2 Attachment(s)
Counterfeit spark plugs, what's this world coming too?
I was tracking down some irregularities in my engine logs and stumbled onto some videos outlining fake NGK spark plugs that are being sold on Amazon and e-Bay. I purchased my plugs through e-Bay and thought to myself...hmmm... better check.
Well, turns out mine are fakes. It's amazing how good these fakes are. Externally you would be hard pressed to tell the fakes from the real ones (I guess that's the point). Anyway, the real test is to break one open and look at the electrode that runs through the plug body. The real NGK's are copper and the fakes are steel.
Live and learn, shopping for the best online price is not always the best option :mad:
Just thought I'd put this out there in case anyone else is shopping for plugs.
Attachment 150764 Attachment 150765
5 Attachment(s)
This is NOT how you want your track day to end!
Day two at the glen was going great. Car was running well and making good power. But shortly into my 3rd session for the day the car shut down on track, requiring a tow back to the pits. It was definitely something internal to the engine so I packed it in and went home. In this short video you can hear the problem start at around 33 seconds, just after I came off the throttle on the back straight.
https://youtu.be/AP55_J28vBk
After removing the engine and transmission I found that the driver side cam chain jumped off the gears. I have to do some serious looking around with the borescope tomorrow, but I think I dodged a bullet. The only damage appears to be a cam sprocket and tensioner, plus some minor gouges in the aluminum case from the chain whipping around. Since this is an interference engine there could be some serious valve to piston damage. Initial looks seem to indicate no valve to piston collisions but I'll know more tomorrow.
Attachment 152706 Attachment 152707 Attachment 152708 Attachment 152709 Attachment 152710
8 Attachment(s)
Found the cause of my failure and solved a long time mystery!
First the carnage. This is the valve that is bent the most, intake on cylinder #2. All the intake valves are bent sightly. The exhaust valves look OK but I'm going to replace them all just to be sure (they're inexpensive ~$14 each). I'm just glad none of them broke off and trashed the entire engine.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...7&d=1630353736
Attachment 152872 Attachment 152871 Attachment 152870 Attachment 152869 Attachment 152875 Attachment 152873 Attachment 152874
Now for the root cause and the the long time mystery. Those that have been following my build may recall this picture that I posted back in January 2020 post #654 Attachment 152868. It was a mystery part that I found in my oil pan and was asking if anyone knew what it was. Well now I know. When taking the pan off for this rebuild another one dropped out! I thought to myself, I really need to track this down immediately. Come to find out it's a pressure relief valve that screws into the hydraulic tensioners. There are 3 in this car, 2 of which were now OUT! These relief valves keep the hydraulic pressure in the tensioner from bleeding off too quickly when there is a drop in oil pressure. Without the valve in place the only thing holding tension on the chain is the weak mechanical spring in the tensioner. Here is a picture showing two of the tensioners side by side, one with the valve in and one with it out sitting on the tensioner.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...6&d=1630354735
This failure was destined to happen sooner or later since I was already missing one relief valve and then another just dropped out. These are going back in with Loctite Red and maybe I'll even peen over the threads. Trouble is I misplaced the first relief valve since it was so long ago and you can not order just the relief valve, you need to order the entire tensioner :mad:
I'm glad to have found the root cause as I would have reassembled the engine just to have it fail again and possibly do even more damage. The head, block and pistons look great. After some clean up they will be right as rain. Time to go and order some more parts.
Update: I found the old missing relief valve! Sometimes it's good to be a pack rat.
Hydraulic Tensioners Fixed!
The red arrow shows where I tried to drill through the tensioner and relief valve head so I could secure them with safety wire. The relief valves, or at least the cap screw heads, must be hardened as my cobalt drill bits were barely able to scratch them so I ended up putting them in with Loctite Red and then staked them in four places each to prevent them from backing out.
Hope that does the trick :rolleyes:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...9&d=1630868864