TRD reverts to old oil pump amid concerns about lubrication in low-RPM situations

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
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Toyota Racing Development President Lee White oversees Toyota's involvement in NASCAR.

Toyota Racing Development
Courtesy

Toyota Racing Development has reverted to the oil pump used on last year’s engine and will continue the modifications used in last Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas when its teams compete this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Michael Waltrip Racing, Red Bull Racing and Robby Gordon Motorsports use TRD engines. In the last two weeks, TRD has had to replace six engines during the race weekend – two at Auto Club Speedway in southern California and four at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The problem was a lifter or camshaft issue. TRD President Lee White said in a phone interview Wednesday that he believes the problems occur when there is no oil pressure as drivers are entering and exiting the garages during practice.

White said the oil pump used last year is better for those situations.

“Last year’s oil pump had better capacity at very low RPM,” White said. “We are able to deal with other means to deal with the high-end flow to match that to the requirement of the engine. That was something sitting on the shelf that we know worked.”

Reverting to the 2008 oil pump, along with the new lubricants used at Las Vegas and other modifications, has him cautiously optimistic about Atlanta.

“We’ve got our fingers crossed and we’ll see how it goes on Friday,” White said. “I’m cautiously optimistic. I’m absolutely confident we have done everything we can do. Have we introduced something that will affect power, high-speed long durability like the other guys that have had their issues, I can’t tell you that.”

Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing also have had engine issues this year. White theorized that with no on-track testing that teams did more simulation testing that didn’t take into consideration low-RPM situations. The testing also was done on a limited budget and limited staffs because of these economic times.

“I don’t think everyone has pushed [the engine] to the limit like everyone is right now,” White said. “If you’ve got a sponsor today, you have to win. You’re going to push it to the edge. What we had was people with a lot of time on their hands that should have gone fishing, skiing or going to the beach.

“Everybody jumps on the tools to try and do everything they can and use their dynos and use their simulation programs and use their seven-post rigs and basically went racing, testing all winter long without going to the race track. The end result is we pushed everything to the edge without much validation.”

White also wouldn’t rule out the impact of having a better tire at Las Vegas that increased lap speed by three-quarters of a second.

“Maybe there’s circumstances around gears and with the new tire, … I know the revs were up some so maybe that’s a mitigating factor,” White said. “But we had a tire test [at Vegas]. We were there and we spread that information around to our teams.”

The new engine pieces Toyota were using at California and Las Vegas were introduced at Texas last November with no problems for intermediate tracks last year. They consist of a very aggressive camshaft that uses a very lightweight lubricant. They are now using a different lubricant, White said.

The data that helped the team locate the potential low-RPM issue came from a test session last year.

“We found data during a test from last year that included all these in and out laps, and starting in the garage and backing it out – the guy probably forgot to turn off the data acquisition system,” White said. “We started looking at it, and the engines spend one or two minutes in those conditions with zero oil pressure. So we actually built a simulation program, and all these durability simulations we ran last night, we were doing it [as if they were] off the track, in the garage, restart, drive out of the garage, shift the gears, all that stuff.”

While the engine troubles were frustrating, White said he enjoyed the opportunity for him to get his hands dirty a little bit as part of the investigation.

“I haven’t had this much fun in a decade,” White said. “I am more energized and more excited about racing today than I have been probably in a decade, just as a result of the challenge we’ve had to rise to the task. … It’s so nice to take off your administrator hat and your management hat and get down in the dirt and get grease under your fingernails.”

Comments

9 responses to "TRD reverts to old oil pump amid concerns about lubrication in low-RPM situations". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Max Finkelberg said:
    Mar 4, 2009 at 7:46 PM

    With the TRD teams blowing engines, who's going to pay for them? 5 Toyota drivers had to go to the back because of engine changes. These guys are going to have to work a little bit harder on these engines, people!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. 2
    Jozef Colomy said:
    Mar 4, 2009 at 9:21 PM

    Well conversely look at how those drivers finished...Kyle Busch, 1st. David Reutimann, 4th. Brian Vickers, 10th. Marcos Ambrose, 20th. Scott Speed, 21st. Not too bad if you ask me. Plus there was a smattering of Toyotas in between those, these were just the ones who had to start from the back.

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  3. 3
    Don Rakow, Jr said:
    Mar 4, 2009 at 10:26 PM

    Hey Jozef, Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing get their engines from themselves not TRD??

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  4. 4
    Tom Collins said:
    Mar 5, 2009 at 9:51 AM

    Ouch!good reply Don!

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  5. 5
    Tom Collins said:
    Mar 5, 2009 at 9:53 AM

    By the way JOZEF,Jr. finished 10th not Vickers.OUCH!

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  6. 6
    gary abbott said:
    Mar 6, 2009 at 3:51 AM

    hi im just a dumb aussie so could someone explain to me why the drivers have to go to the rear of the grid if toyota knows it is their fault that the oil pump is no good which brings about an engine change any comment out there cobbers

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  7. 7
    Bernadette Motherway said:
    Mar 6, 2009 at 2:36 PM

    Gary: NASCAR rules. If something happens during practice AFTER qualifying, those rules pertain. Anyone else out there correct me if I'm wrong.

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  8. 8
    Bernadette Motherway said:
    Mar 7, 2009 at 11:06 AM

    ....and you're not a dumb aussie!

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  9. 9
    Robert Wingert said:
    Mar 22, 2009 at 10:22 AM

    Toyota under investigation into illegal changes in the F1 series... Why does that not amaze me?

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