I'm still trying to decide which direction to go. It all comes down to my budget at the end of the day.

BSP is good because it's fun to run with all the Evo guys, there is great competition in that class, and it less expensive because I can't spend money on other parts that I would normally be all over during a engine build.

On the other hand it's hard not to jump into other engine mods because I already have the motor open. Doing a sleeved 2.2 with cams, valve springs, pistons and rods, with e85 on the stock turbo would be a hell of a car to drive everyday, and would be a blast at autox also.

I know the "must haves" at this point though:

Stay on stock turbo
Sleeve the block
JE Pistons
E85 Conversion
ETS Downpipe
ETS Intake w/ Heat Shield
Tune

 

Check out MAP's downpipe, it's over $100 cheaper than ETS' and very similar in design (actually better in my opinion). I've had great results with mine and Rmondoh just bought one too.

 

I bought new spark plugs today because of you

 

I love the ETS stuff, you wont be disappointed with those for sure. Due to the hazardous nature of the thread (lol), I will be doing a massive maintenance once I get my car back... SST fluid/filter replaced (will be monday or tuesday), new tires with alignment and all that jazz, oil with filter change, et500 brake pads and brake fluid... at least thats all I can remember right now. Maybe I should order some spark plugs too while I am at it...

 

If you plan on tracking your Evo at all avoid the racing brake stuff. Multiple members have had issues with those pads. If you are using them on the street, your probably ok

 

ET500's are great street/autox pads though.

 

Still in for the root cause, I am still finding plugs as an unlikely cause of his blown motor. The plugs seemed to have failed due to detonation...? Too many folks running full bolt on's with pro-tune's not having this same issue. Next thing you know everyone will be replacing plugs to prevent blown motors!

 

Too many people have had the ceramic insulator fall down and cause issues. Its quite easy to see how the ceramic could break and fall into the piston and cause the damage it did. I replaced my plugs on Tuesday, Chris did his this weekend and two others did them as well this week.

After Justin's situation I found out this is a know issue with the NGK plus for the 4B11 motor. Both stock and modded.

 

the ceramic falling off the plug wont do the damage justins motor saw. his piston was melted damaging the cylinder wall while it became molten. the plug almost certainly was damaged by whatever caused the piston to melt as well. worst case when a spark plug breaks apart is the porcelain puts some marks in the top of the piston and goes out the exhaust (a small loss of compression if it gets wedged in the valve as it shuts). if the plug stops firing all together, the cylinder will go cold (and the car will run on three cylinders).


without a doubt, his issue is either that cylinder leaning out enough to get extremely hot, or a combination of timing/boost/octane being poor. although, if its to much timing, usually you will see detonation marks on the piston tops. there is none of that on any of them. also, typically detonation will throw a rod before it melts a piston.

i have built a fuel injector test rig that allows us to view the spray patterns of the injectors and test the flow rate of them... i'm sure we will give his a go to see how they are working.

 

I was underwhelmed with the et500, even as a daily driver pad. Too many times they seemed not to have any bite on the initial engagement, and I remember a couple times where i had a concern if I were going to be able to stop the car in time. Just my two cents.

No, back on topic... What gave out, Justin? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Could not a piece of ceramic fallen, and gotten wedged in between the crown of the piston and the wall, and cause a heat spot doing as you described? None of the other pistons seem damaged but I'm not there and cant see exactly. I can see on the one it wasn't running lean long term. But I don't know how long a single piston has to run lean to melt as you described.

Also, not questioning you, just asking to learn for myself; don't pistons, if they run lean, burn in the middle?

 

I know when my spark plug had the ceramic fall down, it caused knock counts int he 18 range and misfires. We found the issue before anything got hurt, but IDK, I think it could have destroyed the motor if it wasn't on the dyno when it happened and I had been pushing it at the time.

 

Honestly I have no idea. Like Kevin said there was no detonation so I'm guessing maybe injector. Who knows. Maybe Kevin will chime in with more details once it's all pulled apart. Two of the plugs failed so I'm thinking something made access heat in the cylinders that caused the liner to crack and slip over the electrode.

 

Hindsight, being what it is and all, it would have been pretty cool had you logged your event. I log every autox and then review the data afterwards. I admit, my main reason for logging is for embedding the data into my videos but I am paranoid to say the least. I have seen significant issues at an event or two that I had to make adjustments for, things you just don't see on a dyno or DD very often, i.e. fuel delivery issues (running on less than half tank, fuel doesn't have a tendency of sloshing to the rear of the car on a dyno), driveshaft shredding my exhaust which shows as hellacious knock, heat soak causing substantial knock, etc.

It is pretty scary, what the hell is limp mode even for if it will not detect and prevent the damage you sustained? I mean hell, I can hear it on the video when it let go! I have hit limp mode once or twice at autox, that is with MAF plausibility, Torque Limiter, Air Flow Check, TPS position CEL's, etc all disabled. Keep that AP running when you get it back up!

 

Agreed, your engine survived b/c it was being monitored on a dyno, not ragged on at the track like Justin's.
Injectors are an easy thing to blame but it it's very rare for them to fail, especially a stock one on a nearly brand new car.

Did you have your car de-tuned for the track, or at least specify you wanted a tune that was safe for track use? Street/autocross tunes do differ from track tunes.