Failure is definitely an option (my broken/damaged parts pics)

We see some unusual parts failures here at Mach V Motorsports. Sometimes it's just parts that have been used beyond where they should have been replaced. Other times things break in ways they shouldn't. Here are some highlights...

Subaru WRX AC idler. "My engine is making a funny noise."

Subary Legacy transmission. The throwout bearing eats into the end of the casing, and sometimes breaks pieces off. We had to supply this guy a new trans case. Which is, you know, not cheap.

Off-brand aluminum copy of a Kartboy WRX short shifter. The Kartboy ones never break. This one did. Sort of makes it hard to drive.

Deformed rod bearings out of a Subaru engine.

Customer couldn't get a steel bolt out of an aluminum Brembo caliper. That's not uncommon. What IS uncommon is the customer heating the caliper until the aluminum turns molten and flows away.

"Please re-use my existing belts, if possible."

Damaged Subaru piston

Customer wonders if his clutch is still good...

This kind of failure of the rubber-dampened crank pulley is common on MINI Coopers, but it can happen on lots of other cars, too.

Customer complained of a vibration.

"Car is down on power." Turbine wheel of a Subaru Legacy turbo.

Subaru spring. It's pretty rare to see one actually broken.

Coilover top hat for a Subaru. These normally would be flat.

--Dan
Mach V Motorsports

I laffed at the commentary!!!!!!

Teenage boy speed shifting?

Great post. Reminds me of dropping my mangled driveline off at the machine shop. Someone beat me. They made theirs into an L shape.

Excellent post! Please keep them coming, this is great entertainment.

I have a folder of photos at work when things fail, here is one of my favorites, this is what it looks like when your forward rear axle looses oil and the driver just says "berkeley it!"

What's up with the steel bolts in the aluminum caliper? Are you supposed to use something else?

codrus wrote: What's up with the steel bolts in the aluminum caliper? Are you supposed to use something else?

yes, grease

This is a filter intended to keep debris out of the Oil Control Valve (which runs the car's adjustable valve timing) on a late-model Subaru. Instead, the filter came apart and jammed the OCV. Car ran like crap since one side of the variable cam system was stuck.

This is a stock front brake pad off my brand new Subaru BRZ, after two days of HPDE at Summit Point.

This photo is NOT mine, but it's the aftermath of an oil pickup cracking loose on a Subaru turbo engine.

Another Subaru piston. This one is out of a 2008 WRX STI. There were a lot of this kind of failure from this model year, many on cars that were not modified. We're not sure why.

--Dan
Mach V

Here's what happens when a Lexus SC 430 sucks a ton of water up into the motor:

There was probably a half-liter or more of water in various locations through out the intake, heads, cylinders, etc. It was a mess.

Batvan's #3.

Seller: "There's something wrong with the transmission."

Woody wrote: Seller: "There's something wrong with the transmission."

I did that once to a 4R70W 4x4.

Wish i had pics from when my 87 civic si decided to slice its own distributor in half... And still ran!

Had a transfer case here a while back which was run dry, the chain ate a huge half moon hole in the case. I should have taken pics. I can't find the famous pics of the Nissan pickup with a mattress wrapped around the driveshaft unfortunately.

EDIT: My Google-fu has waxed full again.

Can I play too? I tried to sell the customer a timing belt for his 1st or second gen Talon due to miles. He called me everything in the book, saying I was a crook. maybe two months later it was towed in, "crank, no-start".

In reply to DrBoost:

epic win

MachVDan wrote: This is a stock front brake pad off my brand new Subaru BRZ, after two days of HPDE at Summit Point.

What can cause pads to wear like this? The rears on my 2002 WRX looked similar to this when i replaced therm not long ago, although not to that extent.

Wow! Some of those are just crazy.

Here is mine. This is from a 1980 Porsche 3.0 that had a connecting rod break and punch a hole in the case and destroyed the valve. The last two pics are the pieces that came out when I was draining the oil...

In my case... it was a mix. had 1 piston slightly dragging in the front dual piston calipers. And the the caliper lock pin (the one wit hthe weird little rubber end) was hydrolocking in the bore of the caliper bracket.

1 fresh caliper + 1 OEM seal kit (the aftermarket bushings are a little wider diameter and stick out wider than the pin) = right as rain.

MachVDan wrote: Off-brand aluminum copy of a Kartboy WRX short shifter. The Kartboy ones never break. This one did. Sort of makes it hard to drive.

Is that one of the infamous Agency Power (aka Vivid Racing, aka garbage) shifters? That's definitely one of those Kartboy "Overpriced Garbage" ones.

Kia Spectra..."The temp gauge was on H, but I thought I could make it".

Dodge Dakota..." was just sitting at a stop light".

What happens when a recirculating blow off valve recirculates its insides into a turbo compressor wheel!

fidelity101 wrote: I have a folder of photos at work when things fail, here is one of my favorites, this is what it looks like when your forward rear axle looses oil and the driver just says "berkeley it!"

What is a "forward rear axle ?"

MachVDan wrote: Customer wonders if his clutch is still good... Mach V Motorsports

This is my favorite.

I'll have to see if I can find the Kent Piston and rod that came out of my race Fiesta when the red mist decended and I wasn't looking at the oil pressure.

Uncoiled wrote:

MachVDan wrote: This is a stock front brake pad off my brand new Subaru BRZ, after two days of HPDE at Summit Point.

What can cause pads to wear like this? The rears on my 2002 WRX looked similar to this when i replaced therm not long ago, although not to that extent.

caliper brackets flexing under braking pressure