I blew my engine this morning driving to work.

Info about my car: intake, dp, mp with resonator and SMB metallic cat, catback, GReddy FMIC, Power FC, 1300cc secondary injectors, Greddy EBC, and HKS Twin Power. There is only 35k miles on the car. I rarely drive the car hard and max boost is set at 10psi.

Here's what happened: The car was fully warmed up and I hardly boosted the engine at all (3 psi max). I was cruising at around 30mph and everything sounded smooth and fine. Then stopped at a stop light. The car started to idle lumpy and then died. I restarted the engine only to hear an unfamiliar exhaust note combined with a complete lack of power. The car dies whenever I try to start it. I checked the boost pressure sensor hose and it was still on. I smell gas when I start up the car. Vaccum is -10 in mg when I rev the engine at 1000 rpm. I guess the engine some how detonated while deceleration or during idle.

I recently installed the HKS Twin Power a few weeks ago, so it is the last thing that has been added to the car. I unplugged it yesterday to remount it in a more secure location. Could a malfunction in the ignition amp cause detonation?

I guess this is my unlucky day. This is my 4th FD and I've never experienced engine failure with all my other FDs that were modified, with and without ECU upgrades, and twice the mileage on the original motor.

 

did you check your oil and water and stuff? i know it's an obvious thing to say, but i drove off one day and all the sudden i lost power and a bunch of smoke came out the back my car had an odd exhaust sound and i added water and every thing was fine again, i thought id suggest it

(i'm no where near a car expert just giving a friendly suggestion)

 

do a compression test before assuming its blown....

 

man shitty way to lose a motor, good luck and yeah do what he said ^

 

did you check your MAP sensor?

 

Did someone tune the Power FC?

If so I would like to see the map if you have it.

 

Before you make any assumptions or do anything more, check your harness to the ignition amp and coils. If you truly only boosted ~3psi and it ran fine after you finished boosting, I'd seriously doubt it's your engine.

Since you said you were recently messing with your ignition system, DEFINITELY check there first. I was having similar serious problems one morning (engine had absolutely NO power and it wouldn't hold idle), but after a little observation I knew it wasn't the engine because it was right after I started it up in the morning (engines don't blow sitting overnight) and the vacuum was rock solid (not bouncing around like when the compression is uneven). As it would turn out, one of my ignition coils somehow became disconnected overnight

 

I bought the car with most of the mods on the car already, so I'm not sure if the PFC is tuned. I'm assuming it is tuned since the car has 1300cc injectors. Does the stock PFC maps have a 1300cc injector setting?

I'll have to go home and check the ignition connections when I get home. Also, where can I get a gauge to check compression?

Thanks.

 

The first thing I checked was the MAP sensor and the vacuum hose was still on. We are talking about the little black square on the firewall infront of the steering column correct?

 

Yes that's correct. Like someone stated above I would start with Twin Power and go from there. Maybe even disconnecting the unit and trying to run the car. With the harness it shouldn't take that long at all disconnect and run the car with the stock ignition. Since it wasn't at high load/boost, a blown engine would be unlikely.

randy

 

-10 vac at 1000RPM is low. Don't just check the MAP sensor harness, but trace the vacuum line that leads to the rear of the upper intake manifold and make sure both ends are properly attached.

Good luck.

 

It's basically impossible to blow an engine at idle and very difficult in vacuum. However, it is much easier to detect a problem under light load. If you damaged the engine you probably did it under load and didn't pick up on it until you backed off. Moving the Twinpower wouldn't have an impact unless you cut through the wiring insulation between the individual signal wires and got cross talk between the signals. Again, highly unlikely.

 

My car went dead on me while sitting at idle once. I thought the engine went too. Simply changed the spark plugs and was good to go.

 

Yea that sounds like it could possibly be that actually!

 

Plugs.

 

Another vote for fouled plugs or an ignition malfunction.

 

Thanks for all your help guys. It was indeed the ignition, specifically the Twin Power.

I disconnected the HKS Twin Power and the car operates normally now. I've had the Twin Power on the car for about 2 weeks, and I've driven about 30 miles total with it since then. I wonder how come it's failing. Could it be bad grounding of the Twin Power? I currently have the ground wire attached to a screw on the head light housing.

 

Ok, the problem is definitely the Twin Power. I took it off and found black liquid coming out of it! I'm not sure what that is, but it is not from my car. It is 100% from the Twin Power.

Here are some pics.

 

Capacitor blew?

 

Wow, never seen that before... looks like oil or something... very curious as to what it actually is. How old was the twin power when you bought it?

 

Have you check your oil level you might just have a leaky twin power

That is odd though my thought was a capacitor too or something else blew or melted.

 

I purchased the Twin Power brand new just a few weeks ago. It's one of the newer ones with the updated housing. I also installed it with the FD specific harness. I'm really shocked that it failed so soon and after only driving 30 miles with it installed.

 

crazy hks juice

 

Damn, that's an expensive paperweight. Better than the engine I guess

 

i'm glad you found the problem. This is totally a legit reason for an exchange. I hope you still have your receipt