Need advice please - motor blown after dyno, has Whipple.

[Cambur]

Quick facts:
2015, 9k miles, Whipple stage 2 (only on for 1k miles), Borla cat-back exhaust, billet oil pump gears, catch can. We just acquired the car 1 month ago. First SC car. Tuned/Dyno’d it. Now has bad knock. Probably rod bearings. $9K-10K quote for new short block installed (4700 labor, about 800 misc parts and seals and fees and either 3300 for oem short block or 4800 for Aluminator).

More details:
We were curious of the HP/Torque and also if there was room to improve the Whipple tune so we took the car in to a supposed reputable dyno here in Scottsdale AZ. We were not looking for more power, but efficiency and to know the numbers.
During the first pull, the car was having misfires in cylinder 6. It pulled 638HP , but it faded between 7000 and 7500 RPM. They pulled the plugs and #6 was burning funny. The piston also showed more “burn” and some slight pitting compared to others. Pics attached.
We also suspect potentially bad gas since (us being new to superchargers and high performance was purchasing Costco fuel… oops).
The tuner replaced all the spark plugs and added some racing fuel to bring up the octane to try to play it safe. He proceeded to “tune”, of which all he did was reduce timing by 2.5 degrees and along with that and the plugs and added fuel it suddenly pulled 710HP at 7500 RPM.
Upon removing the car from the Dyno, it had a knock in the motor. The tuner seemed concerned to a degree, but was saying it was probably just a rod that hadn’t pushed down ( or something like that) and said to just keep an eye on it and if it gets worse to stop driving it. Also, he was asking what oil was in the car. I happen to have the invoice from the previous owner and it showed 5w20 and the tuner quickly blamed that saying it was the wrong oil and we needed to change it immediately because it was too thin.
Part of me was feeling stupid for being a novice and not doing more due diligence, and the more I think about this, I’m also mad at the tuner for not doing his due diligence and asking some of theses questions prior to the dyno.
Now faced with 9-10K options, I’m trying to figure the best route to take and also hopefully the fastest because we are thinking about the Aluminator block, but current delivery estimate is 9 weeks (end of January). We are hesitant to do the oem block because this is a good time to make it better and we don’t want this to happen again.
I have so many more thoughts here but will limit myself and let people ask questions and give input.

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[Mike Pfeifer]

This plug almost looks like something was loose and rattling around in there.

 

[Cobra Jet]

The plugs pictured, are those the set that was pulled after the initial Dyno pull where Cyl 6 was misfiring - or are they the 2nd set that the Dyno shop installed?

If those plugs are the first set, the Dyno shop should have never even attempted a 2nd pull IF #6 plug was as seen in the posted images.

 

[Andy13186]

Piston ringland may have broke from knock caused by the bad fuel. May have been knocking bad after 7k on that first run. Was it costco 93 octane or did you put in regular grade 87 octane gas?

 

[Orange devil]

Time for a electric motor swap
https://performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-9000-MACHE

 

[tdstuart]

Damn, that sucks. My question is who owns a 2015 and only put 8k miles on it? I have 100k miles on my 2015 lmao.

Interesting that the motor blew. Haven't seen much talk about the coyote motors breaking, besides oil pump gears, especially only with 9k miles. Maybe because it wasn't driven much it needed time before being pushed hard?

From reading about mustangs for the past year or so, the cheapest course of action is to buy a new block from a wrecked car. Ford gives 30k+ mile warranties on the stock block with a supercharger and so do other companies. The block should take the abuse. Whatever cause the motor to blow you probably just had bad luck. Just install new oil pump gears and replace the #6 piston and anything else potentially damaged (maybe new crankshaft, bearings, etc. but a shop should be able to tell if they are worn). That should keep the price down. I don't see any reason to buy an upgraded block unless you are going for 900hp+ or trying to rev really high, and even then I think it's more internal upgrades and not the actual block itself.

Hopefully you can get this fixed for less. Can't imagine buying a new car, buying a 10k+ supercharger, and then the engine blowing up.

 

[tdstuart]

Time for a electric motor swap
https://performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-9000-MACHE

At that point throw the model s power train in it. 9.2 sec quarter mile mustang. No boost, no nitrous, no engine. Throw the EcoBoost badge on and watch people cry. Add some fake exhaust speakers to make a little noise too.

Fake rev against a gt, watch them cry as they get gapped into infinity.

 

[Nawsad123]

That sucks man! Had to go through something like that not too long ago. Ended up with an aluminator for a little bit more than what you indicated for a short block. Aluminator does have upgraded rods and pistons, along with billet oil gears. Look into Jeggs. Ordered mine and was received in about ten days...

 

[Racinjason65]

Sounds like the “we” or “us” probably contributed to this. If 87 octane fuel was out in a supercharged car that was tuned for 87, there’s your culprit. Fix it. Move on and don’t let people drive a high performance car that don’t know or understand their needs.

 

[CJJon]

Sounds like you and your tuner blew up your car. Wrong oil, cheap gas, fouled plug and a suspect borescope and you kept doing pulls. Telling you to just keep an eye on the bad knock - great advice. Probably just a rod or two, no big whoop.

Who is doing the motor replacement? Certainly not the dyno shop.

No motor is idiot proof. The motor didn't blow up because it wasn't strong enough. Get whatever you can afford and take the delivery wait to educate yourself and research, research, research.

 

[331GT]

Sounds like you and your tuner blew up your car. Wrong oil, cheap gas, fouled plug and a suspect borescope and you kept doing pulls. Telling you to just keep an eye on the bad knock - great advice. Probably just a rod or two, no big whoop.

Who is doing the motor replacement? Certainly not the dyno shop.

No motor is idiot proof. The motor didn't blow up because it wasn't strong enough. Get whatever you can afford and take the delivery wait to educate yourself and research, research, research.

no shit. red flag right there!

but now the talk about Costco fuel has me feeling uneasy, I have done many fill ups at Sam's Club (same diff). I have only used their 93 when on a 91 and up tune, and i did use their 87 when i was completely stock many times. my car is also not boosted like OP's, only exhaust and tune. I was under the impression gas at any of the reputable big name places is essentially the same minus maybe some detergents or additives specific to say Shell vs BP vs Exxon, etc. I always thought unless you're going to some random mom and pop place out in the middle of nowhere, you dont really have much to worry about regarding bad gas.

If i am uninformed, please correct me!

 

[Cambur]

The plugs pictured, are those the set that was pulled after the initial Dyno pull where Cyl 6 was misfiring - or are they the 2nd set that the Dyno shop installed?

If those plugs are the first set, the Dyno shop should have never even attempted a 2nd pull IF #6 plug was as seen in the posted images.

Those were the first set of plugs.

 

[Cambur]

Piston ringland may have broke from knock caused by the bad fuel. May have been knocking bad after 7k on that first run. Was it costco 93 octane or did you put in regular grade 87 octane gas?

Here in AZ it is 91 Octane.

 

[Cambur]

no shit. red flag right there!

but now the talk about Costco fuel has me feeling uneasy, I have done many fill ups at Sam's Club (same diff). I have only used their 93 when on a 91 and up tune, and i did use their 87 when i was completely stock many times. my car is also not boosted like OP's, only exhaust and tune. I was under the impression gas at any of the reputable big name places is essentially the same minus maybe some detergents or additives specific to say Shell vs BP vs Exxon, etc. I always thought unless you're going to some random mom and pop place out in the middle of nowhere, you dont really have much to worry about regarding bad gas.

If i am uninformed, please correct me!

I’m told now by several tuners to ONLY use Shell/Chevron here. Supposedly the regulations are looser here and there is a +/- 2 octane regulation. I have no idea how true that holds.

 

[Cambur]

Sounds like the “we” or “us” probably contributed to this. If 87 octane fuel was out in a supercharged car that was tuned for 87, there’s your culprit. Fix it. Move on and don’t let people drive a high performance car that don’t know or understand their needs.

The “us” is me and my son. It’s really his car and he has for sure put premium in it. Certainly a hard lesson learned on fuel quality regardless!

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