i'm driving to work in the morning when all of a sudden, my battery light flashes. "ahhhhhhh shit," is all i can think as i realize my alternator is on it's way out. knowing that i was going to auto-x that then upcoming sunday, i was semi-pissed despite it being an easy fix. either way, i drive around for three days as the battery light wasn't always on; sometimes it would would stay off, other times it would stay on as soon as i started the car. i end up getting a rebuilt LS alternator for $65, slap it on, and prepare for auto-x. sunday comes, and i awake two hours early out of excitement. i meet the guys at a friends' house, and we head over to the gas station before going to the track. as soon as i pull in, i hear a grinding/squeaking sound coming from under the hood. i thought it may have been my alternator running, but why now? i pop the hood and hear that the sound is coming from the distributor. i put my hand on the cap and feel this GROTESQUE grinding. i figure fuck it, i'll deal with it later and drive off. we get to the track, and i'm ready to take everyone by surprise...my class is finally about to run. i get to the line, get the flag, and TAKE OFF. i gun it out of the first turn feeling absolutely NO body roll when all of a sudden...ppbppbppbpttt. the car DIES. i knew exactly what it was when the car wouldn't turn over. they push my car to the side and i take off the dizzy cap; the rotor is in pieces. i hitch a ride to the nearest pepboys, pick up a new cap and rotor, and head back to the track to install it. i put it on, start the car up, but still hear the grinding. i figure it had something to do with the shaft-bearing (the shaft the rotor screws onto?). i figure if my car is going to die, i might as well get my other two runs in...
so i get in the car and take it around the track for my final runs. being my first time at auto-x ever (and the fact that i didn't get to walk the track before driving it), i fucked up my first run. my second and final run, though, i tied for third place...not bad! so we're done, ready to head home, and the car starts fine. the squeal has died down, so i figured i should be ok. my girl and i proceed to drive home, when the car starts acting stupid...i get NO power over 3k rpm, so i have to cruise all the way home (48mi) at 50mph. it started to rain and everyone started driving slowly, so it wasn't horrible. luckily, i had another dizzy housing in my garage, so i swapped everything over to that one. i put it on the car and it started up fine...two seconds later, CEL. now i've got a code 9. BLAH! damn, i need the b20 in already...anywho, here's a vid of my final and best run at the track:
http://nightkrawlers.com/videos/robbie' ... auto-x.mpg
sorry for the rant / long post...
let me draw it out for you:
i feel bad for everything that happened. maybe tommorrow things will start looking better.