Help 6.0 won’t turn over after new batteries

[arctictraveller]

So, meth is as bad for engines as it is for people? Who knew?

[karma]

Originally Posted by JWA

I'll chime in with my own good news on it NOT being more serious---facing an unknown situation with a Ford reman'd engine experiencing issues after just 1700 miles I fear the worst but hope for a simple easy fix.

Do the leaking meth system issues affect the engine's longevity?

With Meth in engine oil, Injectors must have gotten it too. Also not sure how meth will impact the seals in the high pressure oil system.

[TomsBeast]

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

So, meth is as bad for engines...

Not according to THIS crew! LOL

[TomsBeast]

The Snow solenoid valve probably failed while it was sitting, reservoir is either higher than the nozzle, or it siphoned and filled a couple cylinders with water/methanol. That's really good news!



When I first started racing my own cars, I did this with one of my 13:1 compression VW race engines. While working on some other stuff and having the electric pump on, fuel pressure blew past the needle and seat, and filled a couple cylinders with gasoline while sitting. Like you, I tried to crank it over, and it was locked up. I called around in a panic, figuring I must have damaged the internals, bent a rod, collapsed a ring land, something. My racer friends all told me it'd be fine. They were right. All I did was pull the plugs and crank it over, ignition off (as to not create a spark, because fuel went everywhere. Change the fuel polluted oil, and go racing.



Didn't hurt a thing.



Methanol in the oil: It's not a big deal. Sprint cars, midgets, esspecially blown alcohol burning drag cars have their oil polluted with methanol and it doesn't seen to bother them. In that Top Alcohol dragster that I have pictured, above, we'd put in 70wt oil, it would come out looking like milk after a couple passes. It mixes with the oil while running, and doesn't seem to hurt anything. An oil and filter change is all that's needed. After your van is back up and running, any residual methanol left behind will simply 'flash off' as a vapor, go out the valve cover breather port, cycle through the intake, burn, and go out the tail pipe. The only issue with it sitting, is methanol is hygroscopic, it absorbs water out of the air, and if left on clean metal, can start to micropit iron and steel. Like many weeks and sitting during the off season. Not a week or three.

[vandiesel]

I'm quitting meth..... The competition for camping space in Portland is too intense!

[vandiesel]

My reservoir is in the aluminess box BTW. It's higher than the motor.

Originally Posted by TomsBeast

The Snow solenoid valve probably failed while it was sitting, reservoir is either higher than the nozzle, or it siphoned and filled a couple cylinders with water/methanol. That's really good news!



When I first started racing my own cars, I did this with one of my 13:1 compression VW race engines. While working on some other stuff and having the electric pump on, fuel pressure blew past the needle and seat, and filled a couple cylinders with gasoline while sitting. Like you, I tried to crank it over, and it was locked up. I called around in a panic, figuring I must have damaged the internals, bent a rod, collapsed a ring land, something. My racer friends all told me it'd be fine. They were right. All I did was pull the plugs and crank it over, ignition off (as to not create a spark, because fuel went everywhere. Change the fuel polluted oil, and go racing.



Didn't hurt a thing.



Methanol in the oil: It's not a big deal. Sprint cars, midgets, esspecially blown alcohol burning drag cars have their oil polluted with methanol and it doesn't seen to bother them. In that Top Alcohol dragster that I have pictured, above, we'd put in 70wt oil, it would come out looking like milk after a couple passes. It mixes with the oil while running, and doesn't seem to hurt anything. An oil and filter change is all that's needed. After your van is back up and running, any residual methanol left behind will simply 'flash off' as a vapor, go out the valve cover breather port, cycle through the intake, burn, and go out the tail pipe. The only issue with it sitting, is methanol is hygroscopic, it absorbs water out of the air, and if left on clean metal, can start to micropit iron and steel. Like many weeks and sitting during the off season. Not a week or three.

[vandiesel]

New shroud, radiator, and thermostat.

[MadScience]

Originally Posted by TomsBeast

Not according to THIS crew! LOL

Don't those folks do a tear-down and rebuild four times a mile?

[JWA]

Originally Posted by MadScience

Don't those folks do a tear-down and rebuild four times a mile?

They do---watching it in person at the track, especially the big money big name teams is a sight to behold. All right out in the open, people and competitors looking on to catch whatever secret that might reveal.

[TomsBeast]

That picture was from 2004, at Pomona, during rain delay if I remember right. That's me on the far right, we had just buttoned the car up after changing the short block, we were all pretty tired.



The car shown is what they call an A-Fuel dragster, that runs in Top Alcohol Dragster along alongside blown alcohol (wo/nitro) dragsters... think of it as a junior class to Top Fuel, where a lot of pros cut their teeth before moving up.



It burns 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol, naturally aspirated (no blower). About 2500hp, runs mid-5's in the quarter mile at 260mph on good pass. Thankfully they aren't as hard on parts as the T/F cars, who do in fact completely overhaul the entire engine before each pass. We always hoped to keep the engine mostly together through qualifying, but it didn't always work out that way. We'd always drain the fuel system, pull all the spark plugs and valve covers, check the valve springs, drop the oil pan, remove and service the clutch every pass. In the event the tune was way off, the oil pan felt like a bag of walnuts and a rod was hanging out the bottom, we carried enough parts to handle a couple such events. When we ran a blower car, we'd often have the blower and the heads off during a routine service. My job was right side of the engine, which included the mags. You get pretty good at it!



The big boys carry parts to completely rebuild or replace 8 engines, and a few blowers $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Originally Posted by JWA

They do---watching it in person at the track, especially the big money big name teams is a sight to behold.

I crewed on Steve Chrisman's Top Fuel dragster at Sonoma one year, 2005, talk about a whole different level of effort and parts. Steve has a low buck team, and the crew are a mix of volunteer and guys who work at his machine shop during the week. But the heavily funded top 14 teams are another 2 levels about that! I've got a lot of respect for those extremely hard working and talented young men.

Originally Posted by JWA

All right out in the open, people and competitors looking on to catch whatever secret that might reveal.

I fell in love with drag racing as a kid because of that... you tried to stay out of the crew's way, but you could get right up in there. The funny thing is nowadays, there aren't any real 'secrets' to see on those cars, performance differences are mostly in two areas: Clutch set up, fuel system set up. They didn't used to, but nowadays they show those details on tv, which makes it a lot more interesting to the gearhead fans.