Friday was the first day of 3 race weekend here in Portland. I had gone out and practiced on Thursday with ProDrive. My last session in about 80 degree weather I had a 1:26.5 and felt my setup was pretty good. Friday at 9AM went out to Q1 with stickers in 65 degree temp. On lap two I could feel fluid under my feet in the foot pan, thinking it was brake fluid. I got to a 27.5 and after trying to improve unsuccessfully after ten laps I came in. Saw zero warning signs from AIM on my dash. Pulled into the scales and noticed that my temp was 225-I had not seen any temps displayed the entire session. Guess I had scrolled through to a non display page. In the pits we discovered that I had no coolant in the tank and my overflow bottle had been over flowing(the fluid I was feeling lap2). We then found that my alternator belt was gone. Danny, from our pit walked down to the T12 turn station and was told by one of the workers that they had seen my belt come off my first time around. So, I went 10 laps with no water pump. Data showed that the temps were 240-250 degrees the entire session. My guys then checked everything on the engine and tightened up some bolts that were loose. They epoxied one fitting and let it cure over night. Filled it up with coolant and started the engine and let it idle. They then pressure checked the system and it lost a little pressure but appeared to be OK.

Saturday I went out and qualified 7th and finished 4th. We had 15 GEN2’s and I think 16 GEN3’s. Was quite the turnout for our last race of the year. Notable addition in the GEN2’s was Calvin Harris, son of Hot Rod Todd Harris. Calvin is 15 and just learned to drive a stick shift this summer. I think we will be seeing Calvin improving !

Impressive that the engine survived those temps and ran well the next day.

jim flynn wrote:Saw zero warning signs from AIM on my dash.

Which AIM unit do you have? I thought it was pretty standard to set up an alternator alarm from the CAN connection.

I have their data system with the formula wheel. I think it was operator (me) error! I now have an alarm light for lower voltage. Last April, after having my radiator replaced, I went out first time and an alarm light went on my first lap out. I watched the temp go over 210 while on the back straight and shut off the engine and coasted back in. We "burped" the system and everything was fine.

I have lights set on my MXL for both low voltage (at <13v) and excess water temperature (>220) and they both helped me recognize a thrown belt within two corners and I shut down the car immediately and was able to coast back to the pits. Just watching the display would not be sufficient, especially in the heat of battle, to get your attention. Perhaps the alarm lights were not configured correctly to kick in (e.g. setting the minimum RPM too high)? That said, I dyno'd the motor after the event to see if there was any damage and I gained 1.5 hp (baseline dyno was early in the break-in cycle).

breton wrote:I dyno'd the motor after the event to see if there was any damage and I gained 1.5 hp (baseline dyno was early in the break-in cycle).

If your dyno is anything like the one that my CSR has, I have to believe that 1.5 hp delta was measured, but that doesn't mean your engine necessarily gained more power.

Different tires, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, ambient temperature, brake rotors, as well as dyno repeatability can all find 1.5 hp without even trying. This list is not all-inclusive either, as you mentioned, the engine is probably broken in completely on the second run, which contributes as well.

This past weekend I had a loooong off-track trip and packed the screen full of grass. The 1.9 would have been over 230 within 2 laps, but the 1.6 never went over 201 degrees. This thing runs very cool.

Looks like you really got your Gen3 running well Greg from the results last weekend! Good show!
Most of us have found out that the Gen3 runs cooler than our old Gen2's. More margin for error for grass collecting?

Yup, this new engine keeps it cool, boy howdy. That said, you'll want to immediately know if the alternator belt has departed for parts known, or unknown.

Unfortunately, since Chassis 1 in 1983, the Spec Racer OEM Alternator Light has been what I call the Woody Allen Warning Lamp -- "Ah, um, excuse me, ah, yes...it appears that your alternator is presently, um, at the time, how do you put it -- not functioning, so maybe it's a capital idea to perhaps park somewhere convenient?"

Can anyone report a credible sighting of one of those things visibly glowing outside of a dim garage or dark alley?

Anyway, this past weekend I replaced the Woody Allen with a 1/2-inch Wanda Sykes, "Hey Chief, your alternator belt is bouncing into Flag Station Six! For F's sake, stop!" Obnoxious, but you can't ignore her.

I also set a low voltage alarm on my data dash display (12.7 volts). So, if both warning lights go off, I'm pretty damn sure I threw the belt. If only the data dash light is flashing, and not the panel lamp, I''ll keep an eye on the water temp and try to keep going on battery power.

I think there is a cut out page in the PE3 ecu. It can be set to cut fuel and or timing (just like rev. limiter) You can set it to a water temp and when it gets to that temp it will let you know by cutting fuel and or timing. Not sure why it is not used. Maybe our ecu does not have that capability. I'm sure Mike D. knows.