New Short Engine Block

[Brichinelo]

Awesome news about the repair approval.

One of the local Maryland Lap3 guys did my plugs, havent had any misfires or hiccups. I’ll just have to keep an eye on the mileage, not sure how long I can expect the HKS plugs to last with the lap3 ecu.

How long do you think you had your hks plugs ? One main thing I did noticed when going wot before this happened with my car was it felt like it was studderring and wasn’t smooth .

 

[G70LEbyAdoom]

How long do you think you had your hks plugs ? One main thing I did noticed when going wot before this happened with my car was it felt like it was studderring and wasn’t smooth .

at this point if you are that worried about it, I would just get a JB4, stick it on the highest map that you have fuel to support, and leave it like that. you will save money that way and have a tool to diagnose your car for issues. No companies "stage 1" tune is really worth it for this car as the JB4 can do better or equivalent and more.

 

[Brichinelo]

at this point if you are that worried about it, I would just get a JB4, stick it on the highest map that you have fuel to support, and leave it like that. you will save money that way and have a tool to diagnose your car for issues. No companies "stage 1" tune is really worth it for this car as the JB4 can do better or equivalent and more.

Agree.

 

[GennyGuy]

Would you equate running less boost to the safety and long term use of the car ? Not trying to be the fastest and also don’t want to stress major engine components. The lap3 stage 1 should be above 400whp without too much boost correct ?

Less boost = less likely to blow something up.

I think at this point a piggyback (specifically JB4) will serve you better. They have good customer support and you aren't pushing a ton of boost if you stay in Map1-2.

 

[Brichinelo]

Less boost = less likely to blow something up.

I think at this point a piggyback (specifically JB4) will serve you better. They have good customer support and you aren't pushing a ton of boost if you stay in Map1-2.

JB4 it is . Thanks for the help and insights

 

[Brichinelo]

Update: So car was a little delayed getting worked on but back on schedule and will be ready this upcoming week. The tech sent over some pics of the engine dropped and the “culprit” of the need for the new short engine block which was a melted plug. Does this look normal ? The tech stated the gap caused the plug to melt. The tech also stated he has not seen this on any stingers he has dealt with and stated the only way this happens is if the car has a tune or is turned up power wise. Again not blaming my situation on the lap3 1.5 tune but just some things to be mindful of when deciding to go the tune route (plug health and appropriate gap and logging). It’s been a long month without my baby and can’t wait to get her back.

 

[StingerMG]

Update: So car was a little delayed getting worked on but back on schedule and will be ready this upcoming week. The tech sent over some pics of the engine dropped and the “culprit” of the need for the new short engine block which was a melted plug. Does this look normal ? The tech stated the gap caused the plug to melt. The tech also stated he has not seen this on any stingers he has dealt with and stated the only way this happens is if the car has a tune or is turned up power wise. Again not blaming my situation on the lap3 1.5 tune but just some things to be mindful of when deciding to go the tune route (plug health and appropriate gap and logging). It’s been a long month without baby and can’t wait to get her back.

Which plugs were you running and what was the gap?

 

[Brichinelo]

Which plugs were you running and what was the gap?

Hks and set to .022. Less than 5k miles on those plugs when this happened.

 

[StingerMG]

Hks and set to .022. Less than 5k miles on those plugs when this happened.

Wow, that's unfortunate. I have noticed some Lap3 users running a slightly wider gap like .026~.028 but who actually knows.

 

[G70LEbyAdoom]

While the tech is not wrong, Things can go wrong even on stock cars. Honestly Im not Sure I would have adjusted the gap on the HKS plugs, though I doubt that's the culprit. At least its being covered though.

 

[Brichinelo]

While the tech is not wrong, Things can go wrong even on stock cars. Honestly Im not Sure I would have adjusted the gap on the HKS plugs, though I doubt that's the culprit. At least its being covered though.

Yeah I’m still unsure about what the cause could be as well. And yes very thankful to have it covered under warranty.

 

[Rodtheviking]

Hks and set to .022. Less than 5k miles on those plugs when this happened.

My tuning shop that did my dyno said to run .028 to .026 with an ECU tune, I'm running .026 on Denso 5346.

 

[Baluchitherium4]

I'm not buying that having a plug gapped from .022 to .026 would make a difference in this situation. I mean, typically, the wider the gap the more voltage required to jump the gap. It's such a minor difference in this case.

Melted plug seems like cylinder temps were way to high to me. Do you have a pic of the melted plug?

 

[rpoffen]

I'm not buying that having a plug gapped from .022 to .026 would make a difference in this situation. I mean, typically, the wider the gap the more voltage required to jump the gap. It's such a minor difference in this case.

Melted plug seems like cylinder temps were way to high to me. Do you have a pic of the melted plug?

The main issue is that the more the boost, the more likely the spark can get blown out if the gap is too large.
This could lead to misfires.
A number of people have had bad coil packs too, maybe this can contribute to it.

 

[Brichinelo]

My tuning shop that did my dyno said to run .028 to .026 with an ECU tune, I'm running .028 on Denso 5346.

Guess it All depends on where you are located, mods , weather, temp etc. but the consensus for both denso and hks is between .022 and .026 correct ?

 

[Brichinelo]

I'm not buying that having a plug gapped from .022 to .026 would make a difference in this situation. I mean, typically, the wider the gap the more voltage required to jump the gap. It's such a minor difference in this case.

Melted plug seems like cylinder temps were way to high to me. Do you have a pic of the melted plug?

The only pic I had was of the one the tech sent me and he stated “the melted plug caused that gap” . I’ll try to get some more pics and clarify but it was clearly something up with the plugs

 

[Brichinelo]

The main issue is that the more the boost, the more likely the spark can get blown out if the gap is too large.
This could lead to misfires.
A number of people have had bad coil packs too, maybe this can contribute to it.

And I’m thinking this needs to be one of the big concerns for our cars (sunroof rattling, brake pads, plugs/coil packs). And I’m thinking I had misfires before this happened. Tune wasn’t smooth as it was almost herky jerky in a way. Again I’m not trying to downplay a tuning company just shedding some light on some things we all need to look out for and I would hate for someone to have to go through this ordeal like me.

 

[Baluchitherium4]

The only pic I had was of the one the tech sent me and he stated “the melted plug caused that gap” . I’ll try to get some more pics and clarify but it was clearly something up with the plugs

I'm seeing a melted, deformed piston. This looks like a very lean, high detonation condition which lead to very high temps in that cylinder and then a melted piston and/or plug. This makes me think you were running to much boost or bad gas, possibly a combination of the two. An injector failing or coil failure could be possible as well. It's very important when running tunes of any kind to monitor what is happening inside the engine. Also, if something sounds or feels off, it probably isn't your imagination.

You should of been experiencing misfires and signs of issues well before you got to the melted a piston.

With this being said, I'm not professional mechanic but I've been around the block several times building and racing turbo 4 and 6 cylinder engines.


I feel bad that you have to go through this. I hope the outcome of the repair is better than when it went in to the shop.

 

[Baluchitherium4]

The main issue is that the more the boost, the more likely the spark can get blown out if the gap is too large.
This could lead to misfires.
A number of people have had bad coil packs too, maybe this can contribute to it.

I agree to what you are saying for sure. Blowing out spark in a cylinder shouldn't cause a melted piston though. I believe the OP's issue wasn't related to spark issue.

 

[Brichinelo]

I'm seeing a melted, deformed piston. This looks like a very lean, high detonation condition which lead to very high temps in that cylinder and then a melted piston and/or plug. This makes me think you were running to much boost or bad gas, possibly a combination of the two. An injector failing or coil failure could be possible as well. It's very important when running tunes of any kind to monitor what is happening inside the engine. Also, if something sounds or feels off, it probably isn't your imagination.

You should of been experiencing misfires and signs of issues well before you got to the melted a piston.

With this being said, I'm not professional mechanic but I've been around the block several times building and racing turbo 4 and 6 cylinder engines.


I feel bad that you have to go through this. I hope the outcome of the repair is better than when it went in to the shop.

If something sounds or feels off it probably isnt your imagination. Yeah I felt something was off and the tech did use words of that such melted piston/ring which caused me to have no pressure in that cylinder. Yes I couldn’t agree with you more. Imo you definitely need to monitor that tune and make sure it’s dialed in before using it day to day.