GT350 Engine Refresh Time!

[honeybadger]

There's one that you can just barely feel. And I mean barely. Rest are smooth

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[JAJ]

Took the heads off tonight. Not liking what I am seeing. Thoughts?

#8 is darker than the rest

I pulled up the baseline OEM ECU calibration in my SCT Pro Racer package. There are 8 fuel subsystem tables that fine-tune fuel delivery for each cylinder based on airflow and rpm. At "street driving' airflow and rpm's, Ford loads between 3% and 5% more fuel into cylinder 8 than the rest, and at "track" loads and rpm's it's about 3% more. Cylinders 1, 2 and 4 also get a bit extra, but not nearly as much. Your darker cylinder 8 may just be the result of that cylinder running slightly richer.

 

[tedj101]

Damn - your meme game is on point Tob.



I've heard this as well. Only challenge is E85 is a bit hard to get down here. Fortunately there is a pump on the way to COTA. So I can load up. Would like to be able to run both when needed. Ran a tank of 100 at a recent track day and it was awesome.


Yeah, but it was expensive also. I can get 100 at the track but it is north of $8.00/gal. At about 5MPG, that comes to a pretty big bill at the end of a track day.

<TED>

 

[nastang87xx]

I think everything looks okay. The scoring might be piston slap because the pistons are fully forged.

 

[Tank]

How’d the head gasket look esp around your #8 cylinder? What about the valve stem seals?

 

[AceOne]

So finished up planning things with JPC this morning. Heads will be going out to RGR on Saturday. Expected turn around time 4 weeks. The wait might seriously kill me.

Of interesting to note, apparently have the timing chains have a fairly limited lifespan. JPC thought it was somewhere between 30-50k miles. I tried to confirm in the service manual, but couldn't find it. Either way, ordering a new set of chains. They're only $22 a piece, so not too bad. Also throwing in a new set of head gaskets, and piston rings.

Don't think I'm missing anything at this point? (Said very confidently)

The pistons and rings have been revised for tighter clearances for 18+ engines. The factory specs (tolerances) for piston to cylinder wall clearance minimums are now less than half of what they were in earlier engines..
The new OEM pistons are much more expensive too. Like $160+ each now. There is a new chain tension revision also due out this spring. I just noticed the new part number is JL3Z -6L266-B. you might want to check into the revised pistons and rings if you were experiencing "excessive" oil consumption.

I built basically the first 5.2XS motor right before SEMA 2016 ( all Voodoo internals except CPC crank and conversion cams) and have put 28K mile on it with at least a third of them being track miles. I run USCA and have records for NA s550 chassis at the TX mile. Currently this motor makes 530 SAE whp and 438 torque since I installed the CJ manifold setup this summer. On e85 fuel. It also has probably the broadest torque curve of any 5.2 I have seen. 400+ torque from 3100 rpm to over 7000 rpm. We focused on torque in this build.

I am starting version another 5.2XS build version 2.0. block and heads pallet due in late next week. shooting for 13:1 in 5.2XSV2.0. Upgrading valve springs, TI retainers and doing more head work this time. Once it is built I will tear down the first for a refresh and examine it. I plan on posting some of that tear down also.

Glad you are posting this one. Its hard to find teardown photos of the Voodoo with out any carnage since Ford wants it all done in house.
pay attention to the rod bearings on disassembly...there are no tangs and they will rotate in the bore but usually no more that 30 to 45*.

 

[JR369]

The pistons and rings have been revised for tighter clearances for 18+ engines. The factory specs (tolerances) for piston to cylinder wall clearance minimums are now less than half of what they were in earlier engines..
The new OEM pistons are much more expensive too. Like $160+ each now. There is a new chain tension revision also due out this spring. I just noticed the new part number is JL3Z -6L266-B. you might want to check into the revised pistons and rings if you were experiencing "excessive" oil consumption.

I built basically the first 5.2XS motor right before SEMA 2016 ( all Voodoo internals except CPC crank and conversion cams) and have put 28K mile on it with at least a third of them being track miles. I run USCA and have records for NA s550 chassis at the TX mile. Currently this motor makes 530 SAE whp and 438 torque since I installed the CJ manifold setup this summer. On e85 fuel. It also has probably the broadest torque curve of any 5.2 I have seen. 400+ torque from 3100 rpm to over 7000 rpm. We focused on torque in this build.

I am starting version another 5.2XS build version 2.0. block and heads pallet due in late next week. shooting for 13:1 in 5.2XSV2.0. Upgrading valve springs, TI retainers and doing more head work this time. Once it is built I will tear down the first for a refresh and examine it. I plan on posting some of that tear down also.

Glad you are posting this one. Its hard to find teardown photos of the Voodoo with out any carnage since Ford wants it all done in house.
pay attention to the rod bearings on disassembly...there are no tangs and they will rotate in the bore but usually no more that 30 to 45*.

Wow. Good on Ford for addressing the issue if true. May I ask how you were able to obtain this information? Can it be verified?

 

[bauern]

Wow. Good on Ford for addressing the issue if true. May I ask how you were able to obtain this information? Can it be verified?

Should be reflected in the service manual.

 

[JR369]

Should be reflected in the service manual.

I was thinking that as well. And parts counter but part numbers change all the time. Time will tell as mileage on the 18's accumulate.

 

[bauern]

The pistons and rings have been revised for tighter clearances for 18+ engines. The factory specs (tolerances) for piston to cylinder wall clearance minimums are now less than half of what they were in earlier engines..
The new OEM pistons are much more expensive too. Like $160+ each now. There is a new chain tension revision also due out this spring. I just noticed the new part number is JL3Z -6L266-B. you might want to check into the revised pistons and rings if you were experiencing "excessive" oil consumption.

I put a Voodoo engine together in early 2016, the pistons were only $38. each lol. Check the part number for the tensioners. JL3Z-6L266-B is for the 5.0 Coyote. The current Voodoo # is GR3Z-6L266-A. I would expect them to just change the letter for a revision.

On pistons, JE makes a nice set complete with rings for about $700. Their coating results in essentially a zero piston to wall clearance. It seems to be similar to an abradable powder coat although they don't use the term. They weigh 400g as opposed to the OEM's 385 ish (going from memory).

 

[AceOne]

I put a Voodoo engine together in early 2016, the pistons were only $38. each lol. Check the part number for the tensioners. JL3Z-6L266-B is for the 5.0 Coyote. The current Voodoo # is GR3Z-6L266-A. I would expect them to just change the letter for a revision.

Yes we had the GR3z number on the order form and it bumped it to the JL3Z number.. I know the Ford engineer that worked on the 5.2 Voodoo engine design was the one that told me they have a new tensioner due out this spring...I believe it is revised for the 18+ and 5.2 Voodoo motors. I can email him for verification. The JL3Z revision just showed up this weekend as I had the parts list entered originally from 12/30/2018. Ford revises parts and prices quarterly according to my parts guy.

On pistons, JE makes a nice set complete with rings for about $700. Their coating results in essentially a zero piston to wall clearance. It seems to be similar to an abradable powder coat although they don't use the term. They weigh 400g as opposed to the OEM's 385 ish (going from memory).

I contacted JE Pistons, Diamond, Manley and Mahle this week about current "shelf" pistons. Mahle makes the Voodoo pistons. There are a couple options and I'm deciding on which to go with next week.. I was really shocked at the new price for the OEM pistons...I not sure why they are that high and I remember I bought the OEM Voodoo rods, Pistons, pins, C clips and Rings for under $800 for my current motor in 2016. Trying to get to 13:1 is tricky if you want to keep the VCT. PTV clearance is much tighter in the Voodoo engine due to the 14mm lift cams and the domed pistons.
I'm afraid that even if you can get a custom piston to fit with larger dome that the flame front will be too compromised to make it worth the effort.

 

[AceOne]

Wow. Good on Ford for addressing the issue if true. May I ask how you were able to obtain this information? Can it be verified?

I do my best to get all info straight from the engineers or top engine builders. The piston clearances are from the engineer. Most manufactures are always making revisions to improve there products especially when they are pushing the limit on engine design and performance.The Voodoo is an awesome engine and produces high HP and high RPM and is pretty reliable in my opinion. I'm thrilled with my build but I did use the CPC crank due to it lower harmonic issues. Two seasons so far and still kicking butt! going to do a compression test soon just to see what its at. I did spend lots of time deburring the block and several other items to help ensure longevity for it. I ran a 125 shot of nitrous at the mile for 4th and 5th gears all the way to 8200 rpm in fifth to run 186.2 mph also so this motor has had some hard miles on it. She went 171.2 mph on motor only. Goal is 176 mph NA in March...maybe 180mph if I get my aero prep done too.

 

[nastang87xx]

I built basically the first 5.2XS motor right before SEMA 2016 ( all Voodoo internals except CPC crank and conversion cams) and have put 28K mile on it with at least a third of them being track miles.

So what you're saying is that the pistons and rods can take a pretty hard beating.

 

[honeybadger]

Will be pulling the pistons shortly, but here's a short video on the rotating assembly

 

[AceOne]

So what you're saying is that the pistons and rods can take a pretty hard beating.

So far...they have done well. The true XS motors use Manley Ha Beams rods,,,and I believe production Mahle pistons. The only issue I had with production rods was the connecting bolt is metric and ARP doesn't make replacements...so prices for the bolts from Ford were almost as much as the rods which came with the bolds. I now have a spare set of production rods from when I did my first teardown to have he crank balanced after SEMA :(

Here's a pic of 7 and 8 chambers after only 1000 miles. This is from the teardown to balance crank and to do a little head work. polished the chambers and lightly cleaned up the exhaust ports to help with heat control for rd racing it.
@honeybadger can compare to his.

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