Speedtoys

Just a story.

Found at Sears Point yesterday that the alternator fan ate into my lower rad hose.

Dang..wondered why 3 laps brought on the coolant light..and the 'mist' of dried coolant under the hood...and makes sense why I was losing the rear of the car in the higher RPM turns..I was wetting down the track.

I had our Group4 leader in car with me..he was both thankful and pleased at how instant oversteer problems were dealt with at the bottom of 6, entrance to 8, and Exit of T1 up to T2. Not very friendly places to lose the rear of your car.


..I found a gash machined outta the hose where at idle, with system pressure it leaked..a steady drip.

Turned car off, released pressure, and touched the gash. Water poured out.

But not with pressure..

Called Bill Ball, recommendation..remove coolant cap, drive home without pressure.


And we did, for 2.5hrs. All was well, didnt lose a drop.


New hose, hose clamps, and damnit..a ZIP tie to be properly used this time.

kevinlieb

I guess you had a short ride home.

Sorry for the hijack but: how do you get to take your car around the track at Sears Point? I'm getting my 928 this evening and I'd like to take it up there one day and let it stretch its legs.

Speedtoys

http://www.nasanorcal.com/ Click HPDE.

Im an official..so it helps..but 1 or 2 sessions a year is all I need.

A 2.5hr drive with a thru cut in a hose, with the cap off...isnt a short ride.

Ondolinde

Thank you for posting this. The exact same thing just happened to me on the way to autocross at Thompson Speedway. I stopped by work to pick up my helmet, and when I came out, there was a steady drip from the front of the car and a growing puddle of green underneath.

Although I am hugely disappointed to miss a day hitting cones, I realize I am very fortunate that this happened here instead of getting stranded out in the middle of the Mass Pike and possibly causing more damage than just a hose.

Tomorrow I call Roger for a new hose, and will check the other hoses for potential problems wiait.

Thanks again Speedtoys and Bill Ball!

Speedtoys

Ya..make sure you install special factory part 999 513 010 40 when you get that new hose to prevent this from happening again.

What I didnt note in the original post, is that the alternator fan ate into the hose.

Richard S

Yep, that happened to me at Thunderhill a few years ago. The gash sprayed coolant all over the power steering belt, which caused it to slip, which caused the power steering to be more like manual steering. Definitely attention getting in the middle of Turn 2.

Check that the hose is zip-tied to the radiator shield, otherwise it can move just enough to hit the belt.

Rich

safulop

Nice save,

I seem to recall you blew the end off your radiator in 2010. . . bad luck with the cooling system, huh? At least this time around you drove it home.

-Sean

Speedtoys

The first disaster was to be expected..sat for 12yrs, and was seeping badly, with MANY tabs missing and epoxy added from previous repair attempts...just drove it every day..fixing as I went.

But ya..that hose was interesting..just noticed it only leaked if it sat long enough to have pressure...so..I fixed, the glitch.