Spiffyjiff

ok, let the ridiculing begin:

range 1: 5052; 1006.9h
range 2: 865; 1006.9h
range 3: 498; 955.7h
range 4: 371; 955.6h
range 5: 313; 615.2h
range 6: 3; 615.2h

(what do "1006.9h", "615.2h", etc mean??)

i have 30k miles on the car, 20+ track days, 10 autocrosses.

in my own half-assed defense, let me just say that as a noob on my first session of my first DE 2 years ago, i did the money shift from 3rd to 2nd down the main straight at summit point. not that this explanation helps anything, save for a modicum of pride, but i'm just hoping that incident accounts for most if not all of ranges 2-6, and that i havent been an idiot otherwise. (shaky theory, i know but it's all i have! btw, i'm prob responsible for most of range 1, as i do bounce off the rev limiter from time to time.)

i had the scan as part of my 4yr svc. tech said the old plugs looked great, engine felt strong and smooth, and sounded fine. he noted no other problems. he holds the opinion that the upper ranges can cause big problems but if symptoms aren't evident immediately, it's a relatively safe bet that the engine is fine (read: "hopefully i dodged a bullet").

anyone else care to share their ("BAD"!) DME's??

cviles

The "1006.9h" and "615.2h" is the approximate time the last ignition occurred in each range. The DME keeps a tally of the number of hours the motor has been running; the current count should also be part of your scan. So, "1006.9" means in the 1009th hour and approximately 54th minute of engine operation your car had its last one of 5052 ignitions in range 1. And your motor had been running for 391.7 hours since your last range 5 & 6 ignitions when that ignition happened.

Spiffyjiff

oh great, that means i HAVE been an idiot since the money shift (as i'm assuming range 5-6 happened 2yrs ago...BUT obviously with the logic above, the last instances of range 3-4 happened since.)

gota911

^ Correct.

You were very lucky that your inadvertent downshift didn't turn into a "money shift" which would/could have cost you $12K to $15K for a new engine. Your latest "visit" to Ranges 3 & 4 didn't happen too long ago, assuming you have approximately 1010 hours on the car now.

997_rich

Can someone clarify:

1. You only get these markers in the DME when you downshift/engine-brake beyond the rev limiter, Right? If you throttled high you could never get to these RPMS because you'd hit the rev limiter.

2. The damage occurs when the the valve springs don't pull the valves down fast enough and the pistons kiss off on the valves, right?

3. No concerns over hitting the rev limiter on this car through throttling when the engine is warm and everything is healthy. I hit the rev limiter on my bike every once and a while and there's no danger there- wondering if it's true for p-cars.

thanks!

Jim Michaels

rich: I've hit the rev limiter by failing to shift up in time on track about 10 times. The result of that is 2706 ignitions in range 1, and none in any other range. Being slow to recognize and respond to the rev-limiter may produce ignitions in a higher range, but my guess is that you'd be hard pressed to get ignitions in the upper ranges from hitting the rev limiter under throttle.

Be careful downshifting; I have down-shifted into a lower gear than intended (yes, it will easily go there), but realized my mistake before letting the clutch out. I kept the clutch in until I found the right gear. I did the same thing in my M3 one time too.

gota911

Rich,

Jim is correct, you CAN get revs in the lower ranges 1, 2, and possibly 3 by bouncing off the rev limiter when accelerating. This is because the engine has momentum and keeps increasing in revs even after the rev limiter has cut off the fuel supply.

997_rich

Gotcha, thanks. And the damage? the damage is from the pistons and the valves getting to first or second base for kissing heavy petting? I can't image that it's from oil starvation.