Oil Starvation

[Dave Nichols <dave.nichols@xxxxxxxx>]

Well the news is in, the M20 i motor in my e30 is history, at least the
bottom end.  After turning some really hot laps at the track, it came in
with a knock in the lower end, the dreaded "nod rocking".

We took the motor out and removed the oil pan to reveal the #6 rod WITHOUT
ANY BEARING.  The bearing had been beaten down to about the thickness of
aluminum foil, ruining the crankshaft and connecting rod in the process.
Billy Revis at Motorsports Connections came through with a complete short
block (the victim of a broken timing belt) and hopefully we'll be back on
the road next week.  Three lessons learned:

1.  Just because the oil light doesn't come on, the engine can still be
trashed.  This was a transient episode of short duration and when you're
turning 6k in revs, it only takes a fraction of a second starvation to kill
the bearing.

2.  BMW's decision to leave off an oil pressure guage might be okay for the
street, but you can bet I'll have a set of VDO oil pressure and temp guages
in the car before we do another driving shool.

3.  If someone breaks a timing belt and trashes a head in an M20 i motor,
KEEP THE BOTTOM END.  It may only be worth about $200.00, but you may need
it someday, so oil it down and store it indoors.

Dave the WEENRDOG (e30 325eis?)
Dixie (1994 740il black and tan dachshund, built for comfort not for speed)
Heidi (1996 M3 light weight dachsie, quickest, best handling pooch on the
planet)

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