journeymansteve

I just finished my first weekend on the track, a road course officially for "drivers education" and no racing. That part was cool, and I was definitely encouraged and almost ordered by my instructor to drive to the limit of my ability. In an Evo that I've had a year and learned even tire differences on, that meant I drove it HARD.

So I had two issues, what I thought were major. Day one I had a brake light and then a "Service Required" screen that shut off my ASC (instructor wanted me to leave it on since it was what I admitted I used on a daily basis). Going home I bought brakes (wrong ones, Wagner will not sell repl for Brembos yet) and checked it out at night btwn days. Turned out the pads were pretty ok still (19,xxx miles) but the fluid level was over-looked by me and two other inspectors. If it's not at "Max", it's not ready for the g's of the track. So I thought all was good after I topped it off.

DAY TWO: TWO PROBLEMS.

So here's where I wonder if anyone else has had these issues.... In my second run, after the car was definitely warmed up, I got the dreaded SES. My first experience with a "SES" a few months ago, not from anywhere near a track, resulted in my visiting the Mitsu dealer where he beat the problem with a sledge hammer by reflashing my TSB'd ECU. Whatever. It did work and didn't occur til Sunday. But on Sunday, I got that SES light again. And the baby idled at 2,100 rpm when I got off the track. After a couple of minutes, no more than five, I restarted the car and the idle was normal again. And a battery cable disconnect during lunch reset the code and it never appeared again that day.

Next run I got that dang "Service Required" again and my ASC once again turned off permanently. No big. The car still ran like a scalded cat.

Oh, no limp modes here. During all the stupid distractions (and when there were none too), my Evo was a Bimmer-slayer. Not a single BMW from the noob group could touch me. Not even that $60,000 new M3. I still have to learn how to give one of those point bys LOL!

On the run that gave me no (noticed) brake lights but Service Required with that wavy line thing like traction is off, I drove it probably 32 miles in total in 20 minutes and 1/2 that time the idiot light was staring at me. Crazy.

Anyway, that other light went off too right after the run.

Has anyone else had these issues? Should I have checked the differential fluid levels more closely, even though the car is barely 1yr old (happy birthday during the track event, exactly on the "P"-day from purchase date)

stokEd

iTrader: (3)

Shutting off the engine will clear the limp mode right away, no need to wait around or disconnect the battery. And the only way to know exactly why the SES light was on is to pull the code. Your local auto parts store should have a scanner you can borrow to do this.

journeymansteve

The 'limp mode' never did kick in. But the dang SES light will not go away in my experience by itself. I definitely gave that a try while at the paddock. No luck even after 3-4 tries of letting her sit.

No way could I wait til the next run for an OBDII reading. I guess I could have asked someone at the track, plenty of hardware, both with and without wheels, present. But I just wanted to jump right back and run some more. Heck, after paying $250 for ~ 8 runs and instruction, the last thing I wanted to do was miss time.

(I actually did miss about 5-10 minutes during day 1 while I tried to find brake pads. Good luck everyone in finding those "locally" on a Saturday afternoon!)

goofygrin

iTrader: (5)

The idle @ 2100 is a limp mode... it's the one you get when you get a P1235.

Are you tuned?

It could be a HFC code too. I got those on the track, but never with a high idle.

Unfortunately, it could also be related to your oiled K&N filter messing up the MAF.

Without the code, you'll never know. I strongly recommend you spend the $30 at HarborFreight for a CAN BUS compatible code puller. Well worth it if you're going to be at the track and/or modding.

Djstorm100

iTrader: (1)

ses light?

journeymansteve

Getting a new tool is a must I see. I will check that out. Getting SES lights are mentally disturbing en route to work or home, but at the track when you have a schedule for runs is even worse. SES at 110 coming into turn 1 is also not conducive to mental focus either.

The K&N's been on there for almost 7 mths so I don't think the oil is likely still very thick at all, but I will probably be adding a new CAI as one of my next bolt-ons.

Nope, I haven't tuned it yet, so I also know I may be getting stray O2 measurement problems with the different flow of exhaust and placement of the sensors in the DP and CC.

So it looks like I have to budget some dough for a real intake and AMS tuning before my next track day. That, and all the differential and tranny fluid changes since I'm right at that period for normal replacement, nearly so anyway.

thx for the input!

goofygrin

iTrader: (5)

don't forget real brake pads too .

journeymansteve

That's no lie! Any good suggestions for me? I DD mine semi-aggressively and have been happy so far with the OEM pads. But $300 a set, F and R, is insane and they really track like crap when it comes to the heat.

What I'd like are some suggestions for two pad sets, one for DD and one for tracking. I got some sage and experienced advice about breaking in the metallic racing pads from a Bimmer hard-core guy, so I'm assuming once I break them in I can take them out and put them back in again later.

So what would someone prescribe for two reasonably priced set of pads, one for DD and one for tracking?

goofygrin

iTrader: (5)

there's a stickied thread in the Evo VIII/IX forum. Read it. The X uses the same front brake pads as the VIII/IX.

Personally I've got three sets:
stock (street)
Ferodo DS2500 (autocross and street when I'm lazy -- I've used them at the track and they're fine if you're on street rubber/depending on the track)
Hawk HT-10 (track only)

Edit: here's the thread: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ct-thread.html

journeymansteve

So you really use stock pads still? Have you had to replace them or were you enough ahead of the curve to keep your originals in good enough shape still? Mine at nearly 20k miles on them have probably 1/3 or less of the original material. What would you suggest for a street replacement?

(Until I get my tune (and CAI), I fear the car's TBE may cause more codes, so I'll be doing both of these these two areas this summer and try to be ready for fall outings. I figure I'll track this 3-4 times a year once I get tune and brakes squared away.)

TxEvo8

iTrader: (5)

Flush your brakes before you go back out on the track, brake fluid will absorb moisture and that will affect it's abiltiy to handle the temps of hot lapping.

goofygrin

iTrader: (5)

I took the stock pads out around 6k miles. I used the DS2500s all the time for about 10k miles. Now I'm swapping back and forth. The DS2500's are worn down pretty good and they eat the rotors a bit. The stock pads dust a lot more. It's a lose lose thing.

smikeevo really likes the Satisfied GS5's for dual street/autox duty. I'm waiting until I HAVE to buy something before I buy anything.

The TBE will likely only cause the rear o2 sensor codes...



And like txevo8 says, good fluid is important too. The stock fluid isn't up for many track days.

journeymansteve

"Knock on wood", during tracking, I never once experienced any brake fade whatsoever. It was great. Those calipers did develop the deeper darker red though ;-)

I have the fluid and pressure bleeder, I just didn't the weekend before. Turned out to be a bad idea cause no one, including me, noticed that the fluid was 1/3 below "Max", so that was definitely something I SHOULD HAVE DONE! Oops. I was safe from compressibility, but not so safe for keeping fluid over the master cyl reservoir's sensor during some of the g's.

Anyone have any problems with DOT-5 fluid? I got a line on some of that that's pretty reasonable and high temp rated.

Djstorm100

iTrader: (1)

What is the SES light?

journeymansteve

Service Engine Soon. It lights up when the OBDII and/or ECU start getting errors and data out of allowable ranges.

Apparently I really was in LIMP mode. "Limp" as in walk with a cane..... yeah, right. I was still getting all the HP and keeping it in the 5000-7500 RPM range. Ok, 7800 rpm... My rev limiter got a workout on the straight away part of the road track. The 'limping' was that it would not slow its idle down below 2000 rpms. But after I turned the car off, that went away in minutes after I started it up.

But SES's from most manufacturers and OBDII implementation will stay on until "reset". OBDII tools can do that, reflashing an ECU will do that (but bad for a tune job), and disconnecting a battery for a few minutes will do that. Cheaper than a trip to the dealer, however, without the code being known, something serious could have happened that you should know about. Goofy's suggestion is a great one. I was also going to look into the OBD II computer program and cable for $89 -- until my employer sent out a note saying I was gonna lose admin privs on my work laptop. I wouldn't be able to use that kit easily from my desktop personal PC... So a code puller sounds like a good low-cost alternative.