Well, after over 6 months without my car I FINALLY have it back. I was one of the very few unlucky ones who had a blown motor with my Vortech system. I knew the risks before going FI so I can't say that I was particluarly surprised when it happened. As many have said before, don't go FI unless you can afford to fix it if it goes. Hopefully my experience can help someone else learn from it and avoid the same situation.

Last fall I had experienced a few limp mode issues before putting car away for the winter. I never found exact cause. This spring I had the same issue once or twice in a couple of weeks. I noticed the wideband was reading quite rich during a 50 mile trip I took. Next day the car had a very loud exhaust sound. I made appointment to bring it to the tuner/mechanic (who is 60 miles away) and dropped it off later in the week. The engine supposedly seized while they were looking at it. They thought it was main bearings that went and heard some piston slap when they were troubleshooting (before it seized). Another odd thing was the tuner said the SS box program was found to be "corrupt" (not sure what caused that). I had the engine torn apart and found ALL of the crank bearings disintegrated. Nearest guess for cause I think is that the the FMU was somehow stuck on and gas ruined seals & bearings, etc. All that was left was a pile of metallic sludge. I am not a mechanic by any means and do not claim to know exactly what went wrong. PM me if you want more specifics.

I took this misfortune as an "opportunity" to make some improvements. Among the upgrades were the following:
- Aries 10.5:1 pistons
- Pauter rods
- ARP main studs
- 350Z track model oil pump
- AAM complete return fuel system
- Walbro 255lph fuel pump
- RC Engin. 440cc fuel injectors
- Greddy emanage Ultimate
- tons of other odds and ends required for complete rebuild

I was always a little worried with the SS box and FMU set up that came with the Vortech kit and I took this opportunity to ditch it for the much more capable emanage and upgraded fuel system.

Before the engine died, I was at 379whp and 319 tq. It ran reliable for over a year. I have to break in the engine for about 1000 miles or so and then I will have new HP #'s to share. I am going to tune with stock pulley 1st and then with the smaller 3.12 pulley with no other mods to see what the actual gains are with just the pulley. I should have #'s in the next two weeks or so.

It is great to be back!

~ Kevin

PS
Many, many thanks to Sharif for his help and wealth of knowledge!

 

Why did you go with such high compression pistons?

 

I don't plan on boosting too much higher and didn't want to lose low end power. They are only slightly higher than stock and should be fine with the boost (*fingers crossed*) according to "experts" that were polled.

 

wait, sorry if off topic, does the track model have a different oil pump than other Z's? Is this for certain year models?

sorry about your loss, but you'll be in a better place now than before.

might consider a larger oil pan - especially since the vortech taps into it. Possibly even an oil cooler

 

Sentry65,

When my builder was ordering parts he noticed two pumps listed and one was the track model version. I am not sure what the exact differences (if any) are. Anyone else know?

I also installed a JWT oil pan spacer during the rebuild for the extra quart capacity. If I ever start tracking it I will do a cooler also.

 

With all these mods, why didn't you go for ST/TT instead?

 

ST/TT are different, not necessarily "better"

 

lucidazn,

If I was starting over from scratch, the turbo route would have been given some serious consideration. When I went FI originally only the s/c's were out (Vortech, ATI, Stillen). However, I am very happy with the overall performance of the Vortech and I believe I will have a very strong performer when I am all tuned. The Vortech is also a relatively low maintenance kit. Oh, and I really don't have the $ for new turbo setup right now!

 

Define better.


Turbos = more torque, more potential

SC = well...um.....SC whine

 

traction

easier to control because of the linear rising torque curve (excluding roots SC - those can have the same issues ST or TT have with traction) therefore better on road courses and handling.

generally less maintinence - oh you change belts every 10k miles and tighten a belt once after you put on a new one


how come people with vortech kits with 360whp and stock everything else are running 12.3's while TT cars with 400whp and other mods are running mid to high 12's? On street tires - not drag radials or slicks. Is it really just driver skill? Is 800whp going to make the Z faster on street tires than 400whp? Or is it going to spin tires and give little room for error on launching? Where is the line drawn for the car having too much tq or power for what a healthy wide street tire on a RWD car with 54/46 weight distribution (with FI added) can put down?

 

SC's are easier to control, predictable power. Less strain on the engine if you believe that (im not sure i do).

 

By that rational NA is better because it is easier to contol, more predictable powe and less strain on the motor. More predictable and easier to control because they don't put out near the power of a turbo setup.

SC are parasitic power makers.

I spent my $ on turbos. only way I would invest in a SC is if there wasn't a turbo available, and even then I would be hesitant.

SC < ST < TT

 

I agree.... the 24hours lemans winning C6R have 550hp

but if I was to build the engine on a Z, i'd go TT without a doubt. And I do track the car... biggest point of SC is bang for $$$...

 

Kevin
Glad things are working out . They started pulling my motor for the second time . SGP is going to re-do my block . I'm lowering my compression even further to 8.5 to 1 from 9 to1 . Plans are for 16 to 18psi on 92 octane . I also have cams and running 13.5psi now and I really didnt notice any low end power lose at all . Let us know how it turns out

 

I considered cams but was told they would not yield much HP for the $ unless I was boosting higher. Maybe if I win the lottery I will make some other changes and go the direction you are. You are really showing what is possible with the Vortech! Best of luck on the redo.

~ K

 

Can you expalin what extra maintanance a turbo car has that a s/c car doesn't?

 

well not less maintenance as in the work that's done, but seems like you usually have to keep a closer eye on the gauges. ST and TT kits do have more parts right? Most SC installs can be done in a single day. More parts mean there's more things to potentially go wrong. ST and TT temps usually run slightly hotter than SC right? Heat can cause things to break down quicker right? So by maintenance, I guess you can call it "making sure things are in check" more often.

 

ok, gotcha.

 

Cmon guys...lets not turn Kevins thread into another TT vs. SC thread

 

More torque sure == more grunt lower down in rev. range. But tt also==higher rate of change of torque vs more progressive (lower differential) S/C.

Things snap when you hit them hard (high d/dt)