KA shuts down while drifting....

[Lopin18]

My car has been drifting quite a lot these days, and i have a serious problem....

in the track, im drifting i do 2 laps for example, and on lap 3 in middrift the car simply shuts down, i let it roll a lil and turn it back on without problems....

and its been happing a LOT, sometimes i can do 1 lap, sometimes 6 laps, etc... and it always shuts down in Middle of a drift..... Half full tank, new pump, new fuel filter, spark plugs are fine, all spark cables are new and good ones...

There were some problems that i thought were the reason.. for example my alternator was grounding (the + and - cables that are screwed behind it were touching each other and blowing the fuse) fixed that and put a new fuse. we took out the engine bay harnesses and checked them all out to be fine. but after i fixed those things, its still shutting down, and no fuses are blown.... after the last time that it shut down, i broke the muffler in half, and when i started again, i smelled a lot of GAS!!! the feed rubber line was cracked, but i dont think that was my Middrift problem cause i never smelled gas while on the track or in the pits..... just that one time, after we fixed that hose i couldnt try it out cause the track was closed... so i dont know but i dont suspect that hose.

I dont know what else to check, the car runs great all day, revs greatly, but in after some laps, middrift it shuts down.

Any tips? Thanks

[Cone Junky]

That's a fun problem!Intermittent and only happens while driving, sounds like a lot of hit and miss and guessing to find the problem.

When it dies, do all the dash lights and other electrical items still work? If not, I would definitely dig through all your power systems (battery cables, ground connections, main relays. I have seen plenty of relays and computers have similiar problems from cracked solder connections. Expansion from heat and vibrations from driving are just enough to cause havoc on old circuit boards..

[Lopin18]

Damn, hmmm i wouldnt notice since when it shuts down im totally out of myself, i just take inmediate danger control, disconnect battery etc after it shuts down..... im always full of adrenaline, also it just happens on the LAST curve that is right handed, all others are left handed.... but it only happens after some laps... weird....

I dont know if all power goes out but i think not, as everytime it shuts down i straighten and keep rolling to pits while going i always disconnect the battery that is located behind my passenger seat. i think power doesnt go out, since under 30 secs from shutting down i get to my pit and i connect it again and it turns on inmediately....

Jeeeezzz!!! i changed all relays also! :S

im thinking about testing my alternator... after that... i havent got a damn clue... ill keep updating, and checking for Tips about what to check

[Cone Junky]

I use to have and old VW that would cut out under load intermittently. I could never re-create the problem in the shop. So after replacing the fuel pumps and relay with no avail, I just started opening stuff up. After getting into the ECU I found lots of cracked solder joints. 10 mins with a soldering iron re-flowing all the joints, problem solved.

Intermittent driveability problems suck!!!!!

I would closely check all harnesses to the ECU and fuel pump. The fact that it seems to happen on right turns, maybe the chassis flexes or the harness rubs just right when turning???

[robertftw]

"the feed rubber line was cracked" What do you mean by this?, If you mean intake hose it will make a big diff MAF systems anr very piky about being open, If this is the case seal the leaks and try again, or email me. where the hell is santo damingo,fl?, lol

[89twoforty]

Start checking connections. Grounds, and mainly your harness in the front passenger fender. Seems like the best bet since it happens often on hard rights.

[Lopin18]

the all harnesses in the engine bay, meaning the ones from the dashboard, to the engine all those, were checked and properly enclosed, still ill be checking for damage and contacts...

by the feed ruber line, i mean the rubber line that comes from the fuel tank and connects to the fuel filter, when i last went into pits i didnt smell fuel, but after i started the engine again i smelled it and the hose was totally cracked, changed that, but that isnt my problem cause i never smelled fuel in any other runs...

Ive been reading and i noticed some plp with my problem say that these guys can be the problem:

- Crankshaft position sensor (the module behind the distribuitor), they say that it heats up and shuts down, thus cutting all spark in that moment and shutting the car.

- Coolant Temp Sensor, suposedly if this thing is bad, when it reaches operational temp the ecu shuts down the car if its damaged, but... ive driven for LONG hours and car doesnt shut down, just when im drifting....

havent had time to check the car, but tomorrow ill be on it, ill recheck all wiring for Contact damage etc...

To test it ill be doing Donuts!!!, that will recreate the problem, since ill be doing a lot of chassis flex, lots of load, lots of heat, soooo ill troubleshoot on the fly.

BTW!, Santo domingo, Dominican Republic :P i put FL in there since my shipping address is there

[Azzazzyn]

My alternator took a dump mid drift and killed the car. I could start it back up and all, but all the electrical struggled afterwards.

[Lopin18]

Hmmm could be it... i was having blown alternator fuses because the cables were touching each other (the ones behind the alternator the fatty ones) then we put a new fuse and fixed the cables, ill swap my alternator and get a volt meter so i can track down the volts while practicing, maybe in middrift the alternator fails and makes me run from the battery alone? Hmmmm!, thx will check

[sleepyS14]

might be something as simple as the terminals on your battery not being tight enough... or your battery not tied down tight enough in such a way that it moves while your car's sideways..

like the cables are being pulled.

thats definitely dangerous tho... if your car dies mid drift.. then steering locks up and brakes stiff up... might find yourself between a rock and a hard place.. or most likely.. in a wall or pole =/

gl tho

[Lopin18]

Great tips, keep them comming, ill be slowly getting the car ALL GOOD for the next practice, i wont let any lil detail slip, the battery cables are pretty much tight with the battery, so thats discarded, but ill check for more tighteness :P

[Vegascorbin]

I think the key is that it only happens on right hand turns. How are you disconnecting the battery? Something I have seen before is the battery terminals themself being cracked. That should not be a problem UNLESS you altinator is messed up which by what you say I would suspect.

You either have a loose / cracked connection some place or a primary voltage line is hitting just enough to reduce the voltage but not draw enough current to blow a fuse. Or the short is before the fuse in the circuit.

Does it cut out with a full tank of gas? Is it possible that you are just throwing the car so hard sideways that the fuel is moving away from the pickup? Right hand turn, fuel goes to left side, pickup on right side. I think you problem is more likly to be electrical but don't forget fuel movement.

[Lopin18]

thats why i got my tank half full and a quarter more, just in case ill be pending on that too, i still ahvent touched the car but i got a big list of check ups from all ur tips, hopefully ill get this crap sorted out before i start messing with the turbo stuff. (160 compression on all cylinders no change between any)

Hmmmmmmmmmm damn!, i dont think its that but here goes:

I changed my fuel pump with a bigger one, but the filter that goes below it wasnt the same so i put my old one but it was kinda tilted to one side

normally its like this

Fuel tank, pickup box thing inside the tank where the pump lyes. the box is like 15 cms wide?____| || X | X would be the fuel pump and the || below it its the filter position| || |------

____| || X | | \\| ------with the new pump my filter is tilted like that, but since the box is so small i cant IMAGINE that it would be fuel starving.but will mod the position... u never know... god damn, this is hard lol, trial and error indeed....

btw i got 2 ecus, so thats not it, i tried both, electrical or fuel pickup starving, focusing on those 2 things, also on the crankshaft position sensor.