Well it happened the motor popped....

[LS1PUSSOUT]

went to go and get my car tuned today. Threw a rod out the block on the very first pull. I was so pissed. They said I didnt have the right wastegate spring in it which I really dont believe because I never changed the spring. The hellion kit comes with a 9psi spring already loaded in the wastegate. I never even touched it. I was planning on seeing what it made on 9psi first then bumping it up as fuel allowed. Tuner said it made over 14psi at around 3300rpm. WTF how is that possible?!? To make that much boost you have to put the 12psi spring in it and add metal shims to even get 14psi on just the wastegate! They werent really sure what had happened to it, but as soon as I saw the smoke coming from under the engine bay I knew it was toast. Coolant and oil was dripping all over the place. Took a closer look to find there was a hole in the side of the block where the ****ing rod hit it. I still dont know what happened. The car looked like it was running rich as hell once he got on the gas. About 1-2 seconds after he went WOT it popped. My jaw dropped.

They had always done a good job on my previous tunes so I had faith they would keep it alive. I should have taken the advice of other people who told me to go elsewhere, but who knows it might have blown anyways. I wont know exactly what happened until me and the mad scientist rip apart the block and find out. One thing is for sure. The entire engine is toast besides the intake. They shut it down before anything had time to make its way through the turbo however. Also he said the tranny is on its way out. The reverse gear is halfway gone. This turned into a real bad day. I was hoping to be tearing up the streets right about now in it. Now im having to throw together a new shortblock and probably end up having to put stock heads/cams back on it just so I can get my car back and driveable. i was just about to start building a new teksid aluminum engine, but I may just end up having to rebuild my old stock iron 4.6. Well its gone for now. Everyone can say "i told ya so". The Hellion GT will be back on the road and it will be better than ever!

 

[98 Saleen Cobra]

Damn bud I'm sorry to hear that, I remember when that happened to me it's a sickening feeling, just build the motor so it's bad ass and call it a day. good luck

 

[y2k2gt]

WoW!! I haven't heard of people breaking forged rods very much. He must have had way too much timing programed. It shouldn't have thrown a rod at only 14psi. Did you even check and see how much psi it was making before letting them tune it. Post up the graph.

 

[shhak]

Hey man, sorry about your luck. That's gotta suck. Oh, we've got a brand new VT 302 short block sitting in the garage floor. We got it from a member on here who had it in his fox. He said it just had a few minutes of idle time on it in his garage. Pistons still look new. $3,000 and we're close enough you could pick it up...

 

[LS1PUSSOUT]

WoW!! I haven't heard of people breaking forged rods very much. He must have had way too much timing programed. It shouldn't have thrown a rod at only 14psi. Did you even check and see how much psi it was making before letting them tune it. Post up the graph.

I have no idea what it was really. All I know is theres a gaping hole in the side of the block and we suspect it was from a rod. I wasnt ever able to check the boost because it was never tuned. This was the initial tune with the new setup. It was pouring black smoke like it was running waay rich. I dont know what it was but well find out. Dont have a graph because it popped at only around 3300rpm on the first pull...

 

[y2k2gt]

Had to be tune related IMHO! How much hp and tq did it make at 3300rpm. There still should have been a graph. Should have seen how timing it had in it. Something just doesn't sound right. You can check how much boost without being tuned. I posted videos of mine spooling before being tuned. The boost should also be watched while on the dyno. He should have got out of it after it went past 10psi. You can also use a air compressor to check and see how much psi it takes to open the wastegates.

 

[ponyboyisaac]

cant believe u blew your engine with a forged rotating assembly(i know theyre not indestructable but this one blew to easily). sorry to hear about your luck man.

 

[LS1PUSSOUT]

Hey man, sorry about your luck. That's gotta suck. Oh, we've got a brand new VT 302 short block sitting in the garage floor. We got it from a member on here who had it in his fox. He said it just had a few minutes of idle time on it in his garage. Pistons still look new. $3,000 and we're close enough you could pick it up...

yea it does suck. Thanks for the offer but that one is a little too much for me right now. Im sure its worth every penny and I would like to have a stroker. I found a DSS promod shortblock for about $1700. Its got about 5k on it though. Im not sure still shopping but I think I will probably just buy a whole new shortblock instead of going through the process of building.

Had to be tune related IMHO! How much hp and tq did it make at 3300rpm. There still should have been a graph. Should have seen how timing it had in it. Something just doesn't sound right. You can check how much boost without being tuned. I posted videos of mine spooling before being tuned. The boost should also be watched while on the dyno. He should have got out of it after it went past 10psi. You can also use a air compressor to check and see how much psi it takes to open the wastegates.

yea I was thinking he probably should have gotten out of boost also. He waited until the wastegate opened up and complained he couldnt hear the motor. It did spool up fast though. It also looked like it was running like a bat out of hell when the boost came on. He said it only made 350whp when it broke and the torque was "way up there". Ill be taking it to either dynospeed or MPH with the new motor. Unfortunately I signed a little paper saying theyre not liable so im stuck....:nonono:

 

[y2k2gt]

You should ask for the graph and then ask to see all the data from that run including the timing. The graph will have the run file # on it, so make sure you see the data from that run. The paper you signed doesn't mean they have the right to blow up your forged engine.

 

[shhak]

FWIW, you can get a complete longblock thru trousleys for like $3700 with a 3 year 100k mile warranty.

 

[LS1PUSSOUT]

You should ask for the graph and then ask to see all the data from that run including the timing. The graph will have the run file # on it, so make sure you see the data from that run. The paper you signed doesn't mean they have the right to blow up your forged engine.

I will be going back to get my car with a tow truck in a couple days. Ill then find out what went wrong with it. How is it possible to make 14psi on the spring that comes stock with the hellion kits? Thats what I want to know. According to the instructions it has to be shimmed out to hell and using a tighter spring. I didnt touch it!

FWIW, you can get a complete longblock thru trousleys for like $3700 with a 3 year 100k mile warranty.

Yea I actually still have my old stock longblock sitting in the garage right now. But it wont be going back in. This actually couldnt have happened at a better time for my financial situation. But I just need to get this thing back together like it was right now. I may get the heads ported.

 

[y2k2gt]

Could have had the vacuum line hooked up wrong. The gate could have had the wrong spring. 14psi didn't kill your engine.

 

[SVTCLOPTON]

who was the tuner?

 

[LS1PUSSOUT]

Could have had the vacuum line hooked up wrong. The gate could have had the wrong spring. 14psi didn't kill your engine.

well im pretty sure the vaccum line was hooked up right and I even saw exhaust shooting out of it right before it broke. The wastegate came in a box with two other springs. I believe they are the 10 and 11lb ones? Anyways the spring that is supposed to be in the wastegate is the 9lb. Ill have to take it apart to find out. I never really thought to put an air hose on it to check it. If it did hit 14psi it wouldnt have had enough fuel to support that even if the timing was too high. I was expecting the fuel setup to be good for 11-12psi. Ill be tearing it down and then im sure it will become pretty obvious what happened once we see it...

 

[LS1PUSSOUT]

who was the tuner?

im not one to name names but its right next to the superspeedway. I didnt really have time to take it anywhere else right now. Was looking to get a nice soft low boost tune just for temporary....

 

[SVTCLOPTON]

yeah I am going through a problem with the speedway tuners also. Lets just say I got a appointment set for dynospeed.

 

[Shin]

9psi spring can boost creep to 14psi but even then they should've gotten out of it, assuming 3rd-4th gear it wasn't instant.

GL with the rebuild man, keep us posted

 

[rubber duck]

Are you 100% sure you have the vacuum lines run right? A lot of black smoke coming out of the pipes is also indicitive of a loose/popped off vacuum line.

 

[Helomech74]

I don't see how you hit 14psi at only 3300 rpm. Sounds a little fishy to me. I would certainly be asking for the graph and all info related to the pull. I know the tuner you speak of, and to be honest, I have never had issues down there (been at least a year since I have been down there.) I never had them tune anything for me, but I have used the dyno to verify my tunes. I have watched them tune other vehicles, and they seem to do pretty damn good.

 

[01Lowboy]

Could have had the vacuum line hooked up wrong. The gate could have had the wrong spring. 14psi didn't kill your engine.

I'm gonna have to agree with this. I had a friend lift a head because his wastegate was hooked up wrong and it spiked to 20+ lbs. If you're car was going in for an initial tune and it spiked without fuel being set up for it then I can see exactly how you could blow a motor. 14psi wouldn't blow a tuned motor but if it was on the first pull like you said where obviously there was no kind of baseline for fuel delivery then it could most certainly blow any motor.