My Pineapple NA just died of a blow coolant seal. Engine was run on Evans NPG+ Coolant, and never overheated. We shall see how the warrenty from Pineapple Racing works.

 

ahhh, that sucks, how old is it??

 

Had it in the car ~ 5 months. ~ 5000 miles on it

 

jeez, they better fix that, let me know what happens because I was maybe gunna get them to rebuild it but I might do it myself

 

Hmm, waiting on a call back from Pineapple now.

 

Wow ive actually seen a string of people posting about their pinneaples dying prematurely. Most in the third gen section.

 

Still up for that dyno run with me, John?

 

Yep!

 

Just shooting from the hip here. Is it possible that the coolant seals need some sort of pressure on them to function properly? Is there any corlation to coolant seals dumping and Evans?

James

 

lol...

just pokin fun at ya. You know I had to do it, after all the pro-PR propaganda you spread, and now look at ya

Good thing you got a warranty on that, but I offer warranty on my engines as well. Whose work holds the better value now?

 

Rob is the one who requires Evans to honor the warrenty

 

Well, interesting approach from PINEAPPLE, Spoke with JOEL; after being unable to get in touch with ROB. Joels solution: "Just run some PRESTONE block sealer in it"

 

Is Pineapple using the same aftermarket coolant seals that Hayes sells? They are the ones that are made from Teflon encapsulated silicone that can also be purchased from McMaster-Carr. I have a set of these in my engine. Hayes put out a warning years ago about only running the green bad for the environment antifreeze. Do not use any other type. Stick with Prestone and you'll be fine. What happens is that the environmentally friendly crap literally eats the o-rings. They just melt. Hayes had one engine that they just built (this was a few years ago) that hadn't even run yet. They filled up the coolant system and the first time they tried to start up the engine it leaked all over the place. The seals had melted from the coolant they used. Places that sell these seals need to warn of the dangers of different types of antifreeze. The seals themselves are wonderful. They are very tough, tolerate heat and can even be taken out of one engine and reinstalled into the next one. They just don't like the tree hugger antifreeze. Did this happen immediately after you switched to that type of antifreeze?

If these are the seals that Pineapple used I think they would only be liable for fixing it if they did not tell you in writing the dangers of different types of antifreeze on the o-rings. If they did notify you of this but did it against their warnings then there may be no grounds for a rebuild by them. It all depends on what caused the failure, what was disclosed, and what if anything violated their warranty. If these are the o-rings they are using and they are not disclosing this info, they probably will soon. It will come back to haunt them one day.

 

I used the EVANS NPG+, which is what ROB told me to run. I am not sure if he is using the Mcmaster Carr O-rings, I can't get ahold of him, just his Shop help

 

I have a new Mcmaster Carr O-ring down in the shop. I think I will go do a little Soak test, thanks for the idea Rotarygod. John

 

I hope that isn't what killed your engine. That would just plain suck especially after having it be the recommended antifreeze to use. Rob is pretty credible so he probably knows if it is safe or not. I just received the warning several years ago when I bought mine from Hayes that only Preston or equivalent was to be used with those seals. Then they told me all the horror stories. Other shops around the country had to find out the hard way. Try several different types of antifreeze and see which ones are worst about it.

 

Perfect

 

Good luck, my friends engine went and Rob would not warranty, actually it took 3 months for him to return his calls. Then he told him to send him the engine, and he would tear it apart, and determine the cause of the engine failure. My friend (CYMTKT) decided to have it rebuilt by Chad at ASI racing. When Chad took the engine apart, it was realized that the 3mm steel seals that were ordered for the engine were not there. They were stock seals, eventhough the seals and the milling for them werer paid for they were never installed. People make mistakes, it's the nature of the beast. I don't mean to bash Rob or Pineapple, but these are merely the things i witnessed and endured through my friends ordeal. Best of luck.

 

Hmm, this is the first i have ever heard about using a certain type of coolant for any rotary seals. odd.

Keep us posted on this, I used a Atkins rebuild kit when I did my own motor .. I was never told either by them, in the paperwork, or in the video anything about a specific coolant type. I am just using %40 regular prestone 2% water wetter, and %58 distiled water. No problem thus far. Not even sure if they do supply the same seals, but it is a curiosity either way.

-Robert

 

The Orange coolant eating seals isn't totally proven. I've run both in my cars and the one I used the new stuff in with higher mileage is still running while the green coolant 102k GTU blew a coolant seal.

 

the older orange coolant is bad for every single engine including pistons. only GM runs it now and they can't get out since they are under contract or some crap. soon they will be getting rid of it too.

there is a newer orange coolant that is ok though.

 

I think we are due for a coolant poll.

 

that stuff that GM has been using since i think 94 is DEXCOOL im not sure what it does with our seals but its great for alluminum and know a bunch of DSM guys that switched to it and noticed coller temps by as much as 55 deg.

 

I asked John this exact same question when he told me about the motor going south, Fred. I'm suspicious of the very same thing as I've read just that as well as other not-so-good things about the use of Dexcool and Evans.

I build all of my engines with TES o-rings and highly recommend them to anyone, but I won't freely rebuild an engine if the customer uses the orange coolant. They use either the green stuff, which is known to work, or they take that risk themselves.

B

 

Good idea, John. Put an o-ring or two in a large bowl of Evans/Dexcool, place it in an oven, and heat it to 200 degrees. Let it sit for a few hours if you can get away with it.

B