Well, I dont know if this helps.

But I remember years ago, I had a go-ped. A piece of the pistion chipped off the top. It ended up melting that little piece to the top of the cylinder, making the piston unable to fully cycle (the piston would hit the top of the cylinder)... for me to make a cheap fix for this, I just put in an extra gasket and it worked (not that this would work for you if it were the case)

So, my answer is.... that piece probably melted

 

I don't think it's as bad as all or any of your pistons being destroyed considering you can/did drive it home. I do think rings and ringlands are probably on the bitter edge though. All speculation and I'm no engine guru.

You're going to be at a crossroad with your current set up. Going with a lower compression built bottom end motor may make you lose some power pound for pound of boost. With the Stillen being maxed out between 7-9psi you can't just turn up the boost like other FI kits. Even 9.0:1 is going to be a decent drop in power, add in 1k for stage 4 parts to make up the power difference.

Probably not what you want to hear but consider going back to stock, or changing kits if you are still wanting to be boosted. 5-7k (parts/labor/possible core charge) more into a built bottom end Stillen is not going to be the most value for your dollar.

 

I went back while using that magnetic pick up and I can seem to locate that chip in bank 3 that I was talking about earlier. It might have just been a shadow. All pistons look great except for the little nick in bank 2 which is about the size of a grain of salt or sand.

 

I wouldnt be surprised that after replacing the spark plugs, it fires up fine? At least, thats my hope!

 

I was thinkin the same thing with the Stillen. I might consider just selling the SC and use that money to fix up the bottom end and go NA for a while til I get some money saved to do a turbo. Not sure yet as all of this has happened so quick.

 

Thanks for your support. I'm hoping the same thing, but who knows.


EDIT:

THANKS FOR EVERYONES SUPPORT AND OPINIONS. I DON'T FEEL LIKE I'M ALONE IN THIS ANY MORE. GROUP HUG. HA HA.

 

man, if this resolves with new plugs...great, but not to be the negative one, but if there is a chunk missing from the piston, likely that piston will fail soon..do a compression test and see where you are at...

metal could have definately shot out the exhaust and is long gone, or bounced around in the intake for a while (less likely)...highly doubt that it melted, temps shouldnt be that hot
it would be great to have this motor as an exchangeable/rebuildable core vs a worthless paperweight!

keep us posted, very curious to see how this turns out, rooting for your team!

-TODD

oh, BTW, shortblock quote:

(our longblocks present even a better savings)
Pistons – Arias Extreme Duty pistons 9:1 CR
Rods- Eagle
ARP main studs
main bearings
rod bearings
thrust washers
machine block- bore and hone (with use of torque plates)
balancing
polish crank
redeck block-(to ensure proper mating surface for heads)
clean parts- prep before assembly- clean oil channels, outer surface, etc.
“rev up” oil pump- 18% more efficient than the standard oil pump
motor assembly
Introductory price: $3450
+$1500 core charge (refunded when we receive your motor)
A few ways that we are different than some of the competition:
-we include ARP studs in our engine pricing (head studs with longblocks)
-we use Arias Extreme Duty pistons, good for extremely high power levels
-Our longblock package will come fully timed with front and rear timing covers installed. *(will save you time and money when swapping motors), simply pull off a few sensors and this one will be ready to drop in.
I’ll be happy to price out additional upgrades, let me know what you would like. We can omit certain upgrades to lower the costs and the price.

Call me with any questions: 505-480-1923 Todd Pickman, BuiltZMotors.com

 

haha, yeah mine blew at 3:30-4am on my way home from work. Talk about a bad night...

Like Todd says no one wants to be the negative poster, but realistically even if it sort of resolves with new plugs. Something happened and losing the rebuildable core is bad. Even to take apart your motor and look at the internal conditions is going to cost money, unless you can do the work on your own. My guess if you were to find a local shop to pull the motor and look at the condition it's going to be 1500+ with labor, reassembly, and reinstallation if it turned out to be nothing which is kind of slim.

Compression numbers and than see what Stillen says

 

It does appear to be a pre-ignition issue, running too hot, a hot spot or too lean; and that could be the explanation why you did not hear or feel anything unusual, as it was not caused by detonation/ping/knock issue.

Being that all 6 of your plugs had similar damage signatures, I would guess that you were running overly lean. Unfortunately, pre-ignition is more destructive and I would suggest not try starting the car at all, and get it in for a compression check.

Sorry.

G
_____________________

 

Good price, Not as much as I was thinking they go for.

 

the half dime sized circle is on all of the pistons in the vq to produce better/safer piston to valve clearance due to the high comprestion 10.3:1 in our motors. u may not be able to see them all from the spark plug hole but they're there. and those plug were not hit by the piston because they would have been bent also, and looked way different. those were defenatly pre-igntion, which is basically the same thing as dentonation. and its most likely because of the pre set tune. every vq35de motor and g35/350z is slightly diff and needs seperate tuneing for the best and safest resolutes nomatter what anyone says. i would put the knew plugs in(one step colder if u didn't the first time which could also be the entire cause for pre ignition and or the spark plug failure) start it up and make sure it ildes fine, and then shut it off. if it does run fine then i would suggest getting a piggy back comp and get that thing tuned befor u even drive it again. its not worth the risk, you'd be better off paying for a retal car if u must for a week or two then blowing the motor. good luck and make sure to let us know what happens

 

I just noticed you are from Louisville. I think you are getting some good advice here, my friend.

Those plugs fried for a reason. Resolve the reason before driving again, even if it seems ok after replacing. What happened once will happen again. Personally, I would check all electrical connections, etc, related to the stillen install to be sure that nothing got crossed or shorted out.

I'm down here in Vine Grove pulling for you man. Good luck.

Here is a chart for reading plugs:
http://www.4secondsflat.com/plug_chart.html

Here is another guide, this page actually has a plug that looks worse than yours:
http://nightrider.com/biketech/spkplghnbook.htm

In a quick look, it looks like you suffer from sustained pre-ignition. It says expect piston and valve damage.

Quote:
Initial Pre-Ignition
Signs of the spark plug being hot or blistered and/or melted center and ground electrodes are indications of initial preignition. Check that the correct heat range spark plug is being used, assure ignition timing and air fuel mixture are appropriate, assure entire ignition system is functional and check its specifications. Routing of spark plug wires on some engines can contribute to cross induction which will lead to pre-ignition. Excessive carbon deposits in the combustion chamber may contribute as well.

Sustained Pre-Ignition
Melted center and/or ground electrodes and/or a melted insulator are symptoms of sustained pre-ignition. See initial preignition, description above. Also expect to find damage to the pistons and/or exhaust valves.


Hope this helps a bit.

 

Well, I was hoping for better news but here it is.

I did a compression test and 4 of the 6 cylinders were fine. Here are the numbers...

1. 139
3. 0
5. 139
2. 120
4. 140
6. 139


#3 was the one where the ceramic broke off of the spark plug.

Next step...


Extended Warranty through Stillen...

 

3. 0

Yikes!


Keep us informed as to how Stillen handles this. I almost went Stillen two years ago.

 

Let us know how these conversations go....

 

I'm sure they will go ****ty. I'm gonna read over the extended warranty before I give them a call.


Anyone know of a shop in Kentucky that removes engines? I'm gonna probably have this one shipped off to someone to have it built.

 

+1 on updates, good luck.

 

Even the cylinders that are reading 139 and 140psi are low, right? I thought stock specs for the VQ are around 180 - 190. Are you at a really high altitude?

 

No to high altitude. Maybe 400-800 ft above sea level.

 

Hmm. That's strange. I look forward to seeing how well Stillen treats you, good luck.