Be very careful where u fuel up!!

[tmac1337]

A few weeks ago I stopped at a Hess station at Bonita Beach Road and I-75 on the west coast and fueled up with 93 premium. Within a few minutes of driving across the Alley I noticed the car was running a little strange. Stupidily I goosed the car up to 110 mph once while traveling across and immediately felt a loss of power although the car was still running fine. At my house Zoltan (Cobra25) and I checked my plugs and we found the plug in the 8th cylinder had it's gap closed and would not fire. Obviously some combustion in the cylinder had closed the gap. A few days later I heard a very faint ticking sound. Today I had the engine examined and found that a small piece of my #8 piston had fractured. The good news is there is no other damage what-so-ever to my motor, block, or anything else.

My best suspicion is gas was the culprit or I was running lean under heavy load. Either way money and water under the bridge.

So needless to say I am taking this opportunity to proceed with a couple of upgrades.......but that is a secret........and if I told you all it would not be a secret anymore:neener:

Some good advice for those of you with blowers.....be particular about where u gas up and if you think you have a bad tank or are running lean, don't goose it!

[DEFYANT]

Sorry to hear about this. Now you have a good excuse to upgrade.

I only use Sunoco 93 (if available) or better.

Gas stations need to be scouted out between here and Florida. I'll get right on it.

[HwyCruiser]

That just sucks Tim. :(

I wouldn't be suprised with as much dyno testing and tuning your car has had done to it and how hard you beat on it yourself that a dose of bad gas just didn't finally punch you're #8's ticket, but I'm still bummed to hear the consequences. I feel for you brother (while I count my blessings).

Good luck with the "big mod".

[03MERCMARAUDER]

Sorry to here your bad luck man. But at least now you have an excuse to build it better. At least you guys get 93, all I can get is crappy 91 here in the midwest, what about you Hwycruiser? You guys have 93 in KC???

Joe

[tmac1337]

Thanks for the commiserating guys, but as we all know modding these things is a hobby, and a fun one at that!

I have been thinking of doing some more modding for a while now, and this just plain makes sense to me. I have had a lot of fun talking and PMing very knowledgeable people on other boards who are experts in the go fast business.

Thats why I tell people about the "true costs" of modding a car or putting a blower on. Who knows what the future holds and a lot of us mod beyond the blower. There are a lot of fast MM's on this board and unless you have a realization of what has been spent to get there, a newbie might think it was just a kit. Real costs would widen some eyes I'm sure.....I know mine are wide now but I know what I'm in for and enjoy all of it.

So watch out what fuel you use when cruising on the jagged edge!

[tmac1337]

Good luck with the "big mod".

Hope your coming to Orlando this winter for the event JD. Looking forward to meeting you. I've got some widened rims too and we'll have to represent with MarauderTJA.

[MI2QWK4U]

A few weeks ago I stopped at a Hess station at Bonita Beach Road and I-75 on the west coast and fueled up with 93 premium. Within a few minutes of driving across the Alley I noticed the car was running a little strange. Stupidily I goosed the car up to 110 mph once while traveling across and immediately felt a loss of power although the car was still running fine. At my house Zoltan (Cobra25) and I checked my plugs and we found the plug in the 8th cylinder had it's gap closed and would not fire. Obviously some combustion in the cylinder had closed the gap. A few days later I heard a very faint ticking sound. Today I had the engine examined and found that a small piece of my #8 piston had fractured. The good news is there is no other damage what-so-ever to my motor, block, or anything else.

My best suspicion is gas was the culprit or I was running lean under heavy load. Either way money and water under the bridge.

So needless to say I am taking this opportunity to proceed with a couple of upgrades.......but that is a secret........and if I told you all it would not be a secret anymore:neener:

Some good advice for those of you with blowers.....be particular about where u gas up and if you think you have a bad tank or are running lean, don't goose it!



Did it spark knock at all? If the gas was bad or not advertised octane it should have spark knocked as a warning. One time when Mike and I were going to Norwalk for either a smackdown or Fun Ford Weekend I pulled into a Sunoco station on the service drive before hoping onto the freeway to meet up with Mike. I only put in maybe half a tank, but my tank was near empty, maybe 15 miles driven after the fuel light came on. Like I said, just about half a tank of posted 94 octane. I pulled out onto the service drive and didnt notice anything. The on ramp was about 1/2 a mile down the service drive, just enough time to start sucking down the new gas. As soon as I tipped into it to jump up to freeway speed, I could hear the telltail sound of bad spark knock. Lidio made sure to point out what spark knock sounds like when we were test driving my car for tuning purposes that year. Once I got to crusing speed slowly, the knock went away. So basically I drove to norwalk with Mike with no sudden accelerations. Once we got to Norwalk, the tank was empty again, I mean bone dry. I then added my 100 octane race gas and there was no sign of the knocking. So I was curious to know if you heard any spark knock before it got damaged? Have you contacted the gas station about this? The first call I made when I got back from that Norwalk trip was to contact the Michigan Dept of Agriculture, who monitors fuel quality. I provided them a scan of my reciept, which showed time, date and pump. They tested the gas....87 octane. They were fined, my money refunded for the gas. There may be a course of action you can take against this gas station. Here is an excerpt from our states website about gas quality:


Consumers have a lot at stake when they pull up to a gasoline pump. The average family sedan costs $22,000 and uses over 750 gallons of gasoline each year. Just one purchase of poor quality gasoline could result in thousands of dollars of damage or premature engine wear to the consumer's vehicle. Increased fuel prices make gasoline fraud a more lucrative proposition for the unscrupulous gasoline marketer. Gasoline fraud also negatively impacts industry by creating an unlevel playing field.

Last year, MDA inspectors tested the quality in gasoline at more than 3,000 of the state's approximately 5,200 retail establishments. Many of these tests were performed in response to a consumer's complaint.

If you believe you received adulterated fuel or an incorrect amount, please call 1-800-MDA-FUEL (1-800-632-3835) -- required to be posted on every gasoline pump -- to file a complaint.

The inspector told me that if the bad gas had caused mechanical problems, the station would be held liable for the repairs.

[HwyCruiser]

Sorry to here your bad luck man. But at least now you have an excuse to build it better. At least you guys get 93, all I can get is crappy 91 here in the midwest, what about you Hwycruiser? You guys have 93 in KC???

Joe

Best we get up here is BP/Amoco Gold 92 octane.

Until they switch off the winter blends I've been mixing 30% Citgo 100 octane unleaded and 70% BP/Amoco Gold 92 (94 octane mixed) just to play safe. I wish we had Sunoco Ultra 94 around here because mixing race gas at the local novelty pump isn't cheap.

[DEFYANT]

Dave,

Thanks for the heads up. Is there a web site that shows stations that have received complaints and/or sustained fuel fraud investigations?

[HwyCruiser]

Hope your coming to Orlando this winter for the event JD. Looking forward to meeting you. I've got some widened rims too and we'll have to represent with MarauderTJA.

Because of the distance I'm debating on whether to drive or trailer the MM down, but one way or the other I'm there dude. You built motor guys are going to have to take it easy on me though, lol. :D

[tmac1337]

Dave, thanks for that information. I did not consider it at the time but after reading what you have posted I would contact a State organization in the future.

After I felt the car was running like crap and had lost power after a pull, I began mixing in other gas along the way, but too late. Usually when I test out new tunes I turn off the radio and pay particular attention/listening for spark knock. I did not do that this time. I did notice a difference in how the car was running within 10 minutes after filling up. I should not have goosed it, which was my stupidity, and immediately felt the difference when the plug in #8 would no longer fire. If the gas had water in it or who knows it obviously caused a combustion problem. If it had merely been 87 octane, which might have happened, I hope I would have heard all the pinging.

[tmac1337]

Because of the distance I'm debating on whether to drive or trailer the MM down, but one way or the other I'm there dude. You built motor guys are going to have to take it easy on me though, lol. :D

Huuupppppp.....stop right there.......modding is like fine wine.......disclosed fully in do time. Remind me to send you a disclosure form.

Forging a motor does not in itself give you more power, its the others things it allows you to do..........;)

[snowbird]

Tim,

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. :(

While most of us do know about the risks, we shure hate to be reminded this way.

If there is one good thing about this though, you have the luck to live in an area filled with good shops. That will help for the rebuid.

[Marauderjack]

I have posted this before.....

I use a solid "Fuel Additive" (pill form) that is currently being sold in parts of the world where gas is typically 80-85 octane and it will increase octane to 87-89 depending on where you start!!:beer:

I have used it in my Cobra and now the Marauder for 2 years for insurance against just what occurred here!!:shake:

If anyone is interested in it just for emergencies please PM me and I will give you "The rest of the story".......;)

Marauderjack:burnout:

[Rider90]

Sorry to hear about this Tim, but I also look forward to hearing about the new project :D Good luck with it!

[Zack]

If only a fragment of the piston came off and the car runs fine with a new plug, I would leave it alone. Seriously.

[shakes_26]

Tim,

Sorry to hear about the misfortune. When you get the piston 'replaced' I'd be interested in seeing some photos of it, and even the others. Curious to see how the stock pistons look after all the dyno pulls and use you've put on them.

Good luck with your project.

[Smokie]

I tend to concurr with Zack, you said small fragment, can you give us approximate size??? Can you see on the piston the actual area were fragment came from??? Have you done a compression check on #8??? and compare it to lets say #7.

If you lost a tiny fragment of the piston skirt and your cylinder wall and valve seats are undamaged....why mess with it???

[MarauderTJA]

We had a record cold snap during the time of Tim's misfortune as well. An empty/low tank in cold weather over night and then warming up during the day can also create considerable condensation in the tank. Bad gas, condensation and any water can spell disaster for any motor, blown or not. When the colder weather hits I always add a can or two of dry gas as a precaution. Years ago I lost a motor in a Mustang from bad gas from water in the gas station tank when I was living in Mass. Even here in Florida, colder weather can have negative circumstances. Best of luck with your rebuild Tim.:up:

[O's Fan Rich]

Would this be a situation where methenol injection could have covered over the defiency of the fuel?
Not to hi-jack....

[magindat]

BP gas? Used to be amoco.
Been using it for years. They still sell the Amoco Ultimate clear gas. It has always been very consistant and is the only gas in the country with a separate delivery channel (or so they advertise).
FWIW...

[MarauderTJA]

Would this be a situation where methenol injection could have covered over the defiency of the fuel?
Not to hi-jack....

Negative. Would probably made it worse. Meth Injection cools the intake charge making for more power with boost.

[snowbird]

Negative. Would probably made it worse. Meth Injection cools the intake charge making for more power with boost.

If i could respectfully add, I'd say this would need an elaborate answer as both of you could be right or wrong, depending on the Meth setup and triggering. Pm me if you feel for it as i don't want to highjack Tim's tread.

[tmac1337]

If only a fragment of the piston came off and the car runs fine with a new plug, I would leave it alone. Seriously.

I could have just replaced the piston after I was into it anyway but I have this project fully planned out and underway........so here goes it!

[tmac1337]

Tim,

Sorry to hear about the misfortune. When you get the piston 'replaced' I'd be interested in seeing some photos of it, and even the others. Curious to see how the stock pistons look after all the dyno pulls and use you've put on them.

Good luck with your project.

Deleted due to the crap being talked behind the scenes like "Slowcharger".

[tmac1337]

I tend to concurr with Zack, you said small fragment, can you give us approximate size??? Can you see on the piston the actual area were fragment came from??? Have you done a compression check on #8??? and compare it to lets say #7.

If you lost a tiny fragment of the piston skirt and your cylinder wall and valve seats are undamaged....why mess with it???

Sorry, deleted due to behind the scenes BS by T owners. I'll keep my business to myself in the future. No offense to you smokie.

[shakes_26]

......................pm sent








Deleted due to the crap being talked behind the scenes like "Slowcharger".

[greggash]

BP gas? Used to be amoco.
Been using it for years. They still sell the Amoco Ultimate clear gas. It has always been very consistant and is the only gas in the country with a separate delivery channel (or so they advertise).
FWIW...

I always go to the same BP station.
BUT this last tank was not the usual blend, it looked a little yellowish
and it pinged, so I went thru it slowly.

[Smokie]

Sorry, deleted due to behind the scenes BS by T owners. I'll keep my business to myself in the future. No offense to you smokie.

I don't know what went down, I'm not offended. Just sick and tired of the politics....if one of our members shares with us what went wrong and as a result he is ridiculed; NOBODY eventually will say abolutely anything negative about any product purchased from a vendor....nobody will ever share a negative experience.

We are all going to just post about how perfect everything is, nothing ever goes wrong. "My car is perfect because I bought the perfect product"....eventually this car club will become a worthless source of information 'cause nobody got's the gonads to say "something went wrong" why risk the ridicule and back stabbing???.....yeah I'm angry.

[Cobra25]

Deleted due to the crap being talked behind the scenes like "Slowcharger". Tim the S/C Crap never seams to stop.

[SergntMac]

Tim...Best wishes in your new build, sorry about any flack you have taken here. Some folks have no class at all.

If at all possible, please check the connecting rods for stretch as they come out of the engine. I ask because of your mention of a closed gap on plug #8. If the sliver off the piston top did't cause this, a stretched rod would. It would be helpful to define the difference. Nonetheless, I would understand if you didn't want to say anything more at all.

Again, my best wishes on the rebuild. I know it's going to open up new territories for you.

[MikesMerc]

Sorry to hear of the damage. But, looks like you are well under way to turning a bad situation into something good. I look forward to the details of your new set up....when you're ready to share that is;)

This is indeed a good lesson to all blower car owners, watch the gas. Although I do not run a conservative tune day to day, I do have a flip chip with a bad gas setting. If I even suspect for a minute I have a bad tank, I flip it to "bad gas" mode until the tank is gone.

For most folks without a flip chip, a more conservative daily tune can save your car on a bad tank. If you want an aggressive tune, I recommend a flip chip, or PCM flasher. Just my 2 cents (and I am not saying this applied to you Tim...I know all to well that sometimes **** happens).

BTW, Tim, if you'd care to share with me via PM who is starting crap, I'd be more than happy to help put it to rest. A little heated debate on the boards is one thing, but crapping on someone who lost a motor is never justfied.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[tmac1337]

This is a "Slowcharger" issue and not about my motor. Enough said.

[minni-mo]

I live ne of kc and have always used bp 92 religosly
until recently when they had problems keeping gas in ther tanks. didnt want to suck the bottom so i was forced to go across the street to shell wich is 91 and it has incresed my gas milage by 2 points and i think the car runs beter seems to be more responcive any one else run shell? where are you in kc hwycruiser

[HwyCruiser]

I live ne of kc and have always used bp 92 religosly
until recently when they had problems keeping gas in ther tanks. didnt want to suck the bottom so i was forced to go across the street to shell wich is 91 and it has incresed my gas milage by 2 points and i think the car runs beter seems to be more responcive any one else run shell? where are you in kc hwycruiser

Hi minni-mo!

I'm in north OP. Check out www.kc-mustangs.com for meets and cruises with the local pony club. They're Marauder friendly. :)

[minni-mo]

thank you cruiser ill do that i am 25mi east of cameron i hope to meet up with you sometime i thought i had the only one around dont see them very often

[shakes_26]

BTW, Tim, if you'd care to share with me via PM who is starting crap, I'd be more than happy to help put it to rest. A little heated debate on the boards is one thing, but crapping on someone who lost a motor is never justfied.

Good luck and keep us posted!
Mike,

No one made a peep about Tim's situation, save for sympathies and the like. Its unfortunate and I think everyone here agrees no matter who hates who they never wish anything like this on anyone..well maybe ricers.

Tim refers to a comment I (yes me the evil one) made in a Private Message to MarauderMarc (the only recipient I sent it to). You see MarauderMarc asked me to help install the Procharger kit he bought used from TooMany Fords onto MarauderMarc's car. In my reply, to bust his chops, I asked him which Slowcharger he bought. I'll leave out the smiley faces and what not I added to make sure the sarcasm/kidding was clear. At this point, Tim is still not involved nor is anyone else. See Private messages allow a buddy to bust anothers b@llz without offending others. I've helped MarauderMarc out several times, consider him a friend, thats what friends do, they ride each other, dump truckloads of pooh on each other, etc.

I later replied, in a seperate PM, to MarauderMarc that I really think he should have it professionally installed, since it was a used kit, I'm not so familiar with installing it, and honestly not equipped if things are missing, wrong, etc. Basically I didn't feel comfortable installing a used High Performance product on someone elses car. God forbid something might happen, I'd feel like dirt.

UP to here, no one but me and MarauderMarc involved.

Today I get a notice from Greg, upset about comments I made, and such not, WTH? Then I see Tim's reference posted up a few lines ago. I contact MarauderMarc, a few exchanges back and forth. In any case I guess he was upset at my response and vented, maybe not real accurately, to Tim.

So by the time this all got to Tim it was understood as something like " I (shakes26) wont install a Slowcharger on MarauderMarc's car". Understandably Tim and Greg took offense to this and reacted. I can't blame them, and Greg did contact me directly.

Only problem was the above statement was never made, and secondly any comments made were in a Private Message, not a Public forum. Unfortunately the insinuations, inferences, and conclusions being drawn were all BS, and so in the interest of all, I decided to lay it out for all to see.

Logan, Mary, Dave, MM.net, sorry for the ugliness but the record needed to be set straight.

[JMan]

Mike,

No one made a peep about Tim's situation, save for sympathies and the like. Its unfortunate and I think everyone here agrees no matter who hates who they never wish anything like this on anyone..well maybe ricers.

Tim refers to a comment I (yes me the evil one) made in a Private Message to MarauderMarc (the only recipient I sent it to). You see MarauderMarc asked me to help install the Procharger kit he bought used from TooMany Fords onto MarauderMarc's car. In my reply, to bust his chops, I asked him which Slowcharger he bought. I'll leave out the smiley faces and what not I added to make sure the sarcasm/kidding was clear. At this point, Tim is still not involved nor is anyone else. See Private messages allow a buddy to bust anothers b@llz without offending others. I've helped MarauderMarc out several times, consider him a friend, thats what friends do, they ride each other, dump truckloads of pooh on each other, etc.

I later replied, in a seperate PM, to MarauderMarc that I really think he should have it professionally installed, since it was a used kit, I'm not so familiar with installing it, and honestly not equipped if things are missing, wrong, etc. Basically I didn't feel comfortable installing a used High Performance product on someone elses car. God forbid something might happen, I'd feel like dirt.

UP to here, no one but me and MarauderMarc involved.

Today I get a notice from Greg, upset about comments I made, and such not, WTH? Then I see Tim's reference posted up a few lines ago. I contact MarauderMarc, a few exchanges back and forth. In any case I guess he was upset at my response and vented, maybe not real accurately, to Tim.

So by the time this all got to Tim it was understood as something like " I (shakes26) wont install a Slowcharger on MarauderMarc's car". Understandably Tim and Greg took offense to this and reacted. I can't blame them, and Greg did contact me directly.

Only problem was the above statement was never made, and secondly any comments made were in a Private Message, not a Public forum. Unfortunately the insinuations, inferences, and conclusions being drawn were all BS, and so in the interest of all, I decided to lay it out for all to see.

Logan, Mary, Dave, MM.net, sorry for the ugliness but the record needed to be set straight.

Way to clear the air! It takes a real, genuine man to step up and admit something he said, even though it was taken out of context and was originally a private stab at a buddy, was wrong. Great Job! You have my respect always.

Bravo Shakes,

J

[wsmylie]

Way to clear the air! It takes a real, genuine man to step up and admit something he said, even though it was taken out of context and was originally a private stab at a buddy, was wrong. Great Job! You have my respect always.

Bravo Shakes,

J I concur Marc, although I'm not sure that a smart remark made purely in jest privately to a buddy is really "wrong". You're a stand-up guy my friend.:D Oh, and Tim, truely sorry to hear about your car trouble buddy.

[MarauderMarc]

I will say that some things were taken the wrong way. I had some responsibility for this evolving the way it did. I feel like complete ***** and still do. Shakes has always been a friend to me and for me to think he was bashing me is absurd. So now I have come to the conclusion that it takes a hit like this sometimes to learn a good lesson. To those I have offended, I am sorry. I dont deserve any slack. In the future I will work on being less defensive and look at the big picture before I jump to conclusions.

I did get a nice dose of the Supercharger politics and all I can say is that it is ridiculous. For grown adults to fight and bicker over a power adder is lame. We all drive MMs and have our individual tastes. Its our right as Americans. We should not be judged for being ourselves.

As far as I am concerned, it is over with. I have made my peace with those who were effected. If anyone feels that they were missed, or need more input, PM me.

[HwyCruiser]

Boy, did this thread take a few turns. It seems like it's pretty easy to kick the dander up around here when talking about superchargers. From the look of it, some comments were just given and/or taken a little sideways. I just hope this is water under the bridge between you guys.

Marc, congrats on soon becoming a proud FIT owner. I know TMF wouldn't sell his kit if it wasn't in excellent condition. If you need a copy of the install manual to look over while you're waiting let me know.

FWIW, you might think about overdriving your stock pump with a BAP and use a 380 pulley (about 8 psi) and grow into more boost with a higher volume pump down the road. Definitely have Scott dyno it to make sure everything looks OK if you try it. With the mods you already have she'd be pretty darn quick even with the bigger pulley. The hardest part of the install is swapping out the fuel pump that comes with a new kit.

I'm sure MarauderJack would help coach you through the more technical parts since he put his kit in himself. If there's anything I can do to help out just let me know. The best thing you've got going for you is having access to the master tuner down there in Fl.

Good luck, and I know your going to love it.

[arco]

Thanks for the thread.
superlosers,.... get over it!:help:

[JMan]

Thanks for the thread.
superlosers,.... get over it!:help:

tRo11 a13RT :mad2: Oops, is that you Brad? What's the beef?

J

[JMan]

I will say that some things were taken the wrong way. I had some responsibility for this evolving the way it did. I feel like complete ***** and still do. Shakes has always been a friend to me and for me to think he was bashing me is absurd. So now I have come to the conclusion that it takes a hit like this sometimes to learn a good lesson. To those I have offended, I am sorry. I dont deserve any slack. In the future I will work on being less defensive and look at the big picture before I jump to conclusions.

I did get a nice dose of the Supercharger politics and all I can say is that it is ridiculous. For grown adults to fight and bicker over a power adder is lame. We all drive MMs and have our individual tastes. Its our right as Americans. We should not be judged for being ourselves.

As far as I am concerned, it is over with. I have made my peace with those who were effected. If anyone feels that they were missed, or need more input, PM me.

Marc,
Even if you are part monkey (Hey, we got pictures!), way to man up! If I had the chance to buy a used S/C of any type, I'd give it great consideration over my choice of a new one. Simple as 'dat!

Good luck bro',

J

P.S. Still got that air box?

[MarauderMarc]

Thanks for the thread.
superlosers,.... get over it!:help:

Who the hell are you Mr. 17 posts? I believe you dont really know the big picture so...um....beat it.:bop:

[Cobra25]

Who the hell are you Mr. 17 posts? I believe you dont really know the big picture so...um....beat it.:bop: Click on his name ( Profile) and read his posts . You should get a good idea who it is. Glad to see you two were able to air your differences & work things out.

[TooManyFords]

Marc, PM me your email addy and I'll forward the PDF of my manual to you.

If you were at all worried about the install, I've made arrangements with my shop buddy to do the install on your car if you want to drive it up to Iowa. We'd be happy to do it in an afternoon and send you on your way. We'd cut you a rellly good deal on it too. Just want you to be happy and confident.

I'm out terrorizing the locals again until I pull it off. And boy is it fun!

Cheers!

John

[arco]

No offence to anyone who was following/contributing to the thread.
Just had enough of the negetivity.
This is my other identity.:P
tRo11 a13RT :mad2: Oops, is that you Brad? What's the beef?

J

[arco]

No offence to anyone who was following/contributing to the thread.
Just had enough of the negetivity.
This is my other identity.:P
tRo11 a13RT :mad2: Oops, is that you Brad? What's the beef?

J