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SRTforums Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Member Number: 73592
Location: Central, NJ
Posts: 371
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gear lockout / shifting issues @ the Track
My car is a project car that I have been taking to the track recently. I do treat it as a weekend beast as well, so I drive it just a few miles during the week. I purchased it with an LSD swapped rebuilt transmission (internals, but factory shell) which is approximately half of the life of the car (50k miles on the rebuild). It had the Mopar STS, which I very recently detuned to the stock shifter, by removing the 1'' black block from under the pivot ball. I also installed 4 Booger Bushings to replace the soft/worn stockers.
On the street, I have not had any issues with upshifting, and only the ocassional problem with the infamous 3rd gear downshift. A trans flush has solved some of it, and maybe even the switch to stock throw, although these aren't the causes of the problem.
Anyway, yesterday was my 3rd consecutive week that I've been to the local 1/4 mile drag strip. The first 2 weeks I was just a newbie at the track and was on Pirelli street tires on the stock rims. I had no need to do a burnout with that setup and so went prepared yesterday with M&H street/strip slicks (235.60.15 on steelies) that I bought from a member on here.
So for my first run, I had 32psi in the front tires because I drove with them to the track as it's not even 10 miles away. I did not have enough time to lower the pressure, from the time I left tech inspection to the time they ran my lane. So when I proceeded to the water box, I attempted my first ever burnout with this car. I stopped in the box and ripped the e-brake, revved and dumped the clutch. I did not hold the burnout long at all, or enough. But as I lowered the e-brake I continued to spin through the water and dry section as I came to the line. [Not enough of a burnout to produce white smoke]
For my second run, I had 20psi in the front tires. I drove up to the water box and pulled the e-brake. I revved it and dumped the clutch but did not keep the rev's going as much as maybe I should have. So I lowered the e-brake and then punched it on the dry section after the box to heat the tires up. I moved up to the line as usual and without issue.
My third run was a different story. I had kept the 20psi in the front tires. I drove up to the water box and pulled the e-brake. I revved it and dumped the clutch, but did not keep the rev's going as much as maybe I should have, once again. I wasn't looking for white smoke as I progressed onto the dry portion after the wet box. I just wanted a 'gentle' burnout to clean and heat up the street/strip slicks. I approached the line and was signaled to wait, because the evo way ahead stopped at the finish line (I later found out that he had a 36-second run because the intercooler pipe coupler came undone). Anyway, during my wait, I backed up about 10 feet and ripped the e-brake with the front tires still on dry asphalt. I slipped the clutch at about 4k, instead of dumping it. And my rev's climbed to redline, but my wheels weren't moving (according to what it felt like, and my brother/friends' accounts). I didn't think much of it, and so I let down the hand brake quickly. When I let out the clutch to ease forward towards the line, it had a very different feeling and I heard some clunks. I shifted to neutral instinctively. And I was being waved on to the staging line. I tried very hard to get it into first gear and I simply couldn't do it. By sheer force and finess, I could not put it in first gear to move up. So I tried second and it was tough, but I did manage to get it in. I was able to roll it forward to the line, but it was rough and just didnt sound/feel right (apart from the fact that it was 2nd gear). About 2 feet away from the line, I tried to shift it into 1st and it would not go in. And the official was getting kind of pissy at this point, as were my friends/onlookers in the stands and my cousin who I was running against. So I was "stuck". I could not go into 1st to move it to the line those 2 feet more. I tried to get it there in 2nd and could not get it in. I ended up putting it into 3rd gear. I ended up with a horrible reaction time, 60' and so on. But soon after the slow take off in 3rd, I tried to go into 2nd and I remember all sorts of clunks/sounds/feelings, including hearing some grind. So I tried to go back into 3rd at about 30mph and halfway down the track. And I don't remember being able to get it into 3rd so I cruised in 4th for a 36s @ 62mph finish.
At the end of the track, I was able to downshift to 2nd gear and take the turnoff towards the receipt booth. I picked up my time slip and tried to take off in first. I had to clutch in/clutch out and force the shifter into the 1st gear position to get it in gear. But it did and I took off and stopped in the lot to talk to my cousin about the run. I did roll down my window at this point and press in the clutch and shift through the gears to listen for weird sounds, but nothing was out of the ordinary. I did smell that "burning brakes smell" of the clutch. I popped the hood and everything seemed fine. I looked underneath for leaks and such, and everything was okay except for the burnt clutch smell. So I proceeded to leave that part of the parking lot and had trouble getting it into 1st gear again. But it did go in, and was easier this time. I got to a "dead end" portion of the lot that had been blocked off by car trailers and dolly's. I tried to put it in reverse and I heard a major clunk, and every time I motioned the shifter towards reverse it did the same. It would not go into reverse. I clutched in and out a few times, and I cycled through the gears and it still didn't go into reverse. So I moved forward in 1st gear and then stopped and tried reverse. This time, and with major force, it went in.
And from that point on, my trip out of the park and on the streets, everything was back to normal again. The burnt clutch smell remained, but the clutch (MOPAR PERFORMANCE upgrade via previous owner) was strong, smooth, and felt normal. I did some low gear pulls to reassure that it wasn't slipping and it checked out just fine.
So my main concerns are:
- how did my rev's climb when I slipped the clutch with the e-brake up, but get no tire spin?
- why was I locked out of gear as a result of the above scenario?
- where do I start troubleshooting?
I think that because I didn't do a rolling burnout before I ripped the e-brake, that my clutch was slipping and creating massive amounts of friction as it could not overcome the grip of the slicks with 20psi in them. And I feel like if this is possible, at all, that it somehow wore out in a way as to keep from disengaging fully, and therefore locking me out of gear.
Does this make sense or is there something else going on here? And what is the proper procedure for doing a burnout. I know it's common sense, and a video search will show how to, but even with years of seeing it live, it's different when you're in the seat.
__________________
2003 w/LSD
Stg.0 PCM --- Stg.1 Injectors--- 180º T-Stat--- DSP
AEM SRI--- Kinetic WGA--- UPR CC--- CCA BFMIC
Solid MM's--- Bwoody Trans. Mount--- PTP CV
QTP E-Cutout Exhaust--- ED Hard Pipes
Boomba 70mm TB--- AEM Wideband
MSD Wires--- Mopar Blue Plate 
Last edited by UpShiftSRT4 : 11-05-2009 at 09:18 PM.
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Turbo666 DSP Tuned
Linear Mode
