VK45 –Stage 1 Headers/JWT cams/TB/intake
- Thread starter Logan
- Start date
Slamming45
Member
YEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!! Badazz Lance, you must be a proud Papa.
Slamming45
Member
If I win a good scratch off this Christmas, I'm totally gonna show up at your door with gas $ for a ride, I wanna hear her in person soooo... bad!
So in keeping with the dark cloud of FX issues today I'll go public with the problem surrounding my build.
A week and a half ago I was on the dyno getting tuned, all was good. Engine came in incredibly lean (should be 12, it was 18). Under the Uprev initial tune process tuner ran it down to the safe zone and it was running better and better and had reached a pretty tight idle. Then bam, running at idle there was a noise. Not a good noise, the kind of noise that makes you say "son-of-a-bitch" softly under your breath.....
From what I understand a valve stem was pulled in half by the additional spring tension. Completely clean stem break, no bend, no manufacturing bubble or flaws near the break. Builder has shipped the valve pieces off to JWT to start the conversation of responsibility as the cams, springs and shims were dialed in for my engine based on their experience with VK's in M engines. When my guy broke the engine down he said everything was in place and torqued down correctly.......
Sound like there are a couple of VF scratches on the block, tech said he can easily hone them out. Overall the damage is not too bad BUT we still have to rebuild AND determine what the cause is so it does not happen again. PITA. Last good memory was looking at the tuner as he gave me a big grin and thumbs and said the numbers are going to be solid then the nasty sound of an engine with a ball bearing pinging around inside of it. Actually sounded a bit like broken glass....
So the venerable/bullet proof VK has been taken down. I'll report back when we know exactly what happened and what the issue is/was.
A week and a half ago I was on the dyno getting tuned, all was good. Engine came in incredibly lean (should be 12, it was 18). Under the Uprev initial tune process tuner ran it down to the safe zone and it was running better and better and had reached a pretty tight idle. Then bam, running at idle there was a noise. Not a good noise, the kind of noise that makes you say "son-of-a-bitch" softly under your breath.....
From what I understand a valve stem was pulled in half by the additional spring tension. Completely clean stem break, no bend, no manufacturing bubble or flaws near the break. Builder has shipped the valve pieces off to JWT to start the conversation of responsibility as the cams, springs and shims were dialed in for my engine based on their experience with VK's in M engines. When my guy broke the engine down he said everything was in place and torqued down correctly.......
Sound like there are a couple of VF scratches on the block, tech said he can easily hone them out. Overall the damage is not too bad BUT we still have to rebuild AND determine what the cause is so it does not happen again. PITA. Last good memory was looking at the tuner as he gave me a big grin and thumbs and said the numbers are going to be solid then the nasty sound of an engine with a ball bearing pinging around inside of it. Actually sounded a bit like broken glass....
So the venerable/bullet proof VK has been taken down. I'll report back when we know exactly what happened and what the issue is/was.
Last edited:
What's tomorrow?
No fear, A/F won't make a valve self destruct =)
---------- Post added at 10:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:48 PM ----------
Thanks for the kind thoughts gentlemen, I am still in the pursuit of this set-up. Really hoping that JWT (being the stand up dev company they are) stands behind the "why" if the cams/springs/shims were the issue.
Soooo close yet soooo far.......
Update -
My builder spent 45 minutes on the phone with Jim Wolf himself. Sounds like the determination is that the slight score on the valve stem was there for a long time, under microscopic examination it had oil baked into the very score seam (which according to Jim happens with mileage). The discussion boiled down to the guides being put in in while the engine was in the bay and it was a real stretch (Charles said a few times that it would have been easier if the engine had been pulled) he may have missed a guide or put in slightly out of alignment. That plus the scoring led to the premature failure of the valve not the springs/cams.
Jim said that the valve would have failed who knows when....he also said that it was better that it separated at idle and not under extreme load.
Could it have made it another 100K untouched? We will never know but it sounds like it is on Charles and myself to make this work. as of now I need a valve (only one now, he is checking the others to make sure they are good), a head, a cylinder head, rings and some gaskets. He found a low mileage head on E-bay...I am worried about used parts but he doesn't strike me as the guy to use anything less than top quality stuff. Anybody have these parts laying around?
Hah, I already know more than i want to about valves......
My builder spent 45 minutes on the phone with Jim Wolf himself. Sounds like the determination is that the slight score on the valve stem was there for a long time, under microscopic examination it had oil baked into the very score seam (which according to Jim happens with mileage). The discussion boiled down to the guides being put in in while the engine was in the bay and it was a real stretch (Charles said a few times that it would have been easier if the engine had been pulled) he may have missed a guide or put in slightly out of alignment. That plus the scoring led to the premature failure of the valve not the springs/cams.
Jim said that the valve would have failed who knows when....he also said that it was better that it separated at idle and not under extreme load.
Could it have made it another 100K untouched? We will never know but it sounds like it is on Charles and myself to make this work. as of now I need a valve (only one now, he is checking the others to make sure they are good), a head, a cylinder head, rings and some gaskets. He found a low mileage head on E-bay...I am worried about used parts but he doesn't strike me as the guy to use anything less than top quality stuff. Anybody have these parts laying around?
Hah, I already know more than i want to about valves......