that sucks bro....good luck with da build

 

If you're saying this has to do with the reflash then you are wrong.

If you get your car dyno tuned and it is dead on, you can't take it on the streets and expect there not to be inconsistencies. You still need some way to monitor for any problems that might arise. The *same* goes for the reflash. You put it on the dyno, ensure everything is running properly, and then put it on the street and keep an eye on your gauges to make sure nothing changes.

Basically, if he did the right thing and put it on the dyno for safety reasons, he should have never been boosting on the road if his car wasn't running within safe limits.

 

That sucks to hear dude. But for those that think this Z was otherwise stock you are pretty wrong. Tilton flywheel and clutch, Nismo exhaust, Not sure what else. But as hard as this car was raced a Wideband should absolutely have been installed. I'd be burious to see what the REAL cause is. Lets face it with over 250 kits shipped so far and all failures being associated to something apart from the kit you can keep calling it unreliable all day but the numbers speak for themselves.

 

There is more to the story. Having a kit that costs over $5k and an engine that costs about the same and not having a $300 wideband and $250 boost gauge to monitor everything is not the smartest course of action. But what do I know I'm on my second built motor.

 

i got wideband and boost gauge. what others do you guys recommend to make sure the car is running safe. i still have the reflash but soon to have the emanage ultimate tuned by sgp.

 

That should be all you need to verify it's running right in normal street conditions. If you take it out and track it for any length of time I'd suggest at least some good temp (water/oil) gauges.

 

I'm all for performance shops making a profit, but I think most shops that sub-out their machining work charge a HUGE mark-up. He should be able to negotiate a much better deal on this buildup. There are more manufacturers to choose from and more competition than just a year ago. I've also noticed a lot of unused parts for sale on the forum lately at reduced prices.....
Good luck.

 

so he is your friend and he is raping you like this on these prices?!?

I guess since he is japanese and has an r32 its all god, right

 

When it comes down to it its just a matter of time whether its 10k miles or 20k miles the stock Vq35 rods were not designed to handle boost. Air fuel ratio gauges are nice tuning tools but are not going to save your motor when it wants to go. I had around 15k miles with boost on my motor used vp109 each time I knew my engine was going to be pushed hard and it still went. I know someone who has a supra 2jz powered with AEM EMS tuned with wideband hooked up and the engine still went.The bottom line is each engine has its own limits. once you push a stock engine beyond its limits the clock starts ticking and it may happen when you least expect it. Please don't keep your head in the sand for your own good if you want reliability with boost you need to build.
In regards to my ecu im going to be using Hks fcon vpro with knock amp. this time I plan on a safe 500rwhp.

 

You do have a point in regards to longevity but I will say that driving style is going to affect this as well. For instance if this is Ben (and I think it is) you are a racing MACHINE. You ran your car seemingly EVERY day against someone. And one thing I think is important to note is that you were making 425 HP on the base kit, base injectors, etc. I don't know HOW ON EARTH you were making that power on 8 PSI and the flash but it stands to reason the injectors may have been running a bit too much duty cycle as well.

 

I haven't had a wideband AF gauge for the entire FI life of my G35 (supercharger and then twin turbos). Over 25k miles and no problems whatsoever. It's all about the tune, you shouldn't have to keep an eye on the AF ratio.

Getting a reflash is a bandaid solution, if you want to do this right, get a boost sensing piggyback ECU, and a decent fuel system.

 

:Cough: 20k boosted miles :cough: reflash :cough: out of box fuel system

 

Sorry about the incident. What no photos?

 

Actually in the proper setup a reflash is safer than a tuned piggyback. The ECU can adjust timing and afr's, within limits, to almost instantly compensate for fuel or airflow issues. Not to mention, that when you get a tunable EMS, you're putting ALL of your faith in your tuner. One mistake and say goodbye to your motor. People also have a tendency to push a setup too far with a tunable EMS, and it can be a recipe for disaster.

With the reflash you know what you're going to get. In some cases the particular motor might react differently for various reasons, but usually these problems are due to issues with the install of the kit and/or unforeseen modifications. At this point I'd agree that one should go with an EMS of some sorts.

You're also not correct about the AFR gauge. In a system as complex as a forced induction motor, there are MANY points of possible failure. AFR and EGT are a great insight to monitor the health of your setup. There is no way to tune in preparation for the multitude of possible failures and problems. To say that because you have a great tune you won't have any issues is simply irrational.

 

Saying you won't have issues may not be realistic, but with a great tune you are less likely to have issues. Everyone has their thoughts on a reflash vs a custom tuned tunable EMS and I would think the consensus would be in favor of running a custom tune via tunable EMS over a somewhat generic reflash.

It is situatons like this that make people question the reliability of a reflash. Yes, some get tons of miles out of a reflashed setup. That said, threads like this are not uncommon. Everything else a side, I have much more faith in a custom tune via a unichip, EU, utec, or whatever vs a reflash for a Z setup. If the Z came boosted from the factory, it might be a different story.

 

True, but that's mainly because the custom tune allows you to pull the most potential power out of the given motor/kit.

I'm not saying that the reflash is BETTER than a tunable ems by any means, but it definitely isn't a bad thing. The reflash is a great base tune in a controlled system. Once you start changing components of said system and take it out of the threshold of adjustment that the ECU can compensate for, then you will run into problems. That's the point when a tunable ems or a new reflash is required.

It's unfortunate that people blame ANY and EVERY issue they have with their car on the reflash. 90% of the time this simply isn't the case.

 

I don't know about pushing my car hard every day my friends like Sakred can testify how much I babied it. When I first had the kit installed yea I had some fun but in the past few months I took it easy. Honestly it was a surprise that the engine just randomly went boom and it was't the tilton I had the nismo clutch and flywheel installed 2months ago. Too much duty cycle on the injectors its a possibility. well it happened Im building and im going to put it behind me and will look back at it as a experience.
as I get pictures I will show everyone what the stock vq looks like inside. MIAPLAYA I would have to agree driving style does effect wear and tear on your motor. I dint put the turbo on my z to tell everyone im turbo I wanted to feel the boost im guilty of that

 

And I'm not saying you shouldn't get on it. I just got the impression in conversations we had (numerous times I might add) that you were very big into racing. It seems like every time I talked to you you were racing or about to race. I'm not saying its a bad thing. More so that you did race a lot. And I believe you are on the right track about the injector duty cycle. 425 RWHP is a LOT of power from 380cc injectors..

 

Miaplaya-
What kind of power should he be able to make with the Turbonetics kit on a built motor(with appropriate engine mgt.)?

Bruce

 

once again I'll say:

motors don't throw rods for no reason.

if anything, from the power, your pistons would have been the first casualties.

I think you missed an oil change somewhere, or ran low on oil, and that starvation caused you to throw the rods. Other than that, it doesn't just decide to throw a rod when you're driving normally if you didn't screw anything up.

longevity isn't the argument here. I could go on all day on how you can treat a motor right, boost it, still maintain it properly, and not have one issue with it. Issues come up when normal maintenance is ignored.