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I spent the weekend at Roebling Road with three other buddies. They were driving.....
Porsche GT3
Z06 Corvette with 433 WHP
Nissan 350Z (stock)
With the RMW tune, I damaged a lot of egos this weekend. The GT3 and Corvette would blow my doors off on the straight away and even the 350 would pull on me a bit but it was only a matter of a few turns and I was on them like ants to a picnic.
The mini handled FLAWLESSLY. I was on their butt so hard that no matter what turn they came to, I was there. It was only a matter of time before they'd have to give me the point by just so I'd quit riding their butts.
Absolutely fantastic.
Now for the downside. I scalded that car so hard this weekend, this happened.
Apparently the heat shield deflected the heat to the valvecover and completely melted the end. (I should have taken a pic of it with the heatshield off...the end was melted bad)
I drove back from the track and by the time I got to my buddy's house 25 minutes away and by then, it was warped enough to leak oil.
I guess it was my fault. After a session on the track, I typically would pull it in and open the hood. Apparently, I should have pulled it in, opened the hood and let it run for 5-10 minutes to cool it off.
It ended up melting the air intake tube, the valvecover and wiring harness. (not to mention completely burning a hole in the kevlar padding on the heat shield.
The car ran like a raped aped but damn, completely didn't see this coming.
I had to leave the car in SC and ride up with a buddy. On the bright side, it will be towed to Charleston Mini who is much more mod friendly than my local dealer. While it's in the shop, I'll have them to the timing chain tensioner bulletin update.
Oh well....
Mark
__________________
You know you're a racer if...When you refer to everything in life unmodified as "stock" or “factory.” OSCAR’S REBUILD
To clarify; was this the MINI installed heat shield or an addition to prevent hood scoop warp?
Has the hood scoop warped?
__________________ 28April2008, 'Trixy' Cooper Automatic+Sunroof+AutoAir+HiFi+CruiseControl+15" Rotator Six Spoke
Mods: European Center Armrest+Wet Okole w/Lumbars over 4" Memory Foam(see Gallery)+XM-Radio+ScanGauge II
(not to mention completely burning a hole in the kevlar padding on the heat shield.
Holy god! Kevlar shouldn't decompose until it gets to the ever so toasty range of 750F or so I suppose it's no wonder so much damage was done.
I guess I just have to wonder though...MINI designed these cars to handle well and aggressively in the twisties. A bazillion MINIs have been auto-x'd by now. Is this an isolated event to your car? Were you really driving it that much harder than anyone else?
I hope your repairs are easily done and that there are no lasting effects.
__________________
2010 PW/PW MCSm - as MINImalistic as I could stand: Xenons, Cold Weather, Rear Fogs
Well I could have been that he wasn't getting good air flow. But he could have been redlining like it was cool. These cars are ment to be reliable under normal conditions not under race conditions. But hey you live and you learn. I guess now its run it balls out for 20-30 minutes and let it sit for 5 or see if can increase the air flow.
The heat comes from the TurboCharger which is cooled both by engine coolant and engine oil circulating through while engine is running.
The MINI Engine does have a special pump to keep coolant flowing for a while after shutdown, but not oil (which can 'coke' on the shaft/bearings from heat).
So, it is a good idea to allow the engine to idle for at least three minutes after any 'intensive' run, before shutdown. You can include any 'gentle driving' in this 'cool-down' time.
__________________ 28April2008, 'Trixy' Cooper Automatic+Sunroof+AutoAir+HiFi+CruiseControl+15" Rotator Six Spoke
Mods: European Center Armrest+Wet Okole w/Lumbars over 4" Memory Foam(see Gallery)+XM-Radio+ScanGauge II
No offensive: this whole heat shield/turbo glove thing simply doesn't make any sense.
Which part doesn't make sense? The heatshield is installed to keep the hood scoop from warping under normal driving conditions.
It's a pretty common problem with Minis.... regardless whether they are stock or tracked.
Unfortunately, the heat shield didn't like that much heat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Porthos
Well I could have been that he wasn't getting good air flow. But he could have been redlining like it was cool. These cars are ment to be reliable under normal conditions not under race conditions. But hey you live and you learn. I guess now its run it balls out for 20-30 minutes and let it sit for 5 or see if can increase the air flow.
I think you hit it on the head. I SHOULD have let it idle for a few minutes to keep the flow going until it cools down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by C H I C K L E T
Sorry to see oc! What heatshield is that? The M7 aerogel?
Yep... sure was.
I wonder if they'll warranty it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotart
The heat comes from the TurboCharger which is cooled both by engine coolant and engine oil circulating through while engine is running.
The MINI Engine does have a special pump to keep coolant flowing for a while after shutdown, but not oil (which can 'coke' on the shaft/bearings from heat).
That is my biggest fear... damage done to the turbo or bearings. I mentioned this to the SA and he said they'd pull the oil lines going into the turbo. If they are coked on the inside, they'd replace everything, if not, we're cool. (I hope)
Mark
__________________
You know you're a racer if...When you refer to everything in life unmodified as "stock" or “factory.” OSCAR’S REBUILD
Last edited by orangecrush; 11-09-2009 at 10:18 AM.
Which part doesn't make sense? The heatshield is installed to keep the hood scoop from warping under normal driving conditions.
It's a pretty common problem with Minis.... regardless whether they are stock or tracked.
Unfortunately, the heat shield didn't like that much heat.
It's a paradox : heat shield are usually installed together with nice engine mod. But then people with engine mod/performance upgrade tend to drive harder than normal (outside of normal driving conditions).
To clarify; was this the MINI installed heat shield or an addition to prevent hood scoop warp?
Has the hood scoop warped?
Sorry, not sure if I clarified this answer.... yes, it was an addition to prevent the hood scoop warp. I used the M7 aerogel heatshield.
I have no warpage on the hood scoop since I would open the hood as soon as I parked... (just failed to leave the car running long enough to cool down.)
LESSON LEARNED!!!
__________________
You know you're a racer if...When you refer to everything in life unmodified as "stock" or “factory.” OSCAR’S REBUILD
I was under the impression that the S and JCW already have a cooling system that continues to operate after the engine shuts off.
I suspect the issue is that the heat shield trapped the heat in the engine compartment, or reflected it back to the engine.
A quick idea: how about wire an extra sensor close to heat shield and feed the temp readout to Mini's factory turbo timer?
But this sort of solution won't help if the damage is partially made during hard driving(e.g. the engine ECU/temp sensor doesn't take care of the rising temp around the heat shield/turbo area in the engine bay).
Last edited by nickminir56; 11-09-2009 at 01:23 PM.
Ya but what a turbo timer does is keep the car running to help cool off everything based on the condition on how hard the engine ran. It will keep blowing air and circulate coolant through the motor also. And in doing that it will prevent the turbo from seizing. The car kinda already does it but its not enough.
Orangecrush, sorry to hear about the problem but since the car is at the dealership, have them check the valve cover and PCV/oil seperator.
About a year ago, the morning after a track day, my car started and ran really rough. Seemed to run on only two cylinders, stalled and a plume of white smoke came out of the tail pipe.
Turned out there was oil sludge accumulation under the valve cover and the cylinder head gasket, valve seals, valve guides and valve cover had to be replaced due to the PCV/oil seperator allowing oil into the intake. This seemed to do the trick for me.
I've also had the timing chain fix done and the car is a rocket on the track.
Be sure to ask them to check the valve cover and PCV/oil seperator as this was redesigned. Also have the check the low pressure fuel supply hose since they found that this contributed to the misting I had on my motor.
Haven't had any problem since but I really take it easy on the cool down lap and try to let the car sit for a bit with the motor running after each session. Don't know if this helps but it can't hurt.
Good luck and keep us posted on what they find as the culprit.
You did keep up with the G3 but I'm guessing he didn't burn up his shield/valvecover so I guess you can look at it 2 ways as to who won that race lol. Is there any way the heat shield contributed to the heat damage (I don't know where it goes under there)? Sounds like you're fortunate to get warranty to cover that stuff.
__________________ April 07:MCS SS/B/Tuscan Beige/Cream colorline interior/Manual/Conv Pkg/Premium Pkg/17" Flame Spoke/LSD/Chrome Line/English Oak/Xenon/HiFi/Anthracite Headliner. African Blackwood/Amboyna burl inlay shift knob and ebrake handle by Robin Casady (see my gallery) 19mm H-sport rear asb, Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grid non-RF tires. HTC Incredible phone.
You did keep up with the G3 but I'm guessing he didn't burn up his shield/valvecover so I guess you can look at it 2 ways as to who won that race lol. Is there any way the heat shield contributed to the heat damage (I don't know where it goes under there)? Sounds like you're fortunate to get warranty to cover that stuff.
LOL, win the battle, lose the war, huh?
Honestly, I don't think any of this would have happened had I done a cooldown lap or at least let it run for a while afterwards. Unfortunately, I was in it right up until one of our members (who shall remain nameless Ben) got the run blackflagged.
I didn't hear back from the dealership today but will give an update when I hear something.
Mark
__________________
You know you're a racer if...When you refer to everything in life unmodified as "stock" or “factory.” OSCAR’S REBUILD
With the RMW tune, I damaged a lot of egos this weekend. The GT3 and Corvette would blow my doors off on the straight away and even the 350 would pull on me a bit but it was only a matter of a few turns and I was on them like ants to a picnic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by orangecrush
The mini handled FLAWLESSLY. I was on their butt so hard that no matter what turn they came to, I was there. It was only a matter of time before they'd have to give me the point by just so I'd quit riding their butts.
Those statements remind me of the ant and the elephant joke. I'll try to keep it somewhat clean in the interest of a public forum but it goes something like this...
An ant pulls a thorn out of an elephants foot. The elephant is so relieved she says she'll do anything to repay the ant. "Well" says the ant..."I always have wanted to have sex with an elephant". "OK"...says the elephant so the ant climbs onto the elephant and proceeds to do his business. About that time a coconut falls on the elephants head and the elephant screams "OUCH!!". "Yeah, that's right....take it all #$@%!!" says the ant triumphantly.
I guess what I'm saying is that I doubt seeing you in the rearview mirror damaged any egos ...it's cool you had fun though and I'm sorry to hear about the melted valve cover!
I thought the only time they replaced the chain tensioner item was if it was actually broken. I didn't know they took care of it as a recall item. I had my Mini at the dealer for the rattle and they never replaced anything because they said the noise came from my cai rattleing against the strut brace.
To clarify; was this the MINI installed heat shield or an addition to prevent hood scoop warp? 
28April2008, 'Trixy' Cooper Automatic+Sunroof+AutoAir+HiFi+CruiseControl+15" Rotator Six Spoke
I suppose it's no wonder so much damage was done. 
It's a paradox : heat shield are usually installed together with nice engine mod. But then people with engine mod/performance upgrade tend to drive harder than normal (outside of normal driving conditions).
April 07:MCS SS/B/Tuscan Beige/Cream colorline interior/Manual/Conv Pkg/Premium Pkg/17" Flame Spoke/LSD/Chrome Line/English Oak/Xenon/HiFi/Anthracite Headliner. African Blackwood/Amboyna burl inlay shift knob and ebrake handle by Robin Casady (see my gallery) 19mm H-sport rear asb, Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grid non-RF tires. HTC Incredible phone.
...it's cool you had fun though and I'm sorry to hear about the melted valve cover!
