Why do our engines blow up?

[steven88]

Okay guys...I originally purchased this car to do bolt ons and tuning...and keep the stock turbo...I never planned on going big turbo or even exhaust manifold w/EWG for that matter....just your avg enthusiast with 2 grand to spend on bolt ons....but now I am having second thoughts on continuing with the speed 3

Theres just too many threads that I've seen with people blowing their engines...whether its stock or highly modified...this can't be normal, can it? I understand Mazda designed this engine to be at 263/280...but come on now...some people are blowing from just an intake and bov....whats up with that? Is our engines that weak? Bad tuning from the factory? Bad PCV valve?

So I'm in a dilemma here...I love my car to death...its given me no problems what so ever...not even a single rattle from the dash....and I love the power and the way it handles...but I'm just seriously concerned about the engine blowing....and when it does, I have a feeling mazda will not cover it under warranty...heard too many stories about warranty claims being denied...I just feel like parting out and getting another platform....even though I will lose money on depreciation on my ms3...its definitely going to save me in the long run because a new engine for the ms3 will be hella $$$$

What should I do guys? Keep the MS3 and not worry? Or EVO X? 370Z? haha

[glocK23]

Why blame the factory tune? I'm running a full catless downpipe and full cp-e 3" intake/inlet at over 24,000 miles and I haven't had a single problem with the stock intake and fuel pump. None whatsoever.

[devils10]

i heard ouw rods are ridiculosuly weak

[flyrevs2]

Originally Posted by devils10 i heard ouw rods are ridiculosuly weak

I heard a bunch of speculation regarding this but nothing concrete. Cox racing has examined them and feels they will hold 500 hp on a properly tuned motor. He builds lots of 4 cylinder motors with 500+ whp so he should know what he is talking about.

Where did you get your information about the weak rods?

[Matrix311]

Originally Posted by glocK23 Why blame the factory tune? I'm running a full catless downpipe and full cp-e 3" intake/inlet at over 24,000 miles and I haven't had a single problem with the stock intake and fuel pump. None whatsoever.

i'm exactly like this guy. See my mod list in my signature. I've had all these mods installed including beta tunes with the Cobb AP for almost 30,000 miles installed on my car and not a single problem. My fuel pump is just as strong as it needs to be. I can be WOT and it will never dip below 1600psi.

[ms3jake]

This is why I went back to pretty much stock. I left my cobb sri in since I can swap that out in a 1/2 hour. I also left my short shifter in because I like it and shouldnt cause warranty issues. When I hit around 50k my powertrain warranty will almost be up and I will be upgrading. I have been having more fun than ever with my car being stock and not constantly worrying about blowing something up and not being covered. The MS3 is a fun car and a good value but not the best platform for my goals. I'm thinking 135i or EVO X or go V8 and get the Camaro ss. No more front drive!

[N118GT]

IMO, the number of blown engines really gets "blown" out of proportion. How many people here have blown vs. not blown. Then consider that the people who blow are the ones who start bitching and raising hell, while there's a ton of people who have their cars modded that aren't a part of any online community.

Just my $.02

seriously dude, dont live ur life in fear! if u love the car take a chance. The way you drive and the way people who also blew are completly diff. no situation is exactly alike. No car is exactly alike. Im fully bolted and put down 315 whp 340tq and my car rans great and i have 0 fear of anythign blowing up. im evin thinking trying Big turbo now on stock internals for the test and im not even thinking blowing up at all. just take care of your car. dont beat on it. keep your hard runs for tuning or racing not everyday driving. and deff get meth. meth i think will save you.

[trickytwelveinch]

When it comes to blow engines it's directly related to the owner and what they do to the poor car- not the car nor the mods.

Like someone said, there's plenty of people out there that don't belong to online forums who are heavily modded or aren't and their car runs like a champ.

[Target:STi]

Originally Posted by trickytwelveinch When it comes to blow engines it's directly related to the owner and what they do to the poor car- not the car nor the mods. Like someone said, there's plenty of people out there that don't belong to online forums who are heavily modded or aren't and their car runs like a champ.

i would disagree with this. its not always the owners fault, in this cars case i think it has more to do with poor engineering. no one knows why they pop, probably because its not one thing. is it the part throttle tune? is it the weak rods? is it the knocking? is it the oiling? is it the massive amounts of low end torque? is it the pcv system? the answer is yes, it is all those things. and probably more.

everyone uses the new wrx as a comparison, but at least theyve figured out whats wrong.

as for the second part of your post, i would be willing to bet most people who are heavily modified would frequent these forums, because they are for enthusiasts.

i would bet there are a ton more stock motors that have popped that we havent heard about vs modified motors that have popped that we havent heard about.

yes, of course there are more motors currently running fine vs motors that have popped. if it were the other way around you could bet there would be a lawsuit pending. that doesnt make it not a big deal though. if you mod this engine at all, youre rolling the dice. plain and simple. if it wasnt a big deal, we wouldnt be having these discussions every week.

[myspeedy07]

I have owned some decent performace cars in the past and I never went on forums unless I had issues and looked for solutions. That is why you see so many blown threads. People look online as to why it happened and if it can be prevented in the future by asking the owners of the cars on the forums.

[Ghost Rider]

i have said it before and i will say it again. When I first got my wrx I was all gung ho about modding it. then I started going on forums and reading about people popping their engines left and right just with stage 2 (tuned and tbe) and I started freaking out. then I started hearing about people blowing their trannys and I started freaking out. But then I started going to meets and meeting people pushing 350whp on stock blocks and trannys and I started to realize that it was nowhere near the problem it seemed to be on the interwebs.

all cars stand a chance of blowing when modded. all cars stand a chance of blowing stock; it is reality. I know people with EVOs who blew stock, I know people with mustangs who blew stock. it happens

[darth vader]

Everything has issues....nothing is free of problems and 99% of blowups are owner-induced, imho.

It's a human mental characteristic to be pattern seekers. Our minds have sought to establish patterns since pre-hominid times so, we can pick out the the thing that doesn't fit, i.e. the tiger in the grass. This, however, leads us to severe attributional errors that the internet just encourages.

Cars can break, any human-manufactured device can fail. All you can do is mod reasonably and intelligently and take good care of the car. I think you're likely to have nothing but enjoyment that way.

[Scatt Nasty]

this thread is pure fail pep-rally.

you guys know stock speed 3's blow, you know lightly modded speed 3's blow.

Here's a smart suggestion !

Strap a BT on there and increase your chances !@!!!@@##!@

If you can't afford a new engine, don't blow yours.

If you can afford a new engine, forge your motor now and save yourself the 200 yard strip of oil in the road.

It's smarter to forge a complete engine, then buy a new stock one and be back to square one.

[bf360]

Originally Posted by Scatt Nasty this thread is pure fail pep-rally. you guys know stock speed 3's blow, you know lightly modded speed 3's blow. Here's a smart suggestion ! Strap a BT on there and increase your chances !@!!!@@##!@ If you can't afford a new engine, don't blow yours. If you can afford a new engine, forge your motor now and save yourself the 200 yard strip of oil in the road. It's smarter to forge a complete engine, then buy a new stock one and be back to square one.

have to argue against this one

What 35r cars have blown up besides the ones that boosted 30+psi?

Hp has very little to do with why this car is blowing, when you have stock cars blowing and slightly modded cars blowing how is it a hp issue.

a big turbo i think is safer than the stock motor, you cant make enough power to warrant building your motor, we have a wall at roughly 350whp that has to do with fueling

[Scatt Nasty]

Originally Posted by bf360 have to argue against this one What 35r cars have blown up besides the ones that boosted 30+psi? Hp has very little to do with why this car is blowing, when you have stock cars blowing and slightly modded cars blowing how is it a hp issue. a big turbo i think is safer than the stock motor, you cant make enough power to warrant building your motor, we have a wall at roughly 350whp that has to do with fueling

So you are telling people that putting a big turbo on your speed 3 with stock internals is SAFER than running the stock turbo ?

wow. I will NOT be next in line to put a 3076 on my speed. thx.

You can always remember the fact the thousands you put into this car will only yield you 350whp when on any other car you would be in the 500's.

Or you could run stock turbo and make 320whp and save those thousands for the time when a BIG turbo will give you BIG gains.

[skeeter149]

i am keeping the crap outta the car its too much fun! screw fear about blowing, its like will you stop having sex cause ten people online in random city and states got aids? no you just do all you can to protect yourself and keep pumping.(damn i use the weirdest analogies)

Originally Posted by skeeter149 i am keeping the crap outta the car its too much fun! screw fear about blowing, its like will you stop having sex cause ten people online in random city and states got aids? no you just do all you can to protect yourself and keep pumping.(damn i use the weirdest analogies)

Thats about the best dam analogie i have hurd all year. You score 10 points

[glocK23]

Originally Posted by skeeter149 i am keeping the crap outta the car its too much fun! screw fear about blowing, its like will you stop having sex cause ten people online in random city and states got aids? no you just do all you can to protect yourself and keep pumping.(damn i use the weirdest analogies)

Weird yes, but makes perfect sense.

Wear condoms plz.

So now it's knock that's causing motors to blow? I find that hard to believe. I used to get knock at stock levels, when the car had little miles, now I'm over 24K and haven't blown. How long does it take for knock to cause engine fatigue? Some people have blown with 3K miles , why is it taking so long for mine to blow?

Blah. Epic blah.

EVO's with no blown motors? STI's? What about Nissans?

What about the guys who got AP's and SB's very soon on their new MS3's and blown? They tuned to have no knock, yet some have had engine failures...

[trickytwelveinch]

Originally Posted by glocK23 Weird yes, but makes perfect sense. Wear condoms plz. So now it's knock that's causing motors to blow? I find that hard to believe. I used to get knock at stock levels, when the car had little miles, now I'm over 24K and haven't blown. How long does it take for knock to cause engine fatigue? Some people have blown with 3K miles , why is it taking so long for mine to blow? Blah. Epic blah. EVO's with no blown motors? STI's? What about Nissans? What about the guys who got AP's and SB's very soon on their new MS3's and blown? They tuned to have no knock, yet some have had engine failures...

It's not knock bro it's the 5HP ricer decals..... I keep telling everyone but no one ever listens.

[darth vader]

2009 WRX engine failure VIN/build date owner list - NASIOC

EVERYTHING has problems, at least potentially. Look above, that's over 80 engine failures documented on this one site. Do Subarus have a rep for unreliability? Of course not.

Nobody sensible bitches when their 20+ year old beat-on 5.0 gives up the ghost but, when they buy a new car, they expect it to be immune from problems. I'm as guilty as the next guy. I tried for 13 years to blow up my 88 5.0 with every power adder in creation. I just sold the car, running perfectly. Had it blown up, I'd have just said, "Oh well", and got stuck into fixing it, like I always did. This car, I'm still paying for it so, I'd be seriously butt-hurt if it exploded. It hasn't stopped me from tweaking a few things to make the car more satisfying though.

[martyxattack]

everytime another stupid thread like this is made another engine goes to heaven

[phantom3]

Originally Posted by steven88 Okay guys...I originally purchased this car to do bolt ons and tuning...and keep the stock turbo...I never planned on going big turbo or even exhaust manifold w/EWG for that matter....just your avg enthusiast with 2 grand to spend on bolt ons....but now I am having second thoughts on continuing with the speed 3 Theres just too many threads that I've seen with people blowing their engines...whether its stock or highly modified...this can't be normal, can it? I understand Mazda designed this engine to be at 263/280...but come on now...some people are blowing from just an intake and bov....whats up with that? Is our engines that weak? Bad tuning from the factory? Bad PCV valve? So I'm in a dilemma here...I love my car to death...its given me no problems what so ever...not even a single rattle from the dash....and I love the power and the way it handles...but I'm just seriously concerned about the engine blowing....and when it does, I have a feeling mazda will not cover it under warranty...heard too many stories about warranty claims being denied...I just feel like parting out and getting another platform....even though I will lose money on depreciation on my ms3...its definitely going to save me in the long run because a new engine for the ms3 will be hella $$$$ What should I do guys? Keep the MS3 and not worry? Or EVO X? 370Z? haha

You gotta pay to play.
If your worried about blowing then invest in some rods. There you go. You don't have to go BT. Don't want to invest in rods? then shut the fuck up and quit bitching.

[flyrevs2]

Originally Posted by phantom3 You gotta pay to play. If your worried about blowing then invest in some rods. There you go. You don't have to go BT. Don't want to invest in rods? then shut the fuck up and quit bitching.

ah guess what ? There have been people with forged rods that went BOOM. Not to mention Cox racing has examined the rods and has stated that the rods should be good for about 500 HP. So guess what ? It's not the rods.
It's knock (detonation) over time. Knock long enough (or hard enough) and you go BOOM.

[Scatt Nasty]

Originally Posted by flyrevs2 ah guess what ? There have been people with forged rods that went BOOM. Not to mention Cox racing has examined the rods and has stated that the rods should be good for about 500 HP. So guess what ? It's not the rods. It's knock (detonation) over time. Knock long enough (or hard enough) and you go BOOM.

you missed the point of our posts.

But either way you reinforced it by stating that people have blown with forged rods.

[AmillieMS6]

driving this car every day is like living life.
You enjoy it but you never know what will/can happen to you the next day and if ur gunna wake up or not.

same thing with our cars, you drive it and enjoy it without knowing if anythings gunna happen.

its simple, cuz that's just life for you and nothing is perfect.

[Scatt Nasty]

Originally Posted by AmillieMS6 driving this car every day is like living life. You enjoy it but you never know what will/can happen to you the next day and if ur gunna wake up or not. same thing with our cars, you drive it and enjoy it without knowing if anythings gunna happen. its simple, cuz that's just life for you and nothing is perfect.

Yeah, but thats the reason the general consensus is not to do drugs, bungee jump, not wear a seat belt, drink and drive, base jump, etc etc etc ....

All of those things are the equivalent of putting a BT on stock internals rofl. Your days are already numbered, why would you want to increase your chances.

[karl-hungus]

people fuck up...



and scatt's right about this post...

[trickytwelveinch]

I have to assume AmillieMS6 has plenty of them.

[smakdown61]

People that are afraid to mod this car must be new to online car forums. You won't find a single car forum that doesn't talk about how crappy the motor is, problems, etc...

Take nasioc for example. I won't even use the 09 wrx I'll use the ej20 as an example that subaru used in the wrx for YEARS. When modding they were notorious for burning oil to the point where you'd have to put in a quart at every gas up. Hell my roommate went through 2 blocks b/c it kept spinning bearings due to low oil. No fucking idea where it went, no smoke, no leaks or anything. One day your oil pressure just takes a dive and shreds the bearings.

[cpolly69]

this weekend one of my buddies says "i test drove a ms3 and i want to buy it, I think I'm going to Monday" and I said "if you can have that car and leave it alone, then buy it - if you know you are going to want to start modding it, then buy something else"

[novacircuit]

Trade it in/private sale and get an evo. I'm thinking about trading mine in for an 04 r32 or an 05/06 sti or evo. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more potential on any of those cars. This car is limited to 300whp with just bolt ons (depressing..) and maybe 420 with big turbo if you dont blow

[bf360]

Originally Posted by novacircuit Trade it in/private sale and get an evo. I'm thinking about trading mine in for an 04 r32 or an 05/06 sti or evo. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more potential on any of those cars. This car is limited to 300whp with just bolt ons (depressing..) and maybe 420 with big turbo if you dont blow

wrong wrong and wrong

this car is limited to about 350whp and roughly 325whp stock turbo

and if your getting an r32 you better have major cash in order to build one of those

[glocK23]

lol scatt

[lidokrantz]

i used to be on the paranoid side of all this. as i NEVER could deal with popping the engine...some folks can deal other can't....The extra few HP on this car was not worth it to me so i spent a grand for another 5 years and 90,000 miles on my car for a extended warranty last week..and if she blows she does and Mazda can fix it...Yea, i am stock except for tint, TWM STS and putting on rims again, as well as the MazdaSpeed CAI that just gor r-released with a new air straightner .. and i am gonna get my moneys worth on this car...besided i like the Speed3 as it is being shared with my son now and i will be buying a new car next year 2011 or 2012....Let her blow !!!!!!!!!

But i do agree somewhat it's driver errors that are causibg alot of the issues.....and some cars are just pushing toooo much power as well as getting the shit beat out of them too often

[bf360]

Originally Posted by lidokrantz i used to be on the paranoid side of all this. as i NEVER could deal with popping the engine...some folks can deal other can't....The extra few HP on this car was not worth it to me so i spent a grand for another 5 years and 90,000 miles on my car for a extended warranty last week..and if she blows she does and Mazda can fix it...Yea, i am stock except for tint, TWM STS and putting on rims again, as well as the MazdaSpeed CAI that just gor r-released with a new air straightner .. and i am gonna get my moneys worth on this car...besided i like the Speed3 as it is being shared with my son now and i will be buying a new car next year 2011 or 2012....Let her blow !!!!!!!!! But i do agree somewhat it's driver errors that are causibg alot of the issues.....and some cars are just pushing toooo much power as well as getting the shit beat out of them too often

since this thread is going to be like all the other why does our engine blow thread

If some blew because too much power, why have none blown wot?

[Sphincter]

Originally Posted by bf360 since this thread is going to be like all the other why does our engine blow thread If some blew because too much power, why have none blown wot?

I think StreetUnit Mark likes to advertise he was the only one to blow wot.

[djuosnteisn]

Originally Posted by Sphincter I think StreetUnit Mark likes to advertise he was the only one to blow wot.

4drhotrod on 6club blew up a long time ago cause his boost line popped off and he boosted to like 30+ psi with a BT. He's the only other one i know of that has blown from too much boost.

[SSinstaller]

Originally Posted by djuosnteisn 4drhotrod on 6club blew up a long time ago cause his boost line popped off and he boosted to like 30+ psi with a BT. He's the only other one i know of that has blown from too much boost.

He actually blew up due to ATP's shitty wastegate actuator coupled with his high efficiency L/A intercooler. He was trying to control the boost with his foot until they sent him a lower pressure wastegate actuator. It didn't work out too well for him....

[djuosnteisn]

Hmmmm, hopefully i don't become part of that club, though this morning i fee like i could have...

I've been running a 3071 for about a month now, using the restricted IWG on a stock exh mani. I've had zero creep issues in the warm/hot weather, but this morning it was like 65ish, and creep was bad.

Here's a log:


Granted i'm at 5500ft, but nonetheless, 23+ psi on a 3071 is alot, and my car seemed to love it. Hopefully i'm not tempting fate, but as it stands right now, i believe our engines are pretty damn tough and definitely agree a BT IS safer for our platform.