On my 2021 SR3 XX with 1500cc engine, I would like to know more about recommended engine rebuild. Is the Radical recommendation of 40 hrs mean run time or load time? My car currently has 45hrs run time and 28hrs on-load. I am planning to use Spring Mountain, but curious of what others are doing.
Also, is the a slow season versus busy season at Spring Mountain that affects their rebuild time?
@raider89 - the 40 hours is total run time - not load time, so you are right to be asking about a rebuild around this time.
raider89, As Rod is 100% correct (as usual). Radical recommends overhauling the 1500 engine at 40 hours TOTAL Time. Many find this unintuitive because to use an extreme example if one engine was idled for for forty hours and another was fun at redline for 40 ours they would obviously have vastly different amounts of wear. But, regardless Total time is the correct measure and it looks like it is time for your engine to be overhauled.
I have had very good results with Spring Mountain and highly recommend them for engine overhauls. They have been overhauling these engines longer than anyone else in the U.S. and they have a very strong knowledge base. Regarding your question about the best time of year to get faster overhauls I would say that typically late summer has the fastest turn around time (when their racing season stops for the hot Nevada summer, but right now things a crazy. There are currently challenges getting some engine parts so I understand there is currently a backlog of engine work. I believe overhaul times are currently 6 to 8 weeks, but you would have to call SM to find out for sure.
Dan I plan to send my 45 hours run time/27 hours load time engine to Spring Mountain today.
I consulted two Radical techs who have maintained many SR3 1500cc Radicals over several years. One says that the 1500 is a ticking time bomb after 45 hours run time -- meaning that odds are increasingly likely to have a catastrophic failure if run beyond 45 hours; the other says that he will push to 30 hours of load time if there are not too many over-revs. I told him I had 387 over-revs and he said that is not bad, although it sounded bad to me.
Well, depending on outcome of my clutch issue, I had 3 more scheduled track days before rebuild. So, another ~4hrs on load. However, I have ~25 over revs.
10,700 if I remember correctly
BTW, the 30 hour load time that I repeated is not the guidance that Radical recommends, so I do not support it myself. 40-45 hours run time is my rule of thumb before sending it in.
10,700 if I remember correctly
That isn’t much of an over rev.
I would definitely recommend contacting Spring Mountain to get their advice. I wouldn’t recommend putting three more track days on it even if you get the clutch resolved. Extending the rebuild interval is a gamble that can result in much higher overhaul cost.
Agree with everyone above on this, you are due a rebuild.
As DavidF said there seems to often be problems at 45 hours + that end up resulting in a larger cost over having it done on running hours. The main engine always seems to do well but it is often problems with the clutch or gearbox that come up when well over hours.
Dan- get that engine to SM right away. I recently sent two engines at the same time to them, both late-spec 1500 SR3 XX engines to them for rebuild. Both had 50 total hours on them. One had suffered an input bearing failure, the other was running well with no mechanical issues but was timed out. The one that had the input bearing failure cost double as much to repair and rebuld vs. the "good" engine and it was because the customer wanted to push his luck with the load vs. total time theory.
I ran my engine to 55 hours this past season, but after taking the car to the shop, they said I was about to lose the shifter. I guess I was at the absolute limit.
