To set the scene, I participate in DE trackdays. Mostly in the North Texas area.
The group I run with requires a Tech Inspection of your car 30 days prior to an event you plan to run.
Here is the text from the organizations website on the Drivers Responsiblities and Liabilities:
All cars to be used on track must be tech inspected per The Drivers Edge Tech Sheet. Note: the driver is solely responsible for getting the tech inspection done properly and the car is maintained properly up to TDE standards with in the 30 days prior to the event date. Any car found not properly inspected and or is not deemed unsafe, will not be allowed on track.
I affirm this automobile has been inspected by a certified mechanic/shop with in the past 6 months or 5000 miles whichever less.
Now maybe I am expecting too much from a mechanic performing this kind of race centric tech inspection, but they should have caught these things I will outline below.
I am diligent about this car inspection process. I like a competent mechanic to perform this function. For this I use a shop that specializes in high performance vehicles. A logical thing to do in my view. I would normally do this myself since I perform most of the normal maintenance on my car. I figured an unbiased tech review of my car would uncover any issues I have overlooked. This time the tech inspection was done very poorly by the
Certified Mechanic.
Things they missed were:
- The battery hold down clamp was missing one of the J hook screws leaving the battery loose to move around.
- The Clutch fluid level was Low.
- The Brake Fluid Level was Low.
- The Brake pads were just at the minimum level and needed changing.
The problems resulting from this poorly executed Tech Inspection caused me to cut off my first trackday run session at the close of the warm-up lap. The loose battery caused all kinds of electrical gremlins upon heading out on track. I then spent the next two hours fixing all of the problems the Tech missed and should have caught when he did the inspection. I always carry spare Brake pads and fluids to the track for just this occasion. The brakes, the fluids and the Battery are all items on the DE Tech Inspection form. I acknowledge that as the driver it is my responsibility to also check these items behind the Tech inspector. The minimum they could have alerted me to the easily remedied issues I uncovered at the Track.
I have other places to get my car a good Tech Inspection. The trust is gone with regards to the place I have been using. BTW this is not the first issue I have heard about at this shop. This one for me though is the final straw. I think I'll reach out to Texas Chassis Works for this next time.
The address of the shop I used for the poorly executed Tech Inspection is:
1975 Archer Way
Lewisville, TX 75077
Have any of you out there had a similar experience to this one I have described? Just curious. I admit that at the end of the day it is still the drivers responsibility to ensure his/her car is safe to drive in all respects. I just would have liked a heads up on the easy to remedy things I found.