So I blew that up last night as well...

I was brake boosting for a race against BriGuyMax's Z and got a little detonation while I was brake boosting which is strange because I only saw like .6-.7 bar while brake boosting, but I heard the telltale pops and arythmia of the engine. It only occurred for a max of maybe a second and a half, more like a second probably. I let off the brake and started the race and all that business went away and the car acted normal. After the race when we were driving on surface streets I thought I noticed a slightly different tonal noise from the car under normal cruising and light acceleration. Disheartened at this point I made it back to his place and stopped the car. Saw some wisps of steam coming from under the hood being illuminated by my headlights and knew what had happened. Headed back over to I30tMikeD's place (where I am right now) and checked the compression at 1am.

Compression was perfect in the first five cylinders I checked, same numbers as I'd gotten two days ago when I checked it. 170ish across all five cylinders and then checked lucky number six, compression was 120 as opposed to 170ish.

So it's a slightly blown HG. Marvelous. Car still drives just fine (at least it did on the way home after our race). Haven't driven it yet today. I'm going to turn the boost back down to 12psi and head out and make some runs I think, see how it reacts to that, come back and check the compression after some runs. If the compression has stayed the same I'm probably still going to head to the track tomorrow, that's what I'm out here to do. I'm not going to replace the HG this fall. If it gets worse I'll just park the car and that'll be it for the year. Maybe look into a custom (or if anyone knows of a production) stronger head gasket for the car, and maybe some 9:1 comp DET pistons. I don't believe it's power that blew the HG, I believe it's that detonation I encountered. I was only running 1 bar (14.5 psi) and I've been running that for 3-5 days now since I got the car running again, and ran it all last winter and spring without any problems til I got to the track and got some detonation. No problems before running that much boost, but I think from now on when I turn it up any higher than 12psi I'm going to put 100 octane or higher in it anyways to stay safe. I think it's time for a J&S Safeguard too.

And for those of you wondering how the race against BriGuyMax's TT 350Z went, the first race I got hammered pretty bad when I was only running 12psi. I didn't brake boost or anything on that run. We went from about 70-130 or 140 and he probably put 5-6 cars on me. Second race I turned the boost up to 14.5psi and brake boosted on launch, fared better, he probably put 3 cars on me in that race up to 140ish from 70 (this was the run I got detonation while brake boosting in). We did one more run with me at 14.5psi and I decided not to brake boost because of the detonation problem I'd had on the last run, he basically rolled into the throttle to match my start, because his twin little GT 3525s spool instantly and he just leaves me in the dust otherwise. On this run he put about 1.5-2 cars on me by the time we hit 150 from 70. My clutch is slipping on the 3-4 and 4-5 shift, I actually had to let off the gas partially on this run to mitigate the slippage.

We both had a passenger, I also had about 150-200lbs of tools, floor jack, wheels and slicks, clothes, oil, trans fluid, coolant, etc in my car that I always take with me on long trips. Not that this would have made me win or anything, but it might have kept me another half car closer or so. My power really dies up top, I really need a VI I've decided. Even Mikes car on a smaller turbo and only 8-10psi feels vastly different after 5800 or 6000rpm than mine does. Mine acts just like a normal USIM maxima does and really wheezes up there. Without the clutch slippage, extra weight, and with the addition of an MEVI I estimate I'd have been within half a car of him. His car went 11.95 @ 119 on DRs, so I'd probably be trapping similarly if everything were good to go. I'm hoping she'll hold on long enough for me to get to the track tomorrow and back home. I'm probably pushing my luck bigtime though

 

Hope everything holds up for you enough to race. If not, good luck getting the car back to perfect running condition again soon

 

Well if it doesn't hold up, it won't be soon. It'll be spring. I'm not doing any more major work on this car again this fall. My sentiments might change in a few weeks but right now I'm totally sick of working on it. All I seem to do is work on it and then break something else.

Swapping the engine isn't a big deal really, it's far easier in this car than in a stock max for instance (since there's no exhaust, no emissions hookups, etc) but its still a full day job. Really getting a motor from a yard to my house is the biggest issue, and borrowing a cherry picker, borrowing a pickup truck, getting a buddy to dedicate an entire day to working on my car, etc.

 

Ahh, sorry to hear. I wish I had a turbo car to worry about

 

Man sorry to hear ur troubles Neal. What octane were you running? I hope you'll be able to make it the track and back home. Good luck.

 

Sucks! isnt their somthing you can add to your radaitor fluid that might fix it? like block sealer? IIRC Mathel had a similar problem and this did the trick? If it slightly blown this is worth a shot!

 

I did this but it only lasted a couple of months. Now I actually have to fix the problem. I hate having to put wate rin my radiator every time I go somewhere.

 

you need to spray that thing

 

Sucks Neal. Good Luck at the track!

 

ouch, any idea as to why it detonated? hope all is well and it holds up at the track and gets you home!

 

Hey Neal I have some custom 9:1 compression pistons Arias for sale. Ill cut a ya a real good deal on em if you want. Let me know

 

[QUOTE=Nealoc187]Well if it doesn't hold up, it won't be soon. It'll be spring. I'm not doing any more major work on this car again this fall. My sentiments might change in a few weeks but right now I'm totally sick of working on it. All I seem to do is work on it and then break something else.

I feel your pain Neal! Right now I'm madder than a wet hen. If you've never seen a wet hen its not pritty. I've been runnig my RVM pully for 3 years and now when the goal is at hand, and at the most inopportune time, the friggn timing ring decides it want to com off. At this point i'm ready to roll the **** box of death out the back of the garage and douse it with some c6! I love that car but I'm at wits end.
Keep fighting the good fight.
How much power were you putting down before it died the 1st time?
Choray

 

It did sound like detonation when Neal was brake boosting, but I can't imagine that would cause the damage that was done. I think it was during the runs that something happend.

 

sorry to hear about all the issues neal.... good luck

 

Neal....I know you want to take your car to the track, but my suggestion would be to wait until the spring. Save up and buy this: http://www.importperformanceparts.ne...ek-nissan.html

Pull the engine and hone the block. Build the engine using the parts above. Brian, you, and myself can have put it together in a weekend and install the engine back in your car. Also, you should look into sponsorship. I am sure a Maxima related performance shop would be interested(CustomMaxima comes to mind)

 

http://www.rxauto.com/

is this some of the stuff you are talking about matt?

I also think I have a slow leaking head gasket in my 95