www.formula-un.net - Just remember about half the site is tongue-in-cheek, the idea of this race is to have a ball, not beat the others into submission. At least that's our story and we're sticking to it. Plus, we've built our excuse for losing into the beginning.

In general, we see a pretty tough field. Although we feel great with our ride we've heard of 2 vehicles that will probably be class of the field. ! 91 Mirage with a 4G63 2.0L swap and an Achieva SCX with a 190HP Quad 4 (brutal fast but unrelaible)

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » September 5th, 2007, 2:46 pm

Just a follow up to the HEI mod.. its super cheap.. can be done for under $50 if you know where to get parts. Chev Chevette HEI module.. can even get these free out of a bone yard if you know a good one. Pretty much any 12v Coil. Though get one that is from a car that spins at least 8k RPM. And a MSD Power Tower. Your local race shop should have one for less than $10. And if done right.. is WAY more reliable than the stock distributor. The stock distributors are produced by Mitsubishi.. nuff said.

The alternators are also prone to failure.. slightly more often than you would expect from a car of higher mileage. Again.. produced by Mitsubishi.

The rear calipers on the GS model cars like to seize up. Again.. produced by Mitsubishi.

There are a couple of other minor things.. Timing belt tensioner.. they dont go bad very often.. but I have seen it.. dunno if I would bother tearing down to check it though in your shoes.

Valve cover gaskets.. these things are prone to leaking when they harden up. They like to leak oil into the spark plug holes which can cause the plug wires/plug to arc inside the hole. Not a lot of fun.

On higher mileage V6 engines, the PCV system practically pumps oil into the intake.. lots of folks run a custom "Catch Can" made up mostly from clear fuel filters (so they can see when to change them).

Tunes67

shameem · Post by **shameem** » September 5th, 2007, 3:43 pm

Adding crank position sensor, timing belt & waterpump to the list of things to atleast check if not replace.....

2RotorsNaDream · Post by **2RotorsNaDream** » September 5th, 2007, 11:45 pm

Swap in a KLDE and you should be able to kill that Mirage and run with whatever else is out there.

mr1in6billion · Post by **mr1in6billion** » September 6th, 2007, 12:44 am

They have a $500 budget, and that includes the price of the car, so unless people want to donate an engine I doubt he can afford the swap (unless it was already done).

fieromx3 · Post by **fieromx3** » September 6th, 2007, 1:27 am

i wouldnt say cv joints are a weakness i find mine ot be quite durable.. had KL engine for over a year.. multi 5k clutch dumps wheel hop and alot more and they were work perfect still

ignitor (hei) is definitly a weakness though if u get the GM module make sure its grounded GOOD run a wire directly from the neg battery terminal to the hei module it self i had probs blowing them b4 and did this and works awsome now relibility has gone way up

also get a genuine GM module not a ''knock off'' where y get from napa.. i find the GM ones have better reliability

Post by **Custommx3** » September 6th, 2007, 12:40 pm

He bought a car for $500, chances are hes not getting new CVs. @4 hours of driving will cause alot of heat..

Average 60mph in 24 hrs, thats over 1400 miles of constant wear and tear. It may not be top priority, but its something to consider.

Find someone local who has a CV warranty and swap them for free.. did I just say that?

Do the HEI mod, but do it RIGHT! take your time, cause if its not done right, it'll drive you nuts. Do it right, and you may gain a few ponies from having a weak OEM disty.