Hi everyone,
Back in june i had my ECS novi1500 unit installed making 570 rwhp on a mustang dyno, and a week later I started hearing the lifter ticking and took it to the garage. While checking the oil there were tiny bits of metal so we decieded to replace everything along with my cam which I had another shop install.

 

zzzz

 

Damn sorry to hear bro..

 

Find a new tuner?

 

Alignment is off.

And post a copy of the tune and/or a log if you want real help on why you're popping pistons. I'd bet large piles of cash it's knock related.

(and find a new tuner, they should be able to answer these questions in their sleep)

Ask them how much timing they're running @ WOT

 

Last pic same happened to me, ur alignment is off..

 

Lol posted same time..

 

What shop was this thing tuned by if you don't mind telling?

Sure looks like detonation related ringland failure. I'd be curious as to what kind of timing and AFR are being commanded. Can't get away with all that much on 10 psi and our crap 91 octane.

 

I'd rather not disclose the shops name in public are you in the san diego area?

 

Hey thanks it's all good what do you mean my alignment is off?

 

The problem is with what options do I have in san diego I tried a few but none of them worked well for me. This shop is reputable and is good my friends work with them and i'm not really sure why this is happening...
A friend of mine from back home said that the car seems very lean.
The garage here is saying that the piston has to much heat or that the piston ring is expanding and cracking the piston.

 

sorry to hear that, looks just like my #7 piston that blew up from a bad tune with wayyyyyy too much timing, and I didnt' hear the detonation with my cutouts open so that was the end of my piston.

I'd say take the car to a real tuner because i have no idea who you are working with now and only part of the story but based on what I see they probably have no idea what they are doing. they should have figured out why the previous piston cracked before putting a new motor back in there.

take it to Cunningham motorsports, they are not far from you, they are the best LS shop in socal imo and they have a great reputation for doing good tunes. have them tune your car and search on here about how to laser align your pulleys because something is way off on that belt also in addition to whatever bad tune you have.

do you have an AFR/wideband guage? if the AFR looks good and your timing is not too high then only other thing I could think of is maybe a failing injector but that is not likely. my $5 says got a bad tune on it.

either way a wideband is required for these cars so you'll need to get that either way if you plan to stick with supercharged ls cars. it may be cheaper to put in a low mileage ls3/2 bottom end too than rebuild that one.

 

Is the shop very familiar with newer GM engines? The reason I ask is shops used to LT1 (the original one..) and older engines tend to want to run wayyyy too much timing if they aren't used to newer engines. The heads on LS1 and newer GM engines are way more efficient, meaning you run a lot less timing. On the older generation stuff 20* wasn't unusual. Now.. 12* isn't out of the ordinary for a stock piston setup

It sounds like it's too much timing, too lean and/or not enough octane.

Regardless.. we're all just guessing. Install a wideband so you can see actual AFR. Also ask them for a copy of the tune and a log. You can download HP Tuners for free to at least look at them.

 

I'm up in Santa Barbara, but back before I started doing my own tuning I used a shop that wasn't far from you. Just wondering who it was so I can gauge their experience with boosted LS engines. You can PM me if you'd like.

 

Pm'ed

 

these guys are leading you in the right direction but a question I have that I haven't seen anyone ask yet, if you blew the motor once why did you replace it with stock stuff the second time around?... I totally understand starting off with a stock motor and walking that line but once something breaks and you have to go in and do a rebuild why not use something stronger?... seems like a perfect opportunity to upgrade in my opinion... and after the rebuild you said you popped 2 pistons just a day after picking it up... aside from their "tune" job did the shop properly break the motor in before you went out beating on it?... I would hope they would go through this before giving the car back but with the way some places operate these days it wouldn't surprise me if they just let it go and not even say anything about it

 

I do not have a $6000 to build my engine. I looked at my options and I currently do not have the amount in hand at the moment.
I was told I can go ahead and drive the car hard... No breaking in if that is what you mean.
The problem now is where can I drive in and have the car tuned properly?

 

Ship car to FSP well worth the $, problems solved..

 

Alignment is off so check your blower to idler to tensioner to crank alignment.. That side muse be off to send belt 1 rib left either shim blower pulley left or get A&A pulley so you dont need to worry about that because it has guards.. There are time at WOT if the belt isnt max tensioned or if it has stretched it can jump off a bit too but not like you can watch for that.. Not too many realize that belt stretches so much its crazy.. My advice is get A&A blower pulley and never worry again.. They make em 6 rib or 8 if you have 8 rib but im sure you have 6 rib..





Not tellin u to get this diameter just an example..

 

I'm guessing you had stock pistons dropped in correct? We have done that here a few times and it's a great "quick fix". The hand full of cars we have done that to is still on the road doing great so you do not have to go forged if the budget doesn't allow at this time.

Do not go with a pulley with edges on it, that's only a band aid and if the alignment is off it will roll the belt over and destroy it rather then just jumping a rib. Most likely the tensioner bracket needs to be adjusted, you can look down over the head unit pulley and see the misalignment of the belts if that is the case.

For the amount of boost you have and the power made on a Mustang dyno tells me the timing is too aggressive for 91 octane, hence the cracked pistons. You can either add meth injection, use octane boost, or lower timing/power down to keep things happy.

If I can assist with the tuning or belt alignment feel free to call-PM or email any time.