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blown engine, ? on stock engine parts, mods, need help

7K views 52 replies 18 participants last post by  silverbullet13 
#1 ·
ok so ive never posted on forums ever in my life and a noob and i apologize if there was a post about this before or on the same lines i know it makes people irritable and i can understand that.....
so i brought a 2013 ford focus ST it has 44K miles on it on the 3RD of January of 2017 and blew up on the 7th of January of 2017 i know it had been modded however i wasn't really sure on the full list.. what i know is cobb piping/MAF delete? and i was told a racing cat converter (from a guy who knows a lot about performance mods) could be wrong though and also a corsa exhaust but after seeing all that i imagine a tune as well. before it blew up it was like cut out or misfiring at full throttle at around 3 ish RPM's give or take but i think it was loosing fuel but obviously not 100% however it was running a hefty 24PSI on the guage at low RPMS 3K or below ish give or take and when your in the higher RPM's 4K ish give or take it would run at 19PSI. i havnt had it for a while enough to know a things i should. but obviously i knew it had a tune. but it blew when i was going around 30 MPH ish i gunned it because my brother was in my old stang driving by me, it puttered puttered/ misfired misfired and it gave out... a ford dealership replaced the turbo due to oil leaking on the turbo they replaced the turbo o rings lines (receipt in the focus that is at my work on what they fully did) but it blew smoke when they replaced the turbo then ordered another turbo and it was fine. it was covered under warranty. also i'm not sure if the tune was bad or if the fuel pump is going bad or if people have had this problem good news is the turbo is alright after inspecting the fins on the exhaust side with a bore-scope. so my question is what kind of internals does the stock engine have? what are the typical problems does this particular motor has? should i forged pistons and rods? is the fuel system for gas only becuase it says somthing about E20 or somthing in the fuel filler what kind of fuel system does it have?..... i do have a video on my phone of it doing what it did but not long,but you can hear it do what I'm talking about and also not sure how to add it because i have no idea around forums lol ... if you need more info let me know ill answer to the best of my knowledge even if i sound dumb.thank you for your time reading
 
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#2 ·
Oh man. This is hard. Does the car still run? If so does it misfire at idle? Does the car have an access port with the tune? I'm curious where this thread will go.
 
#3 ·
lol no it doesn't not since the day it blew up i inspected the turbo on the 16th of February and paid the heart breaking sales tax on it and im going threw a few more life things also. anyway so i had the info on the guy who traded this vehicle in even address but called him 2 times and left a voice mail and never gotten back to me.. kinda creepy if i showed up to his apartment lol because he told the tuner to someone who tried getting the tune out of the vehicle but couldn't because it was sold to me i have both keys(doesn't mean there is more) but as far as i knew he didnt get the tune because at the time it was at ford getting a new turbo
 
#6 ·
Your tune probably calls for 93 octane, maybe even an ethanol blend, but it seems that there is no way to find out since the previous owner isn't responding and you don't have the accessport. Honestly he sounds kinda sketchy if he sold the accessport without unmarrying it from the car. It sounds like the tune is pretty aggressive too so double shame on him for leaving you without any way to monitor your engine.
 
#7 ·
A compression test will tell you if a piston is broken
 
#9 ·
Wow thats way messed up.... I think you are in a tough spot. I would imagine it was tuned for something other than you were running. 4 Days and boom. How long before you bought it was the turbo replaced? They sold it to you that way try to get them to warranty it.
 
#10 ·
hmm...that's rough. After getting everything fixed/buttoned up (if not already) I would talk to a tuner and discuss getting it re-tuned by them...specifically for the car/the mods currently on the car. At the very least they should be able to give you a stock-like tune.
 
#11 ·
Yeah I figured it was but what fuel it needs I have no clue lol. Well I drove it from the 13th of December till January 7th... I work at a dealership but it got a UCI (used car inspection.) only thing it needed was tires and the turbo. Ford replaced under warrenty, and I bought the tires and rolled it into my loan and I put them on. now The new turbo has around 500 miles on it or so. Talking to a guy who works at Ford said they are probably not gonna warrenty it and that same day I talked to him he said they actually have a focus st in the shop they are tearing down to see what happened and then Ford said nope it either went lean or to much boost and denied the claim. I've found an engine for $1200. But now I'm wondering about the internals I red somewhere they have forged rods already and hypereutectic Pistons but not 100% sure. I'm not sure if anyone knows for sure?I figured while I have it out make it a bit stronger and would be much easier to do then when it's in the car. Obviously I'll need a tune for sure after replacing it so it doesn't do that again and know what fuel to run. does anyone know what the limit of power the stock internals can handle?
 
#13 ·
ST's have a MAP sensor from the factory...not a MAF. Plan on getting it re-tuned. Talk to one of the tuners on this forum and explain your situation. Until then, run the highest grade gas you can, baby it, drive with a very soft foot. Not knowing what tune is currently on the car can be dangerous...and an expensive.

Stock internals are good for ~400whp but even at much lower power levels, if it goes lean/knocks often, it's a disaster waiting to happen. This all relates to the tune (And of course if you have any defective parts). But again, I reiterate, talk to a tuner. Buy a cobb AP to facilitate purchasing a tune from the tuner you talk to (get the Cobb AP from the tuner you talk to) and get the tune worked out first. Maybe you have a defective part (stock or aftermarket) on your car? The tuner will be able to review data logs and hopefully point you in the right direction should you have a defective part on your car. But again, it's probably the tune.
 
#14 ·
Oh gotcha gotcha.. thanks for the info NJFocusST I thought that because somthing was unplugged around the air box it's not a long wire but never could figure out where it was from so I imagined a MAF. The highest grade around here that I've seen is only 91 with having a few BP, around here they have 92 but that's as high as I've seen so far. I know of a tunner around my area a guy in the shop is friends with him also. But I'll need a tuner box in order for it to be tuned I was told. it would have been nice if they guy had it in the car and left it when I brought it Which Cobb ap? Can you give me a link to one I should get? In my opinion everything is related to the tune and I also have no clue what fuel to use I just figured 91. But could it be the fuel pump being weak? So many questions and not many answers but I believe the tune was bad or wrong fuel in he end
 
#15 ·
Contact a tuner first before buying the Cobb AP...I would suggest Stratified, Deadhook, JST, Panda, Mountune. Whoever helps you out/is the most helpful with your situation, tell them you're going to order a Cobb AP from them and work out the tuning situation.

You can google Cobb AP3 and you'll see what it is. Stratified has a good blog on how to data log, send them files etc


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#16 ·
That plug hanging near the airbox is probable the plug to the sound symposer that I would assume is removed. My .02 cents.
 
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#24 ·
If the charge pipe to the intercooler keeps popping off, get some t bolt clamps. It's a common issue but a cheap/easy fix


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#26 ·
I believe that plug is actually the sound symposer. You can see a symposer delete plate. The ags plug is down toward the driver side fog light. Another thing ing to point out is that the plug going into the intake there (the one with electric tape) is actually just a temperature sensor. There are two map sensors on this car. One just after the intercooler, and one on the intake manifold its self.
 
#27 ·
Was it purchased from a Ford dealer? If so, was it certified pre-owned? Either way I would plead dumb and try to get it covered under warranty. If it's CPO, they pretty much have to cover it. If it was from Ford I would talk to the dealer, then continue up the ladder. PLAY DUMB! You didn't know it was modified, blah, blah.
 
#33 ·
The colder heat range has nothing to do with the temperature of the spark used to ignite the fuel air mixture, and everything to do with how rapidly or slowly the spark plug transfers heat away from the tip.

The term Heat Range refers to the speed with which a plug can transfer heat from the combustion chamber to the engine head. Whether the plug is to be installed in a boat, lawnmower or race car, it has been found the optimum combustion chamber temperature for gasoline engines is between 500°C–850°C. Within that range it is cool enough to avoid pre-ignition and plug tip overheating (which can cause engine damage), while still hot enough to burn off combustion deposits that cause fouling.
The spark plug design determines its ability to remove heat from the combustion chamber. The primary method used to do this is by altering the internal length of the core nose. In addition, the alloy compositions in the electrodes can be changed. This means you may not be able to visually tell a difference between heat ranges.

*When a spark plug is referred to as a “cold plug”, it is one that transfers heat rapidly from the firing tip into the engine head, keeping the firing tip cooler.

*A “hot plug” has a much slower rate of heat transfer, which keeps the firing tip hotter.
In identical spark plug types, the difference from one full Heat Range to the next is the ability to remove 70°C to 100°C from the combustion chamber.
https://www.ngk.com/learning-center/article/207/i-have-slightly-modified-my-motor---do-i-need
 
#29 · (Edited)
That makes so much sense yes. I saw somthing unplugged and I thought it was the fog light while I was using a bore scope to inspect the turbo. I saw it unplugged... I brought it from my dealer ( I work at a GM dealership) I brought it without a warrenty because it would make everything cheaper plus I had to buy tires for it and roll it into my Loan and put them on myself. Funny thing I talked to my service manager and we was ok with buying half. Then I asked him again last week and said no... but they were gonna sell it with a warrenty but if I didn't get it it would have saved me money buy my gut said to but didn't (I know that my fault). I brought a 05 mustang also from there and never had a problem with it even till this day and that was 4 years ago granted it's not the same car obviously. I knew the focus was modded but didn't know it was tuned so I spoke to my general manager and she said that's ok and talk to my manager about it but now it seems he doesn't want to help but will talk to the general manger and figure it out supposedly I knew one map sensor is in the intake but wasn't sure where the other one was its hard to see if its in the inter cooler since its all covered up and ill have to take the bumper off... im not even sure if it has an aftermarket inter cooler either i would imagine not but not 100% sure
 
#32 ·
It took a while but, Looks like to much pressure built up in the crank case due to the oil catch can on it. The oil catch can also ruined the second engine I brought for it causing a lot of valve train noise. And eventually caused metal shavings to be in the oil. Took it off and runs like a dream now
 

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