Project: The Sky's The Limit

[D_Eclipse9916]

Would love to see updates from your chump car experiences. I can't remember if I ever started a thread on it, like you said, life gets in the way and I don't even have project threads for my race car and z06. (heck I was 2 years behind on my GTS2 race car).

SCCA isn't so bad, it's just the people in it tend to be grumpy old men on the road race side. I have lots of SCCA autox friends that I still keep in touch with and will be seeing a bit more this year.

[BFisch06]

I wouldn't be bummed or anything about finishing second place with all of the changes you made!

I'm not bummed at all - I expected to finish in the top 20!

[.RJ]

MOAR BOOST MOAR MOAR MOAR GO GO GADGET LUNCHBOX

[Beej]

Great update, and congrats on the autocross success! I think looking up is something a lot of people struggle with (myself included).

I wanted one of those Z31 300x's soo bad as my first car. I fell into an e30 instead, and I'm sure I would've been a totally different person by now if that hadn't happened.

[Senor_Taylor]

I wanted one of those Z31 300x's soo bad as my first car.

Yeah, what's the deal with that car? Is something major wrong with it, or did you get a killer deal?

[ScottyB]

I wanted one of those Z31 300x's soo bad as my first car

you're not alone. my uncle had one in the 80's and it was just so cool and knight-rider-come-to-life when i was just a little kid. i always turn my head at red ones like the one he had. we still joke about it when i see him.

i know just enough about those cars to have bad, stupid thoughts about what a couple hundred bucks can do to the power output now that they're so cheap. nissan VG's just loooove dat boost.

[BFisch06]

Yeah, what's the deal with that car? Is something major wrong with it, or did you get a killer deal?

In short, back in high school a friend bought it after he literally drove his Ford Aerostar to death. That's a story for another day kids. Anyways, he taught me to drive stick in this 300, so there is a sentimental bond to that car for me. Regardless, he moves across the US to work on various electrical engineering projects and the car had sat at his parents house for the last 4 or 5 years without being driven. A coworker and myself want to get into chumpcar / HPDEs and discovered the 300 makes a decent chumpcar performance vs. cost. The large fuel tank helps offset the lackluster (but not horrible) fuel economy. Anyways, that's how I got the car. It barely ran when we picked it up and needs all new fluids. The rear diff is leaking / empty, the clutch cylinder leaks, and the brake system needs a complete overhaul. That said I got a good deal and was happy to have a dedicated "track car". Right now it's on jackstands in my garage. After removing the sound deadening (~80 pounds worth) the fuel pump won't start - not sure if I froze a wire with the dry ice or what. It's a moot point now that we bought the RX-7 from Paul & DJ.

[BFisch06]

For those of you wondering about the autocross the day after the spring MM car show, the Sky was having coolant temperature issues. Turns out my fan controller has (most likely) died. I was hoping the fuse had blown but a quick search on several kappa forums reveals this is a growing issue - I found over a dozen threads started in 2015 alone. The radiator cooling fan is variable speed on the turbo models opposed to on/off on the N/A cars. Unfortunately GM only sells the whole thing as a unit - the fan, controller, shroud, etc. - for about $500. Through my forum digging I discovered the fan controller is shared with the Ford Crown Victoria / Mercury Marquis. I found one on eBay for $40 and even if it dies in less than a year I'm fine with $40 versus $500. Part is currently on order. In the meantime I'm watching the coolant temp (there's a readout in the DIC) and the temps stay down if I don't idle too long.

Thanks to everyone who came over and asked if they could help. I can't even remember who all stopped over since I was concerned with warping the aluminum head, but looking back I truly appreciate it. It's nice to have a group of people that are willing to lend a hand even when they're as far from home as I am and have even fewer tools! After telling Dan thanks, but that I couldn't think of anything he could do to help he replied "Just let me know if you think of something. I know you'd do the same for me." That's MM for you.

[Senor_Taylor]

I thought about running over there, but I figured I'd be in the way, haha. If you ever see me at an autocross, feel free to ask for tools. I've got just about every tool under the sun in my truck.

[premiershine9]

Loved seeing you, the wife, and the Sky this past weekend! This thing hauls ass off the line.....my legs and knees can verify after getting pelted with stones working the start line.

[BFisch06]

April 12 Autocross Followup:

Problem: Coolant temp hit 250 when Rachel lined up for her 3rd run.

Root Cause: Radiator cooling fan control module failure (common issue on turbo Kappas)

Solution: As I posted earlier, GM doesn't sell the control module, but wants you to buy the fan, shroud, module, brackets, etc. altogether. Like most automotive modules, this one was produced on contract for GM and was also sold to other manufacturers - in this case FoMoCo. A Solstice owner picked up on this fact and it turns out the module is the same one used on the Ford Crown Victoria. His forum thread also noted that the turbo Kappas don't use a "on / off" fan style, but rather a variable speed fan. Learn new something every day I guess. I ordered the part online for $40 and it works wonderfully.

Install: The module is held onto the fan shroud using two tabs built into the bottom of the heatsink and a single phillips screw at the top. Sounds easy, right? Normally it would have been, but the space where a screwdriver fits is now occupied by the front chassis brace! One of those "Oh, THAT'S why they left that space open!" moments. Anyways, I couldn't even get a socket with a screwdriver bit on there. In the end I ended up holding the bit with one hand and using the other to turn it with a 1/4" wrench. It was a slow, painful process. Seriously, I scraped my arm on several items trying to cram my hands between the upper radiator hose, fan shroud, engine, and front chassis brace and turning that stupid bit took forever. Plus it was very awkward to stand in a position where I could get my hands in the right position, see what I was doing, and also well, stand. Two clips - one on each side of the module - and that was it!


Old and new modules.


From what I've read the third lead here carries the PWM (pulse width modulated) signal and varies the fan speed.


View over the front passenger fender of the module location. The larger black elbow at the top if the hot pipe coming from the turbo. Below that and to the right is the upper radiator hose. Below that is the fan shroud and to the left of it you can see the grey fan plug that connects to the control module.


Zoomed in on the install area. The big shiny tube is the front chassis bar I installed.

I turned on the AC (which commands the fan to the highest speed) and back off, then let the car idle for a bit and the fan came on at a medium speed, so I was pretty sure it was working. Just to be sure I took it for a quick spin (I have a nearby 3 mile loop I use for testing) and everything went fine. At speed the fan was off and when I got back home it came on as I was backing in. :thumbup:


I tore the old module apart to see if I could identify what failed. All of the capacitors look fine and the on-board components seem to be in good shape as well so I don't know. :dunno: It was 12:30 AM at this point so I called it a night.

TLDR: Install was made difficult due to front chassis brace. Module works flawlessly. Car is happy. Owner is happy.