Duratec experts

[Pendennis]

What should be the maximum hours a 270bhp 2L Duratec engine used only for circuit racing do between refreshes. It's in my Caterham and I'd wish to opt on the safe side, but I've added up how many hours it's done at full bore and it has surprised me.

 

Want to rent an 18th century Farmhouse in Rural Somerset?

[Jason Plato]

depends on the spec and quality it was built to initially ?

 

also how hard are you on clutch and temps ?

 

I reckon 3 seasons for a top end check and refresh all being well downstairs ?

 

here is my Duratec R .... C7 TOP

Taffia joint AO with Al

 

[Pendennis]

Dave, it's a race engine. Built specifically to race. Temps of water and oil 90c. Seq box, no clutch on upshifts

 

Want to rent an 18th century Farmhouse in Rural Somerset?

[Jason Plato]

"its a race engine built to race"

 

 

so whats the difference between your "race engine" and the dozens of others running around with std shells or uprated (not that you can get any at the moment..., std crank or steel crank ?, was it all ballanced or was this not done as its a race engine and should be scraped after 1 weekend ?. What quality rods ? > ebay £250 or arrow ?, what pistons ??> slipper or full skirt ?, std valves or stainless or wanktatsic titanium sodium filled ?, what valve guide material and clearances ?, what valve springs > single or double ?, the doubles are bit dodgy, what material remains under the valve seats or could they be regressed?, what studs > strech arp or std ?, what cams ?, are they stressing the buckets with their extreme lift ?, cam chain tensioner done ?,

 

the list goes on and on .....

 

without knowing what your actual quality of component specifiction and clearances you cant put a life on the engine shirley .

 

here is my Duratec R .... C7 TOP

Taffia joint AO with Al

 

 

Edited by - Dave Jackson on 8 Dec 2010 20:58:42

[Racing Snake]

I agree with Dave on the 3 seasons

Have you spoken to one of the Duratec specialists 🤔

 

---

Mad Hatter The Dura Mentalist 😬 Carl @ Penn 7's Caution - May Contain Nuts !

[Pendennis]

Yes I spoke with experts, I agree and accept their opinions. Problem is, after speaking to them, I have actually calculated what it has done, now I am wondering whether it actually needs a refresh. But, belt and braces I was hoping to get it refreshed, though my preferences are busy causing me a delay to next year.

 

Dave, not sure what your getting at. Would you race with wanktastic ebay components

 

Balanced lightened steel crank, forged arrow rods, forged Omega pistons, uprated shells, standard Cosworth end bolts (thats what is used now), uprated Cosworth timing tensioner and chain. It uses standard valves which have done 2 seasons, I worry about these. Cams are Kent 300 something profile, they got to be wild to get 270 out the 2L. Dry sumped, uprated valve springs but don't know about guides though I have no doubt they are nothing but top spec (for the sake of this lets presume they are the nuts )

 

3 seasons could be 120 hours or 30 hours 😬

 

It's done no more than 20 hours at race pace, that is not including idle of poodling around parade laps etc..

At the end of the day I may not be able to get it refreshed by someone I am happy with, but I just was curious as 20 hours don't sound a lot does it?

 

Want to rent an 18th century Farmhouse in Rural Somerset?

 

Edited by - Pendennis on 8 Dec 2010 22:11:28

[Jason Plato]

morning

 

not getting at anything , but sodium filled titanium valves are wanktastic - I have such a beastie from a superbike in my garage and it's a thing of beauty 😶‍🌫️

 

20 hours at race pace is quite a lot on my opinion given a single race is circa average 25 mins hence 45 races

 

I would describe that as more than 3 seasons ?

 

friend if mine just had a £6k rebuild after 3 seasons of total 21 races with HWR and his 305 bhp 2.3 built with similar spec components. This was to ensure reliability and performance with cost not being such an issue.

 

dave

 

here is my Duratec R .... C7 TOP

Taffia joint AO with Al

 

 

Edited by - Dave Jackson on 9 Dec 2010 05:41:44

[Pendennis]

Good morning.

 

20 hours is accumulation of testing, qualifying and racing. Our races tend to be 15 minutes. I actually calculated 19 hours on track, so probably 15 hours is flat out.

 

I have a dilema then............

 

Want to rent an 18th century Farmhouse in Rural Somerset?

[elie boone]

What do owners with Duratec engines that enter a 24h race ? IF that engine is fresh out of the box it will clock about 26 to 27h on the race pace.

 

The key factor is : is the engine fully up to temp when u start the race.

[Racing Snake]

Ellie i am convinced getting onthe gas before the motor was up to temp wore my rings out

So oil cooler out and Laminova in plus oil temp guage

 

---

Mad Hatter The Dura Mentalist 😬 Carl @ Penn 7's Caution - May Contain Nuts !

[MikeE]

19 hours?? Even a Radical will do that!

 

My mate who bought the Juno (with sealed 250bhp 2.0l Honda VTec and Hewland 6 speed sequential paddle shift) had a lot of conversations with Ewan who owns Juno. Apparently he advises a refresh (or infact just replace with another crated engine) after 120 RACE Hours so I can't see why you would refresh after only 19 hours Infact a Juno is designed to do a 24 hour race so well more than your 19 hours, appreciate its a different engine but the power outputs are similar for the same capacity and I think the VTec revs to 9,000rpm

 

Did Raceline build this engine Ian? If so I'd trust Peters view.

 

Where's Ammo when you need his expertise

 

Duratec R538 Build and Modification Pictures

here

 

Edited by - MikeE on 11 Dec 2010 09:35:42

[Pendennis]

Yes it is an all steel Raceline jobby, it's been an absolute cracker, but it has always had a refresh after two seasons of circuit racing. I was surprised how little the engine had actually done. I added it all up, it was 19 hours max, due to 2009/10 reliability problems not engine issues though .

Pete says it should be okay as 19 hours is not a lot, but trying to get a definative run time limit on such an engine like mine seems difficult 😬 Don't suppose there is one to be honest and as it's motorsport the 'don't blame me' scenario exists

I spoke to Ammo, he is very busy

 

120 hours seems huge to me. I have made my own conclusion, an engine such as mine used in the manner I use mine, should have a life of 40 hours. My last two race seasons have been short, normally they are longer.

Mike YHM

 

Want to rent an 18th century Farmhouse in Rural Somerset?

[MikeE]

Ian I believe an SR3 will do 80hrs and and SR8 will do 40hrs between refreshes so a car based engine should do at least 80 I would have thought?

 

No mail, did you send it direct or via BlatMail?

 

Duratec R538 Build and Modification Pictures

here

 

Edited by - MikeE on 11 Dec 2010 10:11:57

[Pendennis]

Probably explains why during my time in racing the most common engine to fail is the Busa 😬

 

Want to rent an 18th century Farmhouse in Rural Somerset?