Had a great BAT day today at Dony. After a lunch time repair to the altenator cable all was well. Then I checked my mirror at Craners to see nothing but smoke. Very rapid braking, across the grass, and the marshall came and put it out. I could see a small fire through the driver side wheel burning on the under tray. The car is now covered in pink/white dust. I have an oil leak but i am not sure where it is coming from. The talc all over the engine bay shows a spray of oil. There must have been a puddle of it the undertray which caught light. There is even a spray of oil on the smoked plastic lid, just above the centre of the throttle bodies. I can also see a trail of oil near all of the little breather pipes near the throttle bodies. The cam seals (at least on the exposed ends) are dry. I can see a spray of oil on the rear subframe as well. Oil level is ok, did not lose much, no oil in the coolant. Of course, it is a vhpd s1.
Any wise ideas where the leak is from, given the spray i assume it must have been under pressure? Or can the turbulance in the air in the engine bay cause the same effect?
Importantly, no damage has been done to the car. The marshall got a shock when he tried to squirt the extinguisher through the rear fog light grill, being blocked off he got a face full of powder.
All cleaned up. Looks like oil was either leaking from the cam cover or from the frame which holds the cams in place. I will check the torque but it looks like new gaskets are needed. The oil trickled down the front of the engine, built up on the undertray and eventually caught alight. Engine starts and runs ok but smoke quickly started coming off the exhaust manifold. So it looks like the oil leak is at a few points round the cam holder, front and back. Odd how they have suddenly appeared.
Need to get the car on ramps to check for damage to other pipes and hoses but they all look ok.
I was a bit concerned for you at craners with smoke out the back … pleased to hear the oil leak is not too bad.
I would still check the oil cooler pipes at the filter head just to be sure as those have been a source of issue before …
It was a great day, mostly spent full on the gas with no traffic. I certainly will get it all checked. Just working out who I trust to touch it. Probably Gav in Burton on trent or Tollbar Racing in Darley Dale. It will be going there on the back of a truck.
Car is back from Dyno Tech in Ripley where it could be checked for leaks on their dyno. No oil leak from the engine, it was the inner driver shaft CV gaiter (which got toasted in the fire) that must have split or got too hot and dropped its oil/grease staight on to the exhaust. That also explains the oil spray, high speed and high temp the grease/oil will spray out of the driveshaft everywhere I found it, including high up on the engine and the boot lid.
No damage done to the car and the car now has a heat shield between the exhaust and the driveshaft, custom Dyno Tech design.
I have installed a foam extinguisher from JC Race and Rally. It is their own label but clearly a Lifeline product. It fitted onto bosses already on the floor. I may fit a plumbed in system over the winter, it is just a stop gap.
Many thanks.The car is fully fixed with no damage at all. Work and diary clashes mean no more track days this year so it is tucked up until 2016…which is a total pain.
Glad that it sounds like you’re getting it sorted.