Haven’t been starting her for nearly 2 weeks and its kinda hard to get cranking. I was thinking maybe the battery was weak, so i jumped start and was all ok. But i have a feeling that the engine sounded abnormal. Maybe, maybe not. I took it for a spin and ok no problem there. At the same time i was getting ready some parts for the engine swap.
I bought a set of used CP pistons for the new build. Pistons not in the best condition due to high timing that was tuned before. The surface of the pistons was rough but its all good for my build.
One day, Ryan request permission to make some video content on his YouTube channel featuring FX. I was fine with it but I still felt the engine is not performing the way it should. But what the hell, if its gonna blow up, its about time. haha. Touchwood!
After 2 weeks, i washed her and waited for him to arrive. And so he came and drove it away. I hope he will have fun driving.
Before Ryan starts to review, he went back to his factory and check the her weight. To my amaze, she weighed at 970kg, which i always thought would be more that 1 tonne. Thats a good benchmark for me to get her next weight after I remove some things in the next build.
Then i got a call from Ryan saying yhe engine stalled and wont start. So i drove up and see whats happening. He said its seems like the battery is weak. I guessed so too. Lets see whats the problem.
When i arrived, i tried to jump start her. It was a few tries until it got started again. And the sound wasnt normal like how it used to be. Wet carbon vomiting out from the muffler. Thats weird. I told him to carry on and will be following behind in case it happens again.
After 15 minutes while Ryan was doing some full throttle revs, i saw some thick smoke from the muffler. So i drove over to his side and i heard a loud clicking sound. I immediately told him to stop at the side.
Upon checking, the water temp as described by Ryan went up to 120 degree celcius and this caused an overheating. I saw one of the stopper hose had gone missing and causing water leaks while he was driving. The stopper probably has been hardened by hot engine and water for the past few months. This is normal because its rubber. Silicone stopper for future use will not see this problem arise.
So we left her on the roadside and went back to my garage. The tow truck will bring her back in an hour. How did i feel? Normal for me. It was bound to happen, just a matter of when. Engines made for race will not last long. Thats why its best to check the engine after a race event to make sure everything still good to go.
Its not easy to see my favourite car not in good shape but thats what drives me to make it stronger and better. While the FX going down the tow truck, the bumper lips was damaged and a sharp object punctured the front Toyo R1R. Fortunately its a few years old and time to get a new set for the next event.
A few days passed and im free to pull out the engine. At the same time, will be pulling out the original engine harness and replace with a custom harness which will be shorter and tidier to look at.
Didnt take long for me to disassemble the whole engine and see whats the problem. The main and rod bearings are still in good condition, no signs of bad won off. But the pistons are not usable anymore.
Pistons skirts are all damaged, rubbing the block liners. This may be caused by high ignition timing and also excessive engine heat. OEM cast piston does not have long lifespan unless its used for factory engine. The edge of the pistons are starting to have melting look. Piston #3 has crack between rings. Oh well, gonna make them as ashtrays now.
The head has seen good days and now its RIP. Im sure the overheating issue came from the cracks in between the valves. This head is now unusable but i already have the CNC ported head replacement.
Lets not cry over this and move on to a stronger engine.
Corolla FX GT Journey 