5.2L FPC Voodoo v 5.5L FPC LT6 "Project Gemini"

[rocsteady]

So I've seen several people here and several in other threads recommend idling until oil temp reaches 140 while others say don't let it idle. Is there any consensus on this? I let it idle until the cold idle settles and then I'll drive gingerly until oil temp gets up into operating range (150°+), and not winding it up until it's reached 180°

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[matthewr87]

So I've seen several people here and several in other threads recommend idling until oil temp reaches 140 while others say don't let it idle. Is there any consensus on this? I let it idle until the "fast idle" settles and then I'll drive gingerly until oil temp gets up into operating range (180+)

I let cold idle drop and then shift before 4K RPM until 180ish.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

I’ve never understood people that say don’t worry about warming up a motor. I warm up all my vehicles and equipment before they get used. There is no down side to it.

So I've seen several people here and several in other threads recommend idling until oil temp reaches 140 while others say don't let it idle. Is there any consensus on this? I let it idle until the "fast idle" settles and then I'll drive gingerly until oil temp gets up into operating range (180+)

 

[Joshinator99]

I’ve never understood people that say don’t worry about warming up a motor. I warm up all my vehicles and equipment before they get used. There is no down side to it.

Fun fact, in my AMG it will actually flash the coolant temperature on the display to warn you not to flog the car until coolant temperature reaches 80 deg C (176 F).

 

[sukhoi_584th]

I’ve never understood people that say don’t worry about warming up a motor. I warm up all my vehicles and equipment before they get used. There is no down side to it.

I've heard the argument by driving it lightly you get it out of the cold zone and whatever wear that causes, faster, without causing additional wear.

 

[ice445]

So I've seen several people here and several in other threads recommend idling until oil temp reaches 140 while others say don't let it idle. Is there any consensus on this? I let it idle until the "fast idle" settles and then I'll drive gingerly until oil temp gets up into operating range (180+)

Letting it idle until the fast idle finishes is all you have to do IMO. Then just drive normally until it's fully warm.

 

[RPDBlueMoon]

Theres not much you can do for preventive measures thats different than caring for any other engine. The NVH gets really crazy past ~7,700 RPMs. All sorts of the engine failures have happened at the race track, the most likely reason is the gets so bad NVH that something breaks. So if you want your engine to last just use it on the street or do track events on occasion.

Ford had a lower budget and decided to cobble an engine from the 5.0L Coyote. GM built their from engine ground up and had the budget to do so. Time will only tell how it holds up.

 

[1958cyclist]

There's so much doom and gloom around this car. I have a 2016, it's my daily, has 41k miles and I love it. I want to maintain it as much as possible as well but so often the conclusion seems to be that you can't really due to its design. I'm getting an extended warranty for peace of mind but I drive it everyday, let it idle to 140 before driving, check the oil meticulously, oil changes with Motocraft every 5,000 miles. Shrugs.


Hopefully the Corvette FPC doesn't develop the Voodoo reputation.

Ruan, I think what you're doing is about all that one can do. Having been around long enough to see these repeating cycles of excitement about new developments and how they're marketed then fade into something not at all expected, unfortunately isn't uncommon. The "early adopter" urge is something I was burned with a couple of times, and learned my lesson. Still don't have an EV and probably won't for awhile yet. Look at all you've heard about owning one of those lately. It really boils down to risk management.

 

[engineermike]

I love this quote:

… [LT6] chief engineer said. “Horizontal shaking forces are horrendous and so difficult to deal with. As an example, Ford did a flat-plane 5.2-Liter V8 for a number of years, and they had a story on the web where the oil filter was actually spun off the engine from the shaking forces. And we thought, wow, that’s pretty hilarious, we would never make that mistake…until we made that mistake.”

https://www.corvetteblogger.com/202...using-havoc-on-early-lt6-development-engines/

Also FWIW, the gt500 and Roush sc calibrations limit map and/or rpm until the engine is warm. I added the same to my Whipple setup.

 

[sublime1996525]

I love this quote:

… [LT6] chief engineer said. “Horizontal shaking forces are horrendous and so difficult to deal with. As an example, Ford did a flat-plane 5.2-Liter V8 for a number of years, and they had a story on the web where the oil filter was actually spun off the engine from the shaking forces. And we thought, wow, that’s pretty hilarious, we would never make that mistake…until we made that mistake.”

https://www.corvetteblogger.com/202...using-havoc-on-early-lt6-development-engines/

Also FWIW, the gt500 and Roush sc calibrations limit map and/or rpm until the engine is warm. I added the same to my Whipple setup.

Haha. As someone who had the filter spin off while on track doing 140-145 ish, I can say for a fact, it was not hilarious. Definitely a bit butt puckering.

 

[mavisky]

I love this quote:

… [LT6] chief engineer said. “Horizontal shaking forces are horrendous and so difficult to deal with. As an example, Ford did a flat-plane 5.2-Liter V8 for a number of years, and they had a story on the web where the oil filter was actually spun off the engine from the shaking forces. And we thought, wow, that’s pretty hilarious, we would never make that mistake…until we made that mistake.”

https://www.corvetteblogger.com/202...using-havoc-on-early-lt6-development-engines/

Also FWIW, the gt500 and Roush sc calibrations limit map and/or rpm until the engine is warm. I added the same to my Whipple setup.

Factory GT350 programming limits max rpm until temps get north of 180, but it only limits the engine to like 7500 or 7750 so not by much.

 

[Voodoo Blues]

Also keep in mind the LT6 uses the traditional FPC layout of UDDU. Ford didn't like that layout's sound, so they went to UDUD to get a more muscle-y car sound.

This introduced even more vibration due to the extra weight and counter balancing.

I remember the difference between UDUD and UDDU crank throws being explained to me by a former Ferrari mechanic when I was still thinking about buying a GT350. No more "traditional" FPC configuration than Ferrari, I bet. The Ferrari FPC V8s were successful. After the crank throw configuration difference is the hard fact that the longer the stroke, a big 93mm in the case of the GT350 Voodoo, the more the dreaded vibrations.

I cannot find another long-term, successful FPC with that long a stroke. If you need to have a FPC V8 live a long time at high RPMs you can't have too long a stroke. The best evidence is Ford racing efforts changing from FPC to cross plane cranks as soon as contractual obligations allowed. My 2016 had the spin-on oil filter that shook off three times before my thick head understood the problem. Now my engine will have the Dailey dry sump set.

This isn't a necessary solution. I like to fit the best if I can squeeze it into the budget. My budget squeeze is requiring crow bars and more, so the more savvy I'm sure can work out a more economical solution.

 

[honeybadger]

I remember the difference between UDUD and UDDU crank throws being explained to me by a former Ferrari mechanic when I was still thinking about buying a GT350. No more "traditional" FPC configuration than Ferrari, I bet. The Ferrari FPC V8s were successful. After the crank throw configuration difference is the hard fact that the longer the stroke, a big 93mm in the case of the GT350 Voodoo, the more the dreaded vibrations.

I cannot find another long-term, successful FPC with that long a stroke. If you need to have a FPC V8 live a long time at high RPMs you can't have too long a stroke. The best evidence is Ford racing efforts changing from FPC to cross plane cranks as soon as contractual obligations allowed. My 2016 had the spin-on oil filter that shook off three times before my thick head understood the problem. Now my engine will have the Dailey dry sump set.

This isn't a necessary solution. I like to fit the best if I can squeeze it into the budget. My budget squeeze is requiring crow bars and more, so the more savvy I'm sure can work out a more economical solution.

Yep - the problem compounds between the crank config and throw.

I am curious what GM did with the Cadillac V-SERIES.R engine. Supposedly it's a CPC version of the Z06 race motor and they're turning in up to like 8800 rpm....which is interesting because the Z06 motor only turns like 7.4k (and they shift even lower at like 6800 rpm) IIRC in the race car.

 

[rocsteady]

This whole thing is informative, but the Voodoo part, starting at 15:20 is really interesting.

 

[NPTR]

This whole thing is informative, but the Voodoo part, starting at 15:20 is really interesting.

Incredibly informative on the 350 thanks for sharing. Could come away thinking, why make all those sacrifices for sound? Then fire one of these things up, and it all makes sense haha - to me it’s one of the most important parts of the driving experience, and I’m happy Ford agreed on the 350. I also think there’s no debate on firing order being about sound…recall the chief Ford Performance engineer on Jay Leno’s Garage episode on the 350 explicitly saying something like that.

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