Whipple Woes

[twold]

Need some advice from Whipple owners .

As you may remember I was not that happy with the power from my recently installed Whipple stage 1 .So I had my Stage 1 upgraded to Stage 2 this week and it has not been without issues.

The car repeatedly misfired badly nearing 6000 rpm and would go no higher,it also threw out a ton of smoke followed by an engine management warning light which went out after about 15 seconds.
Mike contacted Whipple who immediately said it was spark plug blowout and that the gap needed to be 0.28.The plugs don't come gapped apparently.
Mike very kindly let me go to his house as he is shut for xmas and he changed the gap.
I took it for a spin and that solved the misfire problem and she felt good,but it also again threw up the engine management light and it stayed on ,so I went back to Mike again.He read the error and it was p0420 (cats),he cleared it and I left.

This morning my wife took it out doing no more than 40mph and after a few minutes the same engine management light came on and has stayed on .I cleared it again at home,must say the cats smelled 'hot'.

Any ideas chaps as something is not right.

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[Centurion07]

The only whippled car on here that I know of is [MENTION=20104]666mac[/MENTION] so I wouldn't hold your breath. :(

Sucks when you can't easily get to the bottom of an issue.

Are you using Whipple's own tune?

 

[twold]

Yes it is the stock tune which was upgraded for the stage 2.
It is a shame as the performance is getting close to what I originally wanted.These Whipple installs are maybe not as turnkey as everyone suggests,least not in my case.Now if I could turn back time..........

 

[Centurion07]

Mac did say the Lund tune totally transformed his car but even so you shouldn't be experiencing any problems with Whipple's own.

 

[daltron]

That's not a good CEL to have. Did you burn or blow out part of your cats? The instructions clearly state the spark plug gapping.

 

[Gibbo205]

I think the Whipple has killed your cats buddy. :(

The stock cats are pretty shit, some fail after a few dyno runs if cooling is not good and going FI kills the stock cats for sure. You spark plug blow out would not help matters either! Also please tell me you fitted colder plugs and gapped them correctly? It is stated clearly in all FI situations to go one heat range colder and to gap the plugs at 0.28-0.32 why was this not done by the installer?

Mac's car might be a little different as he does not use it daily, it comes out once in a blue moon and since its being Whipped its yet to do 1000 miles and his plugs are colder and correctly gapped.

Also does Whipple tune disable cat protection? If it does that would kill them fast! But I doubt this!

But in short P0420 means your catalyst efficiency is down which either points too:
- Catalyst failure (go to Ford, see if they will action under warranty) DOUBTFUL but worth a try
- Whipple tune is too rich and setting of the 02 sensor
- An 02 sensor has failed on bank 1, there is one before and after cat.

You could load up Whipple flight control and enable the stuff like timing / knock retard, this will reduce timing/power which in theory would also reduce fuelling. Maybe worth a try but it will make it slower.

Other solutions:
- De-cats, chop out the catalyst and put in de-cat pipes. MAK cat deletes, but get them made in UK, any decent shop here should be able to do for £250-£500
- Kooks green catted headers - £2500
- Try warranty route!


Oh and of course get a Lund tune and programmer. But I am betting your cats have had it, sorry buddy. :(

 

[twold]

[MENTION=15475]daltron[/MENTION] ,The installer said their instructions did not mention plug gap,as for the cats breaking up I will have to get them looked at.

[MENTION=13598]Gibbo205[/MENTION]. A you know I am no mechanic so Mike will have to investigate sensors/ stuffed cats etc.Decatting is my last option as I prefer it legal and in 2 1/2 years time obviously necessary for MOT.

This is starting to become a bit of a nightmare for me and I am naturally having a bit of buyers remorse at present,although the car doesn't half go now which is good.I have even considered removing it all and going back to stock and selling the Whipple at a very great loss,but I know I would only start again with another go faster addon as it is a somewhat addictive game .

Still addicted to the Mustang though so that is not going anywhere.

 

[Manders Mustang]

[MENTION=15475]daltron[/MENTION] ,The installer said their instructions did not mention plug gap,as for the cats breaking up I will have to get them looked at.

[MENTION=13598]Gibbo205[/MENTION]. A you know I am no mechanic so Mike will have to investigate sensors/ stuffed cats etc.Decatting is my last option as I prefer it legal and in 2 1/2 years time obviously necessary for MOT.

This is starting to become a bit of a nightmare for me and I am naturally having a bit of buyers remorse at present,although the car doesn't half go now which is good.I have even considered removing it all and going back to stock and selling the Whipple at a very great loss,but I know I would only start again with another go faster addon as it is a somewhat addictive game .

Still addicted to the Mustang though so that is not going anywhere.

Wait, mike let it leave his shop without doing such things? bit of a mistake!?

Gibbos got most points nailed, Mac had to change a lot of other things (such as OPG) but i doubt that's got anything to do with the car shitting out smoke etc...

Hope it gets fixed buddy!

 

[Gibbo205]

[MENTION=15475]daltron[/MENTION] ,The installer said their instructions did not mention plug gap,as for the cats breaking up I will have to get them looked at.

[MENTION=13598]Gibbo205[/MENTION]. A you know I am no mechanic so Mike will have to investigate sensors/ stuffed cats etc.Decatting is my last option as I prefer it legal and in 2 1/2 years time obviously necessary for MOT.

This is starting to become a bit of a nightmare for me and I am naturally having a bit of buyers remorse at present,although the car doesn't half go now which is good.I have even considered removing it all and going back to stock and selling the Whipple at a very great loss,but I know I would only start again with another go faster addon as it is a somewhat addictive game .

Still addicted to the Mustang though so that is not going anywhere.

What you need to do:

- Install one heat range colder plugs if not already done so, though I am sure that Whipple insist on this!
- Set the gap at 0.28-0.32 if you plan to Lund tune ask them as they will specifically tell you what to gap at.
- Either try to get Ford to replace the cats or replace yourself or just get some RHD headers, but this is where Kooks come good, their green cats are top quality and hence the price. Cheap cats wont last long at all when running FI.
- Get it Lund tuned!

You won't look back, the smoke you witnessed was spark plug blow out and un-burnt oil and fuel getting in the exhaust, colder correctly gapped plugs will resolve that.

Also I assume the OPG and sprocket was done?

Yes some more expense but then it will be right and around 750-800BHP so it will be the fast you want.

Otherwise sell me your Whipple cheap!

 

[twold]

Wait, mike let it leave his shop without doing such things? bit of a mistake!?

Gibbos got most points nailed, Mac had to change a lot of other things (such as OPG) but i doubt that's got anything to do with the car shitting out smoke etc...

Hope it gets fixed buddy!

To be honest Mike is not at all ecstatic that the plugs were not gapped correctly by whoever did them and was only physically involved in part of the install anyway.He is definitely aware that this install has not been the greatest but I know he will keep on it until sorted.


Opg etc were changed at the same time

 

[twold]

What you need to do:

- Install one heat range colder plugs if not already done so, though I am sure that Whipple insist on this!
- Set the gap at 0.28-0.32 if you plan to Lund tune ask them as they will specifically tell you what to gap at.
- Either try to get Ford to replace the cats or replace yourself or just get some RHD headers, but this is where Kooks come good, their green cats are top quality and hence the price. Cheap cats wont last long at all when running FI.
- Get it Lund tuned!

You won't look back, the smoke you witnessed was spark plug blow out and un-burnt oil and fuel getting in the exhaust, colder correctly gapped plugs will resolve that.

Also I assume the OPG and sprocket was done?

Yes some more expense but then it will be right and around 750-800BHP so it will be the fast you want.

Otherwise sell me your Whipple cheap!

I thought you were now going single turbo?.

The plugs were supplied to Mike by Stage 3 along with the Whipple kit so I assume they sent the correct temperature ones?

I am certain I know what Ford will say regarding the cats as they have already warned me about my plans for supercharging,and have made it clear that they will be uninterested in anything connected to FI.

 

[slowhand99]

Solution could be that Mike sources you some headers with upgraded cats at a very reasonable rate (come on, you would have gone there anyway eventually ;)) and free fitting. Good luck, hope you get sorted. The rest of us live vicariously through the modding pioneers.

 

[daltron]

@daltron ,The installer said their instructions did not mention plug gap,as for the cats breaking up I will have to get them looked at.

The attached is straight from the Whipple instructions that are some 22 months old. I would be looking at installer error.

 

[Manders Mustang]

The attached is straight from the Whipple instructions that are some 22 months old. I would be looking at installer error.

I'd probably hedge towards that, which is a bit peculiar as I wouldn't expect Mike to have missed something like that? :shrug:

 

[twold]

The attached is straight from the Whipple instructions that are some 22 months old. I would be looking at installer error.

I will ask which plugs were used.
The spark gap appears to be an oversight unless our instructions in the UK are different to US ones.

Mike was fitting a Whipple to his car about the same time as mine and it has not been used/run since due to lack of time.Because of all this he checked his plug gap 2 days ago and they were all 0.37 also!,so I was not solely picked out for special treatment

Just for the record Mike and team have been great to deal with and Mike is one of the best communicators in any business I have dealt with,I get loads of updates on progress,calls/emails out of hours etc.He is very aware that things have not gone according to plan and is the type to lose sleep over this!

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