40W oil (more, long)

[Tessie McMillan <tessmc@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Since so many people asked me off-line why I sent out this query, I have 
to confess, well, it's not about my Alfa. I'm sorry.

When I run a counter clockwise track in my Audi Quattro sedan, the engine 
gets starved of oil. After about 10 minutes on the track -- longer if it's 
cool outside -- I'll start to hear the tappets rattling. That's when I 
come off the track, go to the exit road, and drive clockwise donuts for a 
minute or two (or until I'm dizzy, which ever comes first). If the tappet 
noise settles down, I'll go back out on track to finish the session. An 
additional problem is that since I improved my suspension, this is 
happening more often. I think that with my old suspension and the 
incredible and comical weight transfers the car used to do under cornering 
and braking, that was enough to slosh the oil back into the engine. The 
car is much flatter now, so oil stays put where I don't want it.

Local Audi guys who run regular oil, not synthetic, tell me that running a 
high viscosity oil just at the track will help to prevent this problem. I 
thought that would be a low-budget approach. (I typically run Mobil1 
15w-40). The other band-aid technique they use is to over-fill the engine 
for the track.
 
Some BMW guys I've talked to have used a kind of baffled or fluted oil pan 
to solve a similar problem. Since I don't intend this to be my 
forever-track-car, I'd kind of like to keep with a low-budget option....

Thanks for listening,

Tess
p.s. - to the guy who asked about oil and brake fluid: ATE also makes Type 
200 brake fluid. This is the same high-temperature application fluid as 
the Ate Blue, only it is amber. I prefer it to Ate Blue since it doesn't 
stain everything, but not everyone carries it. I think the idea 
behind using blue was so you could rotate between blue and amber and get 
a clear distinction as to how much fluid you bled out of the system. You 
could also use Motul, this is a high-temperature fluid as well, and 
pretty readily available. In Seattle, almost all the bike shops carry it. 
(The Ducati dealer, for example &:-D.). However, as to your comment on 
pedal feel, I guess I wouldn't expect high-temperature fluid to cause any 
difference in the way the hydraulics of a brake system works. Perhaps 
your system really needed to be bled! A high temperature brake fluid can 
take higher temperatures before boiling and that's why it's used at the 
track. (Under repeated high-intensity braking, the wheels, brakes, 
tires, and brake fluid all heat up dramatically.) Once the fluid boils, 
air bubbles are trapped in the line and that gives you less pressure to 
close the caliper against the brake rotor, so the pedal is squishy. 
(And you can have loss of braking power.) Also most brake lines are 
rubber, which absorbs brake fluid. That will also reduce the 
volume of active fluid in the line, resulting in a sloppier pedal. Even 
with regular brake fluid, if you just bleed it on a regular basis and keep 
it fresh and bubble free, that's going to give you a good braking 
response and stiffen up the pedal. I wouldn't say it was the ATE that did 
this. Inspecting the brake hoses that run to the calipers is also a good 
idea. Pinch them with your fingernails to detect tears or deterioration 
that starts on the inside -- primarily due to absorption of brake fluid 
by the rubber. Then there's the whole discussion of stainless steel brake 
lines...
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