sands

iTrader: (3)

Where did you get your information on this? I would think this would be dangerous whether you had FI or not.

350Zzzz

ravaz I am sorry about your Zee; wish there is something that I could say to help lessen the ache My friends and I, had good experiences with blowers; and also bad ones. But it always seems that not everyone is affected by the same fate, even with the same make/model car, same installer, etc. I am beginning to see this unfolding with the increasing Pro Charger adopters.

We all know that when we push the envelop on the engine, the weakest link, if there is one, will break down. Considering, that not all Zees are made equal, when pushed to the limit will test the overall tolerance of the specific engine assembly.

I am not, however, discounting the installer’s responsibility in this entire fiasco; as tuning is most critical for trouble free and optimal performance.

IMPO, the ATI blower is completely isolated from the internal workings of the engine, except for the utilization of the engine pulley for power.

The tuning, too lean and/or rich a mixture could exacerbate the weak link, a faulty FMU or the in-line fuel pump could also have been the culprit; improper installation of the intercooler lines could be another consideration.

The question is, apart from some of the obvious precautionary measures, what else can one do to lessen a similar occurrence?

If I were you I wouldn't attempt to fire up the car again. And, I trust that you will recover from this heart ache, without much aggravation.

Best
G

ZZtopp

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear about your car, dude. That really sucks. I hope it all works out right for you.

I'll bet ATI is cringing at reports like this. Even though it sounds like the installer's tuning error, it might make people have second thoughts about adding FI.

ravaz

iTrader: (1)

I'm really not trying to turn this into a thread about turning my car back into stock and lying to Nissan etc.. That's not me. And I'm not trying to turn this into a thread to bash my installer. Just wanted to get some suggestions on what people think the problem was etc.. I spoke to my installer, I am going to bring my car down to them and we are going to figure out if it was a faulty part on ATI's end, if the install got screwed some how, or if shiit just happened and one of my rings or pistons just went bad on me. I do appreciate everyones input on this, I really do, thank you. I'm going to look into building my engine up so I won't have to make anymore posts like this again.

As for the TCS, I never heard of that ever. I never use that thing anyway, except for when it rains, and I haven't had the car back long enough to play in the rain with it, with the Procharger on it. Not ruling this out either, just saying it's something new to me.

Honestly, right now I'm kinda mad. I don't have my car right now, and the weather is really good finally, no more rain, plus I'm kind of lost on where to begin really, I'm just taking it one step at a time, **** happens. I'll know more tomorrow when I speak to the installer again and we setup some sort of date on when I can drop my car off so they can look/fix it.

I'm off to bed

damen

good luck with every man and sorry to hear of your problems.

D'oh

ravas,

Good luck with the car. You are handling things very well so far, and I hope everything will work out in the end.

TCS/VDC do NOT turn on when you step on the brake. Also, there is NO active braking system that will prevent a slide when you brake - that is what VDC does.

What is probably happening (and I've experienced this on the track) is that when you enter a corner too hot and have your foot on the brake - even slightly - it is very easy for the ABS to turn on. When the car starts to understeen and the front wheels start to skid sideways, the brakes will be able to lock up when they couldn't previously, and the ABS will engage even at light pedal pressure. I've noticed that when I am careful to take my foot off the brake completely, the pulsing goes away.

I've been able to completely spin out when VDC is off, so I know for sure that when you turn it off, it's off.

-D'oh!

zland

ravaz
Please keep us updated on this situation as it unfolds. I do not think anyone wants a thread where you or anyone else is just making personal attacks towards anyone else and of course you are not doing that thus I admire you for that. It takes a big person to suffer the loss of an expensive motor and not jump to conclusions. I wish i could say I would be as calm as you are but I am affraid i might not be.

What I hope that happens is we are all made aware of what did caused this be it installer, ATI, or something else. I assume most of us reading this thread are either considering FI or already have it thus we have a lot to learn and potientially lose by not being kept up to date.

Eric1h

This wouldnt cause it, the TCS just reduces throtttle, NOT just cutting the fuel, even on an NA car just cutting thr fuel would be bad

Eric1h

and just an FYI, i KNOW the local dealershisp monitor this forum, so you would have a hella time gettign any dealership to warranty it anyway. the service manager from MJ hangs out here often and reads the threads, I've seen and talked to him many times on this forum.

Eric1h

Bill, what are you doing for lunch? maybe we can meet up so you can go for a ride in a Z, its not SC'd but its still perty

Keep me updated Bill.

Zrated

ravaz - Something I have considered may be trouble and is also a current thread, is fuel injector failure due to the raised fuel pressure.

It would be interesting to test the injector on your #6 cyl to see if there was an issue.

You described a low RPM vibration/roughness....I'll tell you that I had an injector go bad on my Maxima and it behaved the same way.

This may be way off but, it could explain why a freshly tuned car would blow a hole through a piston.

ravaz

iTrader: (1)

That's a good suggestion, the fuel injector failed or maxed out or whatever. Trust me guys, I feel like taking the blower and smashing it over someones face, but then I'll have to pay for a new engine and a new face I'm just glad I have another car to drive and that it looks to be only cyl 6 and that's it.

The owner was very cool about this last night, wasn't sure what we can do about it, but we really need to get the car there first to figure this all out. I'm really serious about building the motor up, I'm not sure how long it would take, but I'd rather be safe then sorry again, because right now I feel like a big diick and my girl is really really really really pissed off at me right now, mostly the situation, but mad at me because of all the $$$ I spent on a car that is sitting in a garage right now. I have to get this resolved asap, if the installer doesn't agree to do it, I might have a backup plan, but I really hope the installer steps up, I'm sure they will, they have a real good reputation, which is why I used them.

Eric, I don't know what's up for lunch, I think I have to cut my grass, Jen is going to yell at me if I sit home and don't do **** today Want to go to the track on Sunday? We are all heading down to Rockingham.

Bill

Edretti

Really sorry to hear about your mishap Ravaz. I hope all works out well which I have a feeling it will. I know you guys compare about problems and failures with people who have had someone else install it or you've done it yourself. All I can say is that <shop name deleted by ravaz request> is a top notch performance shop and has a great reputation. I've met most of them and have been to their shop and they are a great bunch of guys. For those of you who don't know, the owner of AA has a 350z with the ATI installed and is always tuning it. I think they are very knowlegable on the install process. Sure a mistake could've been made since they are human as well but we should not even jump to that conclusion. We also have to remember that most of us who have been venturing out in the mod's for our cars are a lot of guinea pigs. Sometimes we pay that price in being the first one's to do these installs....unfortunately. Ravaz, my hats off to you for the way you've handled yourself, very professionally during this aweful experience. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes. Good luck!

mcduck

Thanks for clarifying that, Eric! I was thinking the same thing, but was not exactly sure how the TCS worked. It makes sense, though. If TCS just cut fuel, then no one would dare put out FI kits for cars that have TCS... too much risk of an owner just forgetting to cut it off one day, then BOOM!

Ravaz... good luck. I hope everything gets resolved soon. I can barely imagine being without my Z (even as a second car) for the time of the install, let alone install and then resolution of a major problem like this.

DIGItonium

iTrader: (1)

Man... that's horrible. That's the same situation with my friend's Prelude SH. After the turbo install, tuning was difficult. The car kept running rich, and it was already running rich before. Setting the fuel controller to lowest levels didn't work, so I guess my friend just left his car like that.

One day I guess he was racing or revving his engine. Somehow a lean condition occured and his engine popped. From the looks of it, two of his pistons were scorched and the cylinder wall was ruined.

Honda wanted $6000 to replace engine because they knew it was modified from looking at the oil plug for the turbo.

So we had another friend who had the equipment to bore the cylinder walls to minimize the "gapping" and installed Type-S pistons. His car still burns some oil because the engine could not be bored any further.

So yea it sucks...

ravaz

iTrader: (1)

I'm really hoping nothing happened to the cylinder wall. That would suck big time.

g356gear

iTrader: (12)

Chances are that if a hole was put through the top of the piston then some metal would have been released into the cylinder bore/valvetrain and oil supply. This would most likely mean metal scoring of the cylinder wall in #6 and possibly other areas of the engine. If it was shut down right away you may not have damaged anything else.....but if you kept running it then there will most likely be metal particles throughout the motor. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you want to do the repair right then the whole engine should come apart, everything cleaned, and the bores will likely have to be re-honed for the fresh rings. If there is scoring damage to the sidewalls then an overbore replacement will be required. If you are very lucky you might get away with a de-glazing of the bores and a new factory bore size piston. I wish you luck but with this engine I don't think there is a cheap fix. .

ravaz

iTrader: (1)

I shut the car down pretty quick, the only time I turned it back on was to drive it onto the tow truck, and off, that's about it. I'm going to have to drive it onto a trailer tonight to bring it home, then again when I bring it to the shop. I might get lucky, but trust me that engine is coming apart and I'm putting a set of JE pistons and some strong *** rods while it's apart. I guess we'll see.

ravaz

iTrader: (1)

OK, just spoke with the installer. They told me to bring the car up next week, end of the week, and they will figure out what went wrong. I duno about cost out of my pocket, I made that an issue and am waiting for a call back today, about that.

Apexi350z

iTrader: (3)

sorry to hear about your misfortune, I had the same thing happened to my Integra. After the turbo install, less than one week, then it started spilling out oils all over the engine bay. Turned out to be broken piston rings, and luckly it didn't hurt the cylinder wall. So I had to keep going, since I already got the turbo installed, and swapped out the stock pistons with JE Pistons and Crower rods. It wasn't cheap, but after that, I can feel more secure knowing the parts can withstand the extra pressures..

FYI, the problem that caused the piston rings to go bad was leaky vacuum hose.. I had boost gauge connected to the intake manifold, and it shows 6psi, but it's actually 14psi.. the a/f ratio was off since the FMU was not tuned to goto 14psi, so it went kaboom.. (it was the installer's fault).

Hope everything will work out for you..