Blew it up
 

After a year and a half and roughly 11k miles boosted, my motor popped.

I was giving a coworker a ride after work on Sunday and did a nice 2nd-5th pull letting off as soon as I shifted out of 4th and in 5th. My buddy says "This is the fastest car I have ever been in" and I'm all like :happydance: So I hit it again otw back in 3rd, changed to 4th gear and at about 5-6k RPMs I hear something under my car that sounds like a coffee grinder. I thought I hit something in the interstate.... until I saw fire coming from both sides of my car. I immediately knew that my motor popped. It was a sad day. That night I contemplated the meaning of life and all other kinds of deep thought lol. I havent had any time to tear it apart to really see what happened, however there really isn't any reason for me to do so. I don't have the money in my "car fund" to fix it, so if I take it apart I'll end up having car parts EVERYWHERE for a long period of time. Now some pictures:

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...7DF75C819B.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...EDF90921B1.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...C3B0F84215.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...951A288406.jpg

They aren't the greatest pictures, but in the second picture, you can see oil all over the rear bumper. The third and fourth pictures show what I found when I removed the metal plate covering the steering rack and lines. Its hard to tell, but there is a rod bearing, rod, piston, piston ring, oil pan, and other assorted metal pieces in there. I won't know the real carnage until I get some money to do whatever Im going to do with the car. Overall I'm really bummed. I contemplated selling the car for $8k as is and being done with it, but decided that I will wait until my emotions aren't influencing my decisions lol.

Now for the questions that everyone will ask:
-Turbo kit: Boosted Performance

-Yes the car was tuned. It was tuned by Jon at Z1. I changed some of the intercooler piping, so I had some minor drivability issues, but at WOT the tune was solid, running more on the rich side that it was lean. (11-11.4ish)

-I was making 532hp and 500tq to the wheels

-When I would drive the car, I was very easy on it. Like a grandma. When I would DRIVE the car, I beat the crap out of it

-I have 750cc injectors and CJM's RRP (walbro 255 pump) and CJM fuel return. There were no leaks or fuel pressure issues.

-I did have a ticking noise at idle and while driving. I am relatively sure that it was transmission noise rather than engine noise though because 1) it sounds like its coming from the transmission when you are under the car and 2) it has been making the noise since December and I have driven the car like its supposed to be driven since then, even making the trip to ZdayZ and back with 0 issues.

-What was the cause? Im not entirely sure. Im thinking that with my driving combined with 500 lbs of tq, that the little rods couldn't handle it any longer and gave in.

-Whats next? Again, I'm not sure. I don't know if I want to rebuild the motor to handle more boost, throw in a used motor and dial down the boost a little, or swap in something else. I love the thought of an LS due to simplicity and ease of getting parts. Im just not sure of the thought of an LS in my Z lol. We will see I guess.

That's my guess.

That sucks. Maybe sell the turbo kit to fund a LS motor or rebuild yours.

That sucks, sorry to hear. Hope you get it situated soon.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

:eek: Sorry about your situation...

While boost is so addictive and tempting... this is one of the reasons why I just can't go boost...

I'd be worrying about blowing my motor too much to even enjoy all the power... but then again I'm a type of person who worries before things even happen :o

Good luck

I completely agree. 500wtq on a stock block and pump gas is a lot to push.

Sucks to see your baby in pieces bud. I vote for rebuilding it but I can't lie and say a LS with 450/450 wouldn't be fun all day!

Blew it up
 

Question. I see you mentioned changing IC piping. That mean you changed to V2.0? I definitely would have retuned after that. I have a hard time saying for sure because I changed exhaust at the same time but my tuner definitely had to do some tune dialing in when I upgraded.

Did you upgrade to 3" intakes too?

Has anyone here put in an LS into a 370 yet?

Good luck with whatever you decide...

http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...ve-had-v8.html


One person is in the process of fitting an LS3

and to the OP sorry about hearing about the engine blowin,
that's why If I ever decide to go boost I will be getting every little mod known to man kind to support the type of power the car would be getting besides the mandatory mods for boost. Sadly that will cost me anywhere between $25-$30k instead of $15-$20k like the average is discussed. Like for example I put a Spec Stage 3 clutch in my Z but I know by the time I want boost the WHOLE Clutch/Flywheel combo, Rear Diff, FI exhaust from the end of the FI LTH for the turbos, increased oil cooler size, Powerhouse Amuse or +1INGS Aerodynamic full authentic body kits, entire Fuel system, sump pump, CSC elimination kit etc. will need to be done. EVERY LITTLE THING that I could do to prevent and engine blow I would..
Plus I would do all of that at once just cause my car would have to stay there period, just rather them knock it all out in one sitting. Now having the money is a different story lol.

If I ever end up not going boost, I'm going to tune it (don't know which yet), still going to do the body kit, Full ARK Grip exhaust system (gotta figure out something from my friend, he knows a website I guess to where he knows the owner of the company and is good friends and when the parts get made they can be 50 state smogged and the sticker put on there even though they don't qualify to even pass smog in CA.) So even though my car wont pass smog with the ARK exhaust the stickers from the manufacturing company give the right of way. So hopefully looking to never have to exchange my damn exhaust for a smog check.

Just my two ideas incase you are able to get any ideas of what you want to do with your Z. Honestly an estimate from a shop might not be a bad idea just to see exactly all of the damage and what everything would cost at least for OEM. Gives you a starting point to start choosing a path for the Z

Think there is one at my tuners shop but I could be mistaken and they are all 350s.

Been there done that man. Mine let go right at redline in 2nd. I am about 90% sure it was because I ran out of fuel up there. I think your 255 was really pushing it for 530hp.

I learned my lesson. If you go built motor go with a short block from IPP and use your heads if salvageable. I have a ton of extra parts laying around too if you need some. I have a set of heads if you need and such.

Yeah I changed to the V2 version of the piping, but still kept the original intakes. I did some tuning myself to the car as far as drivability to fix it. I didn't get it perfect, but it was good enough to drive. Under WOT, AFR and timing were good. I ran a few datalogs to monitor back when I first made the change.

I know I was pushing it on my fuel pump. That will be addressed whenever I figure out what ill be doing. Im leaning toward rebuilding the motor. A company called PRS will be selling a closed deck block design soon. Ill probably look into that. Im also kind of interested in the HR head swap. We will see. I have A LOT of research to do. Im not going to cut any corners when/if I rebuild, so it may take me a good while to save up enough money to get it running again.

Im generally a conservative person. However I have a daily and knew that it could happen, so I wasn't really upset about it. A motor rebuild doesn't necessarily fit into my financial planning for the next 5 years. However I can adapt lol. Knowing I had a daily made me push the car a little more than I would have had I not.

Isn't PRS that retard Bobby from VSR's new shop? I wouldn't let that waterhead assemble a balsa wood glider for me, much less a motor.

Could have been a crappy tank of gas. Did you fill up anywhere unusual? Ive seen it before.

:iagree:

If you want a completed shipped block call the guys at Import Parts Pro. They are a vendor on here.

Sadly it always seems to happen when you go to show someone the potential of your car. I snapped an axle doing the same, which created another line item on my never ending 'to do' list. I saved for 4 years for my build, so maybe you can make the 5 year plan work. :)

Sorry to see this happen and best of luck in whichever route you choose from here!

Z1 has a short block on their website now, built for some boost.

Hmm... I didn't know that. Supposedly they have had good dealings with the Subaru crowds and their "closed deck" blocks. If they are having a 3rd party machine shop doing the block, would you trust that? They won't be building the bottom end for me.

IPP has always had awesome prices on their motors. I'm kind of skeptical about buying a built short block for some reason and may end up building it myself. Anyone heard any bad things about IPP motors?

Nope. I filled up where I usually do. I would love to run a conservative tune on E85, but it's not very easily obtained here in Memphis.

I wouldn't trust any place that would employ Bobby to do anything right. IPP has been solid from what I've read. That's the direction I'll go if/when I join this club.

IPP has been in the vq game for numerous years. Trust them.

Ugg, had something similar happen to me on another car. I was just showing out for myself though....LOL 12psi of boost and clack clack clack. Dropped a valve seat.

That is a comprehensive enforckeration.

Anyone know where some good info regarding the HR head swap is?

Megan370Z or Clark Steppler at JWT or Brian At Valkyrie AutoSports

HR head swap will require aftermarket ECU or piggy-back ECU as the Nissan 370Z ECU expects to be managing VVEL and HR head swap will delete VVEL.

I am involved in a major CANbus sniff exercise on a Z34 but it is at least 3 weeks away from any sort of conclusion with no guarantee of success just yet.

"If" this works out as expected, there will be an aftermarket ECU option to run a VQ37HR in a Z34 chassis but there will also be some constraints ..... like cruise control will not be a feature, not sure about ESC/VDC and some other similar features.

When I have something definite to post, it will appear in my race engine thread (Search for "VQ40HRGA").

Just because you fill up there regularly doesn't mean that the current delivery wasn't mixed up or just crap. I had this issue a few months back. Filled up at my regular spot, got about 3 miles or so and the car started back firing and sputtering under increased throttle and throwing codes left and right. Would pull over, scan, take note, delete, and repeat till I got home.

Once home I opened up the tank, drained just over 15 gallons out (now being used in the lawnmower and running fine lol), pulled the pump, inspected the screen and bowl (nothing out the normal), reinstalled, put in 2 gallons from a different station the opposite direction of my house and car has been fine ever since.

Still have about 8 gallons left, would love to send it somewhere for some form of test to see wtf is wrong with it.

But, I was bone dry upon filling up, literally about 3-5 miles and the car started to freak out. Never filled up there again.

And out of curiousity, how did the tq get so close to whp? Most I have seen are at least 100 point difference between the two?

sorry to hear about that. Good luck on new motor. Try getting a built short block so you can reuse everything else you already have on the car. Then the car wont have any issues.

Blew it up
 

Single turbo setups make a lot more torque than twins. My first tune before the 3" intake upgrade was 503/465

Sorry for the news..makes me think twice about adding that much power to the Z. Once you do the engine, then everything attached needs to be beefed up. Sort of the knee bone is connected to the leg bone, etc...

I have a friend at work with a nice TT 350Z, and we did some track time last weekend and he was definitely faster due to his extra 100HP to the wheels, but at any time, she can go boom!

Hope you get everything sorted out and good luck with your decision to rebuild.

PS...I still would love to go FI on my 40th :) even with the possibility of catastrophic failure.

I just now found out about this thread. I'm sorry to hear what happened bud. I had this happen to me in April while my car wa on the dyno. Luckily I got lucky and it was just a ringland and caught it before it got horrible. But I still had to have my engine rebuilt with forged parts. I just got mine back 3 weeks ago. So I know how you feel. Just plan out the best option for you and the car. I was also getting the car ready for my first ZdayZ so that sucked. I still went tho! On the bright side lol

My numbers when mine went were 554whp and 491wtq. So yea I was up around the 500lb TQ area which isn't very good.

Turbo cars can get expensive. Factory turbo car or not. At least we don't shot gun tranny's like crazy.

I'm going to pay the car off before I rebuild it. I still owe about $7k on it. I hope to have it paid off by the end of the year. I've been back and forth about a LS, but I think I'm going to stick with the VQ.

Do you remember what max timing was your tune?

I do not. Sorry. I may be able to figure out though.

To be running your numbers at 12psi, I'm guessing 21-22 deg maybe more