As many of you know all the parts for my car are up for sale. Recently i got the car completed but i had to get the AEM EMS tuned. I called up Mark from TurboTrix, as many recommend them, to ask them if he could tune it. He said sure to bring it down monday the 26th. He was pretty bussy doin other stuff, workin on some guys supra, workin on the shop car, makin phone calls ect. After i sat there for about 5 hours(he maybe worked an hour on my car) he tells me the car isnt runnin right and i have to leave it there. He also tells me the price for what he did so far was 200 dollars, this struck me as sort of odd because the car was running exactly like it was when i brought it there...LIKE CRAP.

I call back the next day and tell him that I am coming to get the car towed home and asked him why I was being charged 200 when the car was runnin like it was when it got there. He copped this attitude with me and told me he worked hard on it and that he spent about a total of an hour on my car, then he was like whatever and hung up the phone. Paying 200 bucks an hour is kind of pricey i think especially when the car is not running any better than when i went in. I called him back a few hours later to tell him the tow truck was coming up for the car and this is what he says "oh man the car is runnin fine now it idles great and everything, the AEM EMS needed just needed some firmware updates, but if your comign to pick it up and not gonna pay me im gonna put the old map back in it and give it to you that way."

I get there do a test drive and it's really nice... i'm thinking this is worth the 200 bucks so i paid him. He tells me that the car is tuned for 11- 12 psi so i said fine paid and left. I put 500 miles on the car to break it in. I also set the boost to 10psi to be safe since he tuned it for 12. The other night i raced a Ford Lightning, figuring the motor was broken in fine(now with over 700 miles on it) from a roll at 69kpa (10psi) pulled 2nd and 3rd gear and stomped on the lightning, took the car home cause all seemed fine.

Start it up the next day sounded a little funny, went to check the oil and pulled the dip stick, F*uckin thing is puffin out smoke like a chuu chuu train. Knew something was wrong at this point Ran compression test cyl-1 180, cyl-2 180, cyl-3 150, cyl-4 40. Ripped the motor apart Cyl2 and 3 piston ring lands between ring 1 and 2 were cracked cyl 4 piston ring land between 1 and 2 was crushed and fell apart on me. I called turbo trix today to ask Mark what the deal was and he told me i over boosted on it, then I told him that I had turned the boost down to 10 psi(just to be safe). He told me that the fuel was fine and the timing was conservative. I asked him why it detonated and he told me it DID NOT. Then he told me that JE pistons are Sh*t anyway. At that point i believed i wasn't gonna get anywere with him, his response to most of my questions after that was "i dont know" So i got off the phone.

WTF is the deal? why would he tell me the car was tuned for 11-12 psi? Friggin thing blew up at 10 psi on the ONLY hard pull i did. He tried blaming it on the JE's but even if it were true (which its not) my stock pistons were runnin 9 psi daily driven for like 8000 miles on a stock fuel system and stock ecu? The JEs cant handle one more pound of boost? Thats friggin BS!! All I want is for him to pay for my pistons and i'll get the car tuned by someone else. I'll put the pistons in myself. I just don't feel i should pay for his tuning errors. I know i will NEVER do buisness with them again as Mark was rude to me when i asked him questions, and he told me the JE's i put in my car were garbage. He had no consideration for me... for chr@# sake my motors blown from HIS TUNE!! How do you come off and blame FORGED pistons as being the cause?

 

there are many variables for why your engine could have blown. i kno everyone at turbotrix and they are all great guys and know exactly what they are doing. i don't think there are many regular lancers running the AEM EMS but i know hobie also messed up his motor and he was also running the EMS. it might have actually been that which blew your motor...not the tuning from Mark.

 

He ran the car though if there was somethign wrong he should have known it since "he knows all about the ems" andrew had a diferent problem with his car he had a reason why his engine blew

 

To set the story straight, He called up for help that he couldnt get his car to run. He had just built the motor and had no clue how to get his car to run. I told him i would help him out. He had to flat bed the car up to our shop. I dropped what i was doing to help him out. I spent 4hrs on the car, had it purring he said " wow it never idled like that before" then all of a sudden the car started idling bad. He said his buddy messed with the idle motor and the wiring. His tps was all over the place. I told him to leave the car and i'll finish it tomm, as it was 6pm. He copped an attitude that he had to leave the car, and asked how much it would be. I told him 200.. Calls the next day and says my parents want to know why i owe you 200, that you did nothing to the car. Meanwhile in the am i had fixed his firmware and idle motor. I was pissed he would even question that i did nothing to his car. I spent 6+ hrs on the car and charged him 200 dollars. I drove the car and it ran perfect. I told him on the phone that if he wasnt happy with the work i did the other day that i wouldnt charge him anything and i would put his old map in the car. His reply " ohh the car is running good now ?" i said yes. " ohh okay i'll come and get it and BREAK IN the motor". He came up went for a ride with his buddy and came back and said it runs great. I told him to break in the motor and come back and i'll tune it for 15lbs, and he can pay for the complete tune. The car was never on the dyno , he never got a dyno sheet. He said ok i'll put 500 miles on it and i'll bring it back up. He then calls after he was on the highway racing a lightening truck that he crack some pistons and threatened he would put up this post unless we paid for his new pistons. I told him we would not pay for pistons as we never completed the tune on his car and was told to drive it easy and break in the motor until it got on the dyno.

Mark
turbotrix

 

do you have and A/F gauge? maybe the car was running lean and that's what caused the detonation/misfire

 

Sounds like a kid who obviously doesn't knwo what he's doing, how to put a motor back together, how to break in a motor, and blame everyone but himself for his own screw ups. I think the person who broke it should own up and pay the price.. and apologize. I see this all too often with shops around here as well. Know it all idiots..

 

damn.................. good sheit mang.

 

ok look here is the deal he failed to mention that he told me that the car was tuned for 11-12 psi i turned it down to be safe to 10 psi. i dont understandwhy the car wouldnt be able to be run at 10 psi when he said it was tuned for 12
yes the tyune wasnt COMPLEAT because my target boost was 15- 20 psi not 12
so no it wasnt done
and no the car wasnt ran on a dyno he told me he "street tuned" it for the boost levels it wa sset at (77kpa)
i called them up to give them a chance to talk this out before i posted this and he told me he was gonna sue me for slandering and was cursing at me and all this other crap

listen i knwo hwo to put a friggin motor together i knwo how this car works inside and out

and also as far as the wrigin and tps sensor goes
i said my friend tuned the SAS screw not the idle control motor or the tps sensor

 

Moving to Lancer Forums.

 

Okay Joe, just calm down here...

I've been dealing with Joe on this since the beginning and I've been hearing his side of things. I know the lancer and i know the AEM.

Turbotrix is very well known and i'm sure they floated a tune for the car as well as anyone else could have. I do have a few ??'s and once they are answered we will be able to move on more civil and get this put to bed.

Turbotrix... 1) did you tell Joe he was tuned for up to 12psi?
2) did you tell Joe that the JE's are crap and they were the problem?
3) did you tell Joe you'd sue him for slander if he posted an issue on this board?

Joe... 1) You called me when you picked up the car and told me it was driving great and
that Mark told you it was tuned for 12psi... but did Mark tell you to take it easy
and return after 500 miles for more tuning?
2)Did Mark ever specifically say it was ok to boost up to 12psi?
3)Was your race with the lightning trully the only time you got on the car after
500miles?

I know that Joe is upset and i also know that Turbotrix put in a lot of time on this as well. No one wants to take responsibility for this but it is done just the same. Now we have to pick up and move on but lets get this cleared up first. Once that is done we can all go on and be happy.

 

1) Mark DID tell me to take it easy on the car and to break it in and bring it back to get the rest of the map tuned

2) Mark didnt specificly come out and say "you can go boost it to 12 psi" but he did say "the map is tuned for 11-12 psi"

3)the race with the ford was the ONLY time i got on the car

I am kinda upset about this whole thing it not just the fact the car is broken, its also the fact that im takin a beating from my perents over it, its hard to exsplain whats happening to them cause they have no idea what anythign means about cars, reason they wanna know so bad is cause they have to front the cash right now cause i cant just come up with that kinda money instantly, im exstreamely sick and unable to work and have no other source of income right now so anything that happens they have to pay for, and they also just wanna know why as anyone else would.

 

I know you are but consider some of the facts... the engine was brand new and only had 500-700 miles on it and you raced it not knowing for sure you could. They told you it was tuned for 12psi but not that you could run that. There is a big difference there.

At the same time if i was told it was tuned for 12psi i'd assume i could run 12psi.

A bigger issue is the knock setup... was the AEM's setting for knock completed? Probably not as that can takes time... that tells me even more so the car wasn't ready to be boosting. Out of curiousity what timing and fuel ratio's were you running Turbotrix? You stated it was conservative but there definately was detonation happening to destroy the Je's the way it did.

 

I ain't taking nobody's deffence here cause I have no clue what happen, but lets keeps the right numbers from post to post

 

We never touched his boost controler when the car came in / left. Whatever boost he came in at ..the car left at. All he wanted was the car to drive and run fine. I took the car out and set his air/fuel to 11.4 afr. I told him to drive the car easy and return after 500 miles or so. Then we can put it on the dyno. Why would i completely tune his car timing / fuel and charge him 200 when i had told him the complete tune would run him around 600. He calls me and makes threats about posting this thread, saying i owe him pistons. We do not owe him anything. He was told not to beat on the car until it was tuned. IF the car was on they dyno and i charged him 600 and gave him a dyno sheet ..It would be diff story. But this isnt the case. To think i felt bad for the kid and dropped everything to help him out and this is the thanks i get. He had failed to mention the first time he called and said his motor broke ..that he was racing a truck. All he said was was he was in 2nd and 3rd and the motor broke...


Mark
Turbotrix

 

OK...everyone's got their own opinion, but sometimes u need to keep it to themself. Joe (liquidlancer) is a good kid and a very smart one at that! He could tell you anything about the lancer. the kid has taught me everything i know about the lancer, lancer turbos, and cars in general. Joe knows his car inside and out. He knows what he's talkin about and he def knows how to put a motor back together. I got youre back bro! 100%...
mike