For those who don't know, I just got too frustrated with the whole thing. First was the defective supercharger unit. Then the whole thing with the check engine light and the system running super rich. Then the thing with the smell of gasoline in my engine oil and me getting about 11mpg. HKS was willing to go through significant measures to help, but I am bailing out!!!!

So.....$6000 worth of "stuff" sitting in my garage. There were parts of the install that weren't simply reversible, so there has been some minor damage to components ( had to cut some wires and fuel line)

Anyway, it was an expensive mistake for me. Unfortunately, it was also the first time in owning five significantly modded cars that I have been unhappy to this extent. All my other experiences worked well and just needed a little tweaking here and there. Nothing as problematic as this.

I suppose every product will have it's "lemons". I haven't asked for my money back mainly because I don't think I'll get it, and I am just too sick of hassling with this damn kit.

Just glad the damn thing is out of my car.

Good luck to all the FI crowd. I'll be thinking of you all every time I get my butt kicked by an M3.

 

whata drag, but glad to hear you can just throw $6k away; i would certainly ask for some kind of refund in return for their "lemon".

 

Well....I look at it this way...if you can't afford a blown motor, you shouldn't be running FI in the first place, and this is less than the cost of dealing with a blown motor. Just because I *can* afford it, however, doesn't mean it doesn't sting to think about that much money wasted.

 

One of my most ballistic buttons is believing someone got over on me, but that's just me. Sorry for your loss, bro.

 

Not sure how much they really got over on me. That's one great thing about the web. Word gets out FAST about things like this. While I may be out $6k, I'm sure HKS is out at least that much in lost sales as a result of the publicity around this which has been significant. Anyway, to their credit, they were willing to go to great lengths to help me and I must therefore give their customer support a top rating. Still, the hassle factor is the biggest issue for me.

 

that's truly too bad speedracer, i know many expected this kit to be flawless. do you think it's because you have an '04 model and did you have the new a/f sensor?

 

sorry bro

 

Your not out $6k. I guarandamntee you someone will buy that kit used for at least $4000. Hopefully they will have better luck.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words. All 6 plugs looked just like this. And no, this isn't a result of low lighting. The plugs are that black!!!!This was after only about 300 miles of driving with the supercharger.

I think I do want my money back after all. Something was SERIOUSLY WRONG here!!!!!!

 

Wow! That really sucks. Did you try to get a refund at all ?

 

Not yet, but after removing these plugs and seeing what kind of damage may have occured had I kept this kit on, I think I am pissed enough to get my money back.

 

The tip, which is the only part that affects performance, looks just fine in that pic. That black stuff looks more like oil than blackness from extra fuel.

 

I've done 75% of the spark plug changes in my cars over the past 20 years and I've NEVER seen plugs like this. It is definitely not oil. Even in my previous Audi S4 which was running 25lbs of boost and fueled accordingly, the plugs weren't anything close to this. It is far from normal, under any circumstance. It is hard to appreciate the thickness of the goo coating the end of the plug. Also, remember, this is after only 300 miles on new plugs.

 

Man...I'm sorry to hear what you went through, but I admire how well you took it. Hopefully HKS will make it up to you somehow. It's kind of weird that you were running rich...right now I'm running on the opposite side of the spectrum. I know what you mean about the fuel consumption too...I've never looked to see how much gas I have in the same day to see different amounts....

 

I really hope HKS does something to help make this right for you. They really should for their own sake as well. As you say, others are watching to see how you're treated by HKS and putting buying decisions on hold accordingly. I have seen a lot of plugs and run a lot of boost and also considering the miles you have on them - No WAY you should be running that rich, man. I am an '04 model also and will not buy HKS unless they sort this out and do the right things for potential customers like me and existing customers like you... For what it's worth, good luck. You deserve better than this so far!

 

It might have been better to deal with this directly with HKS first (without posting). It is hard to have them be postive with you after this type of thread but then again, you did say they have been helpful so good luck and hope you get some satisfaction.

 

I haven't said anything about the company. They have treated me VERY well through this experience, and have been very receptive. To be perfectly honest, $6000 isn't a huge amount of money for me, and while I would love to get it back, I won't die without it. Still, for many people, if they invested this much $$$ and had the problems I did, it would be a huge deal. I'm 38 years old now and well off financially. When I was much younger, I still used to put a lot of cash into my cars and it would have really hurt back then if something like this happened. People need to
know!!!!

Look at Kinetix. They went through four re-designs of their plenum before they got it right. Tons of people posted about their failed plenums. Still, Kinetix played well to their customers, did right by them, fixed the problems, and still has a loyal following. If HKS doesn't do the right thing just because I have posted, they will be in REAL trouble.

 

HKS should have known about the changes to the '04 ECU and been advising us on the front end. Not Speedracer having to dyno his car for readings and sending them to HKS and having to convince them that there is even a problem! In the past HKS was waaay ahead of the game on things like this. I had an HKS stage VI Eclipse and HKS gave very very precise and specific instructions about every single aspect of the modification process. For instance. For the HKS programmed fuel computer (PFC), if you had the sport turbo you adjust the settings thus and so... turn this on this off, etc. etc. If you have the sport turbo, larger fuel injectors, modified MAF sensor, and larger fuel injectors, you have to buy our replacement chip and run the settings on it thus and so. Exactly. And if you do thus and so additional mods, then change your settings in the programmed fuel computer to exactly this. They were ahead of the game and looking out for you every step of the way. On top of all that, there is a dial in the programmed fuel computer to fine tune your A/F ratio to a little richer or a little leaner depending on how your car may vary slightly from the other guy's same car. Now this was 13 years ago and their technology and wherewithal should be a lot better in 2004. My point is that HKS should have this down to the same degree of science with our Z cars as they did for my Eclipse. I felt very confident with my Eclipse every step of the way and everything went amazingly well. That car had Atlas booster type acceleration and also ran just as smooth as stock! Amazing. I blew big block Camaros and Chevelles doors in at the drag strip and their owners would come running (!) across the pits and say things to me in amazement like, “Hell my air cleaner is bigger than your whole damn engine (120 cubic inches)!!! How in the hell can you wax my *** like that with a little 4 banger!!!!” It was sure fun explaining… Now that is what I have come to expect from HKS. Granted the Eclipse was set up for boost from the manufacturer, but even so I hope you get my point. As I was running over twice as much power as stock and HKS was rock solid on top of it and inspired confidence. That is how HKS built the reputation they have as being experts and "trust your car to us". This is very very different from Speedracer having to beg and plead with them to even convince them that they have a problem with their kit and won't they please WAKE UP and pull their head out and try to fix it, pretty please. Our Z cars are a lot more expensive than my old 4 banger Eclipse was and HKS better get their stuff together and get ahead of the game on the front end instead of being asleep and thinking that if they fix their blunders eventually after we have terrible initial experiences with their kits, that this represents good enough service. To be fair...Yeah, this type of service is about status quo for the average aftermarket suppliers, it's just that I have come to expect a LOT more out of HKS but that was then and this is now. They could start off by APOLOGIZING for THEIR mistake instead of taking offense that we in the Z Car realm are dissatisfied and posting threads about it. That's blaming the victim IMHO. Hey, I'm a real fair guy and I will wait and see how HKS handles this before I finalize my opinion. Everybody makes mistakes, even the experts. I'll give them a pass for that if they respond like they used to and jump all over the situation and fix it 120%. They should change their kit and offer to install it for free for Speedracer and roll out the red carpet to make things right. They used to… They can still turn this thing around, but it is their responsibility to take the initiative on changes that occur to our ECUs by Nissan - there have been several changes to our ECUs, not just this one – and they either knew about those changes or they should have known about them. Take your pick. Sorry this is so long.

 

Ever heard of paragraphs ? whew, my eyes hurt.

 

If you aren't interested, then don't bother reading it. If that's all you saw in my post, then you have the attention span and the intellect of a gold fish.