Don't worry boys - not from excessive speeding (not yet anyways) - this was quite the opposite...

So I had a weird day. I went up to the Air Field west of Shelburn (too windy to fly) and on my way back I hammer the gas (nothing out of the ordinary) and the throttle cable snaps....this is the second time this has happened.

Without any tools or jack, I called trusty CAA Plus and they towed me right home.

Within 15 minutes, I had it repaired and was testing WOT. I take it out for a test run and she seems to work well with the set-up until suddenly I lose ALL power and the engines dies out. Clutch in, pull over. Try to crank it and it turns but the RPMs are at 0.

Again... no tools... but at least this time I was only a 20 minute walk from my place. I find it too weird that this totally unrelated situation has occurred. With my fingers, I unscrew the panel to my DME - swap the relay for a new one and also change the fuel pump relay. She fires up immediately with gusto, but sounds a bit different and is idling a bit higher.

I engage the clutch and begin the short distance home, but something seems off. I shift into second, get on the gas, and HOLY CRAP, I nearly lose the back end under unexpected and extreme acceleration.

I shift into third and the torque feels about twice that it was before today's second break down.

I rip up and down Weston trying to keep the back end in under acceleration in first and second. WTF is going on? Why is my car so much faster now? Could the DME relay have been faulty or old, causing it to be sluggish?

I was noticing the last few thousand kms that it seemed a bit sluggish, but I though it was just psychological since I chipped the Audi and started the riding season on a 1000 cc V-Twin bike....

Any suggestions? Did someone bore it out to a 3.8L and put in race gas when I wasn't looking?

 

Just a thought... Perhaps your old throttle cable was adjusted to not let you go to full WOT. Did you drive it far enough the second time to notice the difference?

I should have replied:

"I saw your car on the side of the road and I made a few adjustments. The bill is in the mail."

 

The more I analyze the more likely that was the issue. However, I tested the WOT the last time (it's not rocket science) and the motor would still rev up to red line.

Oh well, I'm not complaining now!!

 

James, you should post this over on the pelican 911 tech forum - you'll get some of the most knowledgable people helping you out there (not that the guys here aren't!). I'm not too familiar with DMEs (my car predates those) but if I understand them, it could be a different chip in the spare that was calibrated to provide more power. The factory chips are set for a balance of performance and efficiency/emissions, I think.

And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that weird things do often crop up in pairs, so you have one problem, fix it, and all of a sudden another one turns up at the same time. When I pulled my gas tank out 2 weeks ago to clean it, I reinstalled it, put a few litres of gas in and drove to the gas station. Just about 50m shy the car died. I though no big deal, I just ran out of gas. Walked over and bought a jerry can, filled it and put it in the tank. No start. Turns out my battery ground was loose. Just coincidence it happened at the same time, but still frustrating.

 

Another thought... Usually before a cable breaks, it stretches, so it may have been out of adjustment for a while. It may have also been rubbing somewhere or binding and preventing full WOT.

Consider that even at 3/4 throttle, you still may be able to rev all the way to redline depending on the car...