pre-track checks guide??

[Eeyore]

RE: SRowell, not having a dig, but if he did a pretrack check at home before he left, surely then the P bush issue would have been noted?

In the 24 hours before pugfest I had done 8 hours of driving and everything felt fine until the last 30 minutes by which point I was obviously at the show with no tools to fix it.

If you really want to know I had been working my ass off in London all week, came home to a party, got up at 6, went wakeboarding and then drove home, packed and then joined my convoy then you can see I didnt have a casual few minutes to check things and for 4 minutes on track at pugfest i didnt think it essential to check my pbushes which had never been a problem before...

If I said yes i should have checked my pbushes, just like JP should have checked his beam mounts and tom should have checked his engine mounts will you be happy? or are you going to call the track preparation police?

pugfest isnt so much of an issue...you crash, its you and your car. But its still a serious matter.

If you wish to party and persue hobbies over the roadworthyness of your car, I think you need to sit down and rethink your priorities.
Sounds harsh I know, but we are essentially talking about our lives, cars and the lives of others...in whatever order you feel is most important!

For the last 6weeks, I have been doing 12hour work days, mingled with nightshifts with no day off to sleep. And I wasnt really guna exactly push it on track...I still checked everything over. I'm not saying "oh look at me, I'm perfect"...
Im more saying:

"we could all avoid having potential sad moments on/off track if we do some vital checks before heading to the show/track where our cars get pushed beyond day to day limits"

Come on Piggy. If I knew about the problem I would have fixed it. It only came apparently 30 minutes before arriving at the show. Are you seriously going to tell me that everyone who attended that event checked over their entire car for 1-5 minutes on track?

[Piggy]

Check the colour of the oil. If it is still golden brown it should be okay, but if it has gone black it needs changing.

or stinks of fuel!

---

Sam - I did, and I know I'm not alone If the bolt is missing underneath your Pbush...maybe you would have spotted it missing or found it to be lose?

[Eeyore]

Check the colour of the oil. If it is still golden brown it should be okay, but if it has gone black it needs changing.

or stinks of fuel!

---

Sam - I did, and I know I'm not alone If the bolt is missing underneath your Pbush...maybe you would have spotted it missing or found it to be lose?

Good point. Whilst i was down there i could have checked every single but and bolt on the car too.

Youre not alone... but I wouldnt say I was in the minority!

[Connor]

Sam you are still missing the point massively! No we're not gonna do an mot on our cars every 5minutes. You knew you had a pretty substantial suspension failure! Yet still drove it home.

[Toms306]

Check the colour of the oil. If it is still golden brown it should be okay, but if it has gone black it needs changing.

You haven't driven a diesel I take it? After a week its black again!

[Connor]

A week? More like 10miutes lol

[Toms306]

Haha, true!

[Piggy]

Im on 5000mile intervals for oil at the moment....Im 2000away from a change...oil is only just starting to edge towards black!

I do a full flush with each change mind. My old ph1 xtdt, it was black from the minute I started it!! haha

[Eeyore]

Sam you are still missing the point massively! No we're not gonna do an mot on our cars every 5minutes. You knew you had a pretty substantial suspension failure! Yet still drove it home.

I havent missed it. We have discussed this both at the event and in various threads around the forum. I was hoping at some point we would be done.

[Piggy]

Check the colour of the oil. If it is still golden brown it should be okay, but if it has gone black it needs changing.

or stinks of fuel!

---

Sam - I did, and I know I'm not alone If the bolt is missing underneath your Pbush...maybe you would have spotted it missing or found it to be lose?

Good point. Whilst i was down there i could have checked every single but and bolt on the car too.

Youre not alone... but I wouldnt say I was in the minority!

Its true to say I am in the minority, but look what happened. If you had checked, found a missing bolt/done it up, we would now be talking about how happy you were with your hill runs!

With all the times I have been a tech for a rally team or been the mechanic for mates track days, there has never been a mechanical failure on track. Could just be luck of the draw, but I'm sure the checks/repairs thereafter helped.

Im just proposing that others may be able to have the same experience, rather than a sad one.....whats the harm in that?!

[Eeyore]

Im not having a problem with the point of this thread. Its obviously great idea and I even said id write it all up into a guide. Im just trying to stop it going further towards a sam bashing thread.

[1616six]

Im not having a problem with the point of this thread. Its obviously great idea and I even said id write it all up into a guide. Im just trying to stop it going further towards a sam bashing thread.

Probably not wise you writing the guide

1) Don't check the car
2) Find it's falling apart
3) Take it on anyway
4) Drive home

[Piggy]

Im not having a problem with the point of this thread. Its obviously great idea and I even said id write it all up into a guide. Im just trying to stop it going further towards a sam bashing thread.

ahhh but wheres the fun in that



Im not bashing at you mate, at least you realise what a Aclass prat you were!

I have done a guide....assume waiting for it to be approved

[Eeyore]

Its been approved as far as I can see.

[John1.4]

personally i never checked my AX before track sessions, apart from the obvious tyres / brakes, and if there were any oil leaks, the first GTi was absoloutly fine, drove there, had fun, tried to drive home and the ignition amp was fried - electrical fail,

the second one was all good too, drove it, tried to have fun, overheated massively and had to abandon the session 1 lap in - cooling system fail

in this car i didn't take it on the hill (even though i had a guy trying to sell me 4 tickets for £10...) because apart from the engine drinking oil and farting it out the exhaust, some bushes are getting to the point where i'll be replacing them, rear beam is questionable for condition - it's probably shagged, the exhaust hits underneath somewhere, and i've got a minor buckle on an alloy (replacement wheels are on the way) .... tbh i probably could have done A run, but i didn't fancy spending the rest of the day/night on a towtruck

[Niall]

Check the colour of the oil. If it is still golden brown it should be okay, but if it has gone black it needs changing.

or stinks of fuel!

Not so important to you Derv ladies but just bear in mind boosted pervs will have a slight smell of fuel in the oil. Only slight mind!

[Atterz]

Hmm, well the Saab was MOTed in March and id done 500 miles since.

1)Tyres
2)Brakes
3)Fluids
4)Obvious unsecured vehicle parts.

All this amongst the fact that unless its a dedicated track car you drive it on the road so will hear suspension clunks and bangs well in advance.

[Piggy]

Rattles of a 306....peuegeot *enter model here*...is likely to disguise a lot of things to most!

[RetroPug]

Check the colour of the oil. If it is still golden brown it should be okay, but if it has gone black it needs changing.

You haven't driven a diesel I take it? After a week its black again!

This might be news to 85% of this forum, but 1990s PSA diesel engines weren't originally designed with track use in mind.

[Dum-Dum]

There's a saying that every mile on the track is worth 10 on the road so if you do 100 miles on track its like 1000 on the road so knock 1000 off your service intervals. Also 1000 miles is about 1 months driving so it proves the point of needing to check after you've come off the track too.

[ozonehostile]

before going on any long journey or when i know the car will be driven hard, ill put it on the ramp the day before and have a good look at everything.
wheels off, turn lock to lock, check for play in balljoints/droplinks/tre etc
check condition of p bushes, check both bolts are tight
all fluid levels
inspect brake and fuel lines
inspect rear beam for movement
check exhaust isn't blowing anywhere, securely on hangars
brake pads and discs in good health, caliper bolts all tight
wheel bolts torqued up
check tyres for even tread wear, bulges, cracks etc
engine undertray off, check driveshafts, cv boots, steering rack gaiters, driveshaft seals
exhaust manifold is tight at the join to the downpipe
check pas pipes, pump and rack for leaks
check oil breathers and engine bay pipes for leaks or cracks




im pretty ocd about it now I think about it :p much easier when you have a ramp too lol

[RetroPug]

Wish I had a ramp!

[Poodle]

Yeah, that, i know i'd be a hell of a lot more thorough if i had that kind of gear.

[Piggy]

good lad ozone...

weird so far how the ones who did the checks didnt have any failures...hmmmm

[Toms306]

Agree'd! Most of us have to make do with a trolley jack and a loose sloping driveway lol.

[cully]

checked mine over today for my london trip on monday