none.

 

expect the unexpected?

 

so you'd drop 10,000$ to have a built motor installed and wouldnt think twice if it blew after 2 minutes?

whatever.

 

Depends on the circumstances. If it blew after 2 minutes, I would most certainly be dissapointed in the outcome, but not necessarily that surprised.

Modifying cars is worse than gambling. At least when you walk into a casino you know the odds. With a built motor and including all the other factors that have been seen in the past pointing to a failure,.. no one can calculate those odds.

Bottom line, know what you are getting into and expect the worse. No different than walking into a Vegas casino.

 

I am not plugging shops, but Sharif at Forged Performance is the only
shop that I have seen do a tear down on a still running built and beat to
death (25,000 miles + 300 some dyno pulls) motor with pictures that showed
the results. Everyone that posted thought the used components looked good.
He is the only one I have ever seen do a autopsy on a good running motor
to see what life might be left and am sure it was an education for him. It was
his personal engine.

Most of the time, we see the ugly results posted of carnage and have to try
and figure out what went wrong.

 

This thread= the ghey.

 

I'd like to hear from the engine builders here. What are their expectations on how long an engine should last.

 

Unfortunately, no shop is going to respond to this. I would love to have a manufatures type warranty on my built engine.

 

The more I think about it, built engines are like meteorologists:

10k miles: 50% chance of survival (might or might not)
20k miles: 40% chance of survival (getting worse)
30k miles: 30% chance of survival (start saving for another one just in case)
40k miles: 20% chance of survival (80% chance of utter destruction)
40+k miles: <10% chance of survival (its going to die!)

 

Maybe people will disagree with me, but this is kind of how I see it as. You need to expect the unexpected, and im not trying to say, "hey you built your motor? Oh, expect to blow it anytime!" Im just purely saying, shyt happens and when it does it sucks big time. BUT if I had to guess a time of how long i would like it to last, I would have to say 50k+(if any issues, very minor ones). I would love to get 100k out of it since its only a full time weekend car, but I wont know until I hit 100k...if I dont, ill let you guys know

 

Th VQ motors have an epic fail rate. Go over to the Vorvette forums or the Mustang forums and their built motors aren't dropping like the stock market. Either their is no reputable shop for the VQ or it's just a piece of junk. One more premature failure of my motor and it's C6 Z06 time.

Keep in mind the only falure we should be seeign on built motors is loss of compression or worn bearings over time. Not catostrophic failure.

 

One thing I have come to realize is that in the end we are dealing with a 3.5L V-6. Sure a built motor can be made from stronger parts and sure 1000+ hp can be made from a 2.0L 4 Cylinder but at what cost and how reliable will this engine be? After spending over a year on this site and adding FI to my car I have had a chance to come to some conclusions. First of all keeping a stock block and going with safe boost level will ultimately end up being a letdown. Once the addiction starts, going with a built motor and big horsepower will ultimately be at best a 50/50 chance from opening a very expensive can of worms. I don't understand why everyone is so upset about these built motors as failures will occur when a non mass produced engine is made and ran at very high horsepower levels. For me the cost and the risk factor has forced me to just be happy with my stock block and enjoy it. Now if my engine blew tomorrow I would have a big decision to make, either build a new motor and go ***** out or return the car to stock and sell it. I feel that 15-20k (engine build and tt setup or something) is a bit ridiculous to put into a motor that has a 50/50 chance of being successful. Then if that new motor fails its too late to turn back and many more 1000s of dollars will need to be invested. Before long some guys have 50+k in there cars and they could of bought a Doge Viper or something. I'm not trying to be negative here but everyone needs to realize that in the end we are in a way "polishing terds". Some will be lucky and problem free and some will have endless problems. This just needs to be an excepted risk and a built motor, stock motor or anything inbetween may not even make it off the dyno when things are changed from stock. I myself plan to drive my car for another year or so and just buy a Corvette Z06. I would rather pay $800 a month for a car with a warranty and a stock 500+ hp than risking $20,000 cash without any guarantees. I love my car and the interior is much nicer than a Vette but in the end there is just no replacement for displacement.

 

My grandchildren's grandchildren will be boosting my built engine still. It's like a diamond.

 

JET I would really love to know how you figure VQ motors have an "epic failure rate" ? What possible statistics could you have compiled that would lead you to this conclusion, as compared to any other NA -> T engine out there?

Because you saw a bunch of documented failures on my350z from the SAME 4 or 5 shops? Logic stands that if a shop builds one engine with flawed techniques, they built another....

There are people out there who had an engine built by someone outside the big name sponsors on here. This forum is big, but statistically it is a small part of the VQ world.

 

Sentry I was afraid to even read this thread with what Ive invested in the Z this summer. I just put 25k into it after already having over 30k spent previously all aftermarket. Im curious to see what kind of life Im going to get out of this motor. Havent dynoed yet and run half 101 half 91 everyday. Im guessing at 12psi Im in the 480whp range and at 17 psi Im in the 530+ whp range. When I had the Vortech kit I beat the **** out of my Z every day. Now I find myself driving more like a grandma than anything but I will get on it on the highway. Its got too much power to rip it for light to light driving and the sound is obnoxious (in a good way...LOL) Im hoping to see 5 years out of it.

 

it is tough to say how long it will last and it is tough for shops to warranty such an engine. By the parts used they can state what max horsepower it can go, mainly based on the rods.

But as for how long it will last it is impossible for them to say as it depends on horsepower level, type of use and tuning. A manufacturer like Nissan can warranty their engine because they control the horsepower and can void it if they can prove misuse or modifications.

That being said I had big plans with mine, track, big power...... but after getting bit once by a bad sleeve install and having to do it over again I just settled for 550 and just drive it and have fun as legally as possible, I am too gun shy now to do what I originally wanted to due to costs involved and the hassle, taking 1 year of my life to deal with it was just too much.

I still have my stock motor sitting around, so if the built one goes I have decided that I will just go back to stock and be done with power mods. 20/20 hindsight is great knowing what I know now I probably owuld have stayed on stock block with 400 RWHP and have saved a ton of money and aggrevation.

 

If you want a VQ35DE built by engineers, get the Cosworth one. It's about $7500 for the short block and $4400 for the heads. And it may be worth the money (but I haven't had the pleasure of finding out).

 

Good riddance....

 

This thread is an epic fail. When you start to modify your car, you need to throw your expectations out the window. Anything can happen and everyone treats their vehicle differently.

 

I disagree with you on this point. There is no reason not to have some expectations when you are paying good money for motors to be built. If the shops that are doing it are afraid to warranty their motors they should get out of the game. Unfortunately the money is to good to leave. If you have one shop build and tune your motor there should be some kind of warranty on it. Your warranty should not end when you pay your bill that is just rediculus. This pay to play mentallity is just plain bul*****.