Prodigy Performance 3.6 Turbo DIY Install

[JeepLab]

Hi All, and a happy new year.

its been really busy, I was suppose to give you an update after my stage 2 install, well this is how it all went:
I have installed the kit at the end of October, the install was a learning curve with a very high learning gradient, I went by the Prodigy install instructions, just mad some changes or actually one, which is the relief tank that I lifted up behind the fan shroud similar to what NOLA did.
after running the car softly for a brief time or lets say very brief time, I started my first logs which I set to prodigy and my custom tune came back and all was good.
little did I know that disaster was just around the corner, my engine broke!! and that was a real down time for me, but in a way I was happy to have found out that the turbo was not the cause, but it meant that all the fun had to stop until I can get my hands on a new block.
so everything came off again and when I got the new engine the install started all over again.
now everything is going well with regards to the full operation of the car and turbo.
im hoping to get some logs done so as to start fine tuning the car, and find out what boosts im getting.

will keep you posted

How did you break the block? Was it replaced under warranty?

[AGOM]

Well, it all began when for some reason while servecing the engine was overfilled, might be because of laps of attention to the quantity that was drained out.
I was using the car with no problems untill i installed the turbo, which ment now i was pushing the car and having fun with the extra boost - like any reasonable guy with a turbo jk would do- that in turn lead to excessivly high engin pressure which forced the excess oil to look for a way out.
After a wheeling in the dunes and pushing the car as we do normally i notices oil coming out from breathers engin manifold and even in the exhaust.
Followed by a lot of whit smoke and abnormal sound.
When they took it appart they found that 3 pistons where damaged with heavy signes of detonations, nearly all spark plugs where charred, a cracked head cylinger, and corroded crank shaft.
Also all my exhaust piping was full of oil.
They would not fix it under warrenty mainly because i installed the turbo, but we came to an agreement to share the coast since the oil change was not done properly, not sure how things work there, but for us warrenty will be hard to chase once you modify the car, and to have them repair it was not acceptable to me, i would never feel comfertable with the car.
It was painfull paying for a new engin but the idea of a fresh start was a bit more tempting.

Now iv been running with the turbo on the new engine for about a month and been noticing that somethings where not behaving as they should.
Here i would like to say thanks to UsslessPickles, i sent him my lates logs to have a second opinion and he pointed out some things that i overlooked when reading thru the logs.
I now have a knocking issue at some phases of my acceleration ' Retarded Knocking' and sent the Logs to Dan at Prodigy who is also been quick to identify what might the cause be, he thinks that the valve is not working properly and a replacment is on the way, im hopefull that it will solve the situation.
Also, may have been discussed before, the starting issues with the first start attempt failing or stalling and the second one goes thru the full auto crank start.
I recieved a tune for that, but as U.P mentioned to me that a little of throtle assistance will help and it dose.
But other than that im getting a max boost of 8.3 on 2nd gear and max of 8.5 on 3rd.
And the dunes have never been this fun before.. Lol

[UselessPickles]

Wow. I would not expect so much damage just from over-filling the oil.

Also, may have been discussed before, the starting issues with the first start attempt failing or stalling and the second one goes thru the full auto crank start.
I recieved a tune for that, but as U.P mentioned to me that a little of throtle assistance will help and it dose.l

Prodigy sent me a tune that completely fixed this issue for me. I no longer have to use throttle to help the engine start.

[AGOM]

It was over-filled by 3ltrs, I didn't feel much difference but when I started pushing the engine it was showing signs of hesitation followed by burnt oil smell, which I thought was coming from the manifold breather, and when I checked under the hood that little filter we fitted at the end of the driver side manifold had oil dripping from it, and that was another warning signe.

Maybe I should get another tune sent, the first one didn't fix that issue.

[gbaumann]

It was over-filled by 3ltrs, I didn't feel much difference but when I started pushing the engine it was showing signs of hesitation followed by burnt oil smell, which I thought was coming from the manifold breather, and when I checked under the hood that little filter we fitted at the end of the driver side manifold had oil dripping from it, and that was another warning signe.

Wow - so sorry to be reading this. How did they know the overfill was 3ltrs? Are they/you sure the A/F/R didn't lean out and cause detonation? This is important stuff. We learn tons from failures. Were you able to determine if the overfill put the rotating assembly in the oil? Did you get any trouble codes?

[AGOM]

From what i know the quantity of oil should be 6ltrs, when they drained it it have a little over 9ltrs, that was just from opening the pan, oile was also there in my exhaust all the way from headers till the catback.
I hade to have it all chemically washed.
And what was really confusing is that untill i took it for repair there was no codes, no check engine, nothing!!!
This is all based on the repair report that i was givin and talking to the mechanic.

[Timmy]

From what i know the quantity of oil should be 6ltrs, when they drained it it have a little over 9ltrs, that was just from opening the pan, oile was also there in my exhaust all the way from headers till the catback.
I hade to have it all chemically washed.
And what was really confusing is that untill i took it for repair there was no codes, no check engine, nothing!!!
This is all based on the repair report that i was givin and talking to the mechanic.

Dang, sorry to hear about all that. I overfilled the oil on my VW Passat one time (which had a tuned turbo in it) and had a similar experience. I used a new oil suction device to pull the oil out through the fill tube. Nice product, BUT, you have to get the oil heated up first to pull the oil out. Well, I used it for the first time and nothing was really coming out, I freaked out thinking my car wasn't running with any oil, so I like any dumb idiot in this circumstance, instead of questioning the new gizmo product I bought, I dumped more oil in. After less than a day, I realized, I just doubled the amount of oil in the engine. I promptly drained it using the old-school method (drain plug) and then re-filled, and the car worked without issue for tens of thousands of more miles.

Regarding Jeep not covering the engine cost. By law, they have to *prove* that your modification did the damage. If we didn't have this law, then technically they could drill a hole in your engine block, destroying the engine, and claim it was because of YOUR modifications that the engine failed and not THEIR drill hole through the engine block that cracked the thing in half. If memory serves, I believe this is call the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 that protects you and requires that they expend the time and effort to prove their claim (http://www.impalasuperstore.com/naisso/magmoss.htm)

[UselessPickles]

Regarding Jeep not covering the engine cost. By law, they have to *prove* that your modification did the damage. ... Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975

I don't think U.S. law applies to AGOM over in Oman

But I would be interested to hear if there's any kind of similar law/precedent over there.

[AGOM]

Your right, the laws here are different, if you mod the car out of the OEM spec then its your responsbility.
They claim that its due to the extra stress caused by the turbo that caused it, and that if it was a standard engin it would have not gotten that bad and all that would have been done is refilling with the correct amount of oil and thats it.
It all comes down to how much time im willing to loose to chase the issue, and where can i get an approved independant expert that has an idea of how involved the turbo is on a JK. Not sure how things go there, but here it could be a long process.
What i could have done is to have removed the turbo and then took it to them, but to me thats unethical and i would be cheating my self of knowing what went wrong, if it was the turbo that contributed to the growth of the issue than be it. I love my turbo its realy fun to drive.
Im just a little bit more carefull with whats going in and out of the car.
Its a fresh start for me now and im just focused on getting it right, and im fortunate that in this forum there is a lot of help as well as the support im getting from Prodigy.
my advise its less expensive to check your oil that to replace the engin... Lol

[Timmy]

I don't think U.S. law applies to AGOM over in Oman

But I would be interested to hear if there's any kind of similar law/precedent over there.

Ahh, I see, I didn't even check his profile to see that he was not in the U.S. Yes, that would make sense that the laws would be different. Sorry about that AGOM, I'm not used to checking to see if a JeepLab members is not based in the U.S.

That being said, it was a nice chance to whip out that little tid-bit for any U.S. owners that are concerned about how their mod would impact their warranty.