Question Relating To Fuel Pump Failure/blown Headgasket

[SlowFiveOh]

I recently had a on3 turbo kit installed and even though ive seen poor reviews on the kit i am actually shocked with how well everything fit and worked out. My main concern is that the fuel pump harness clip broke and wiggled off while driving under boost. Now the question is, would that have caused detonation and in return caused the headgasket to blow? Ive blown two sets of headgasket before realizing this could be my issue. Unfortunatly now that ive blown my headgasket again and also done significant piston ring damage (soo much blow by my car looks like thomas the tank engine) Im now just going to swap in a new 5L. Long story short again , can a fuel pump failing under boost cause detonation and cause the headgasket to blow? Thanks I am new to the forum.

 

[jrichker]

There are 2 things a car with pressurized induction needs:
1.) An air/fuel mixture gauge capable of data logging.
2.) An electric fuel pressure gauge that you can safely mount in the car cabin so that it can be monitored while you drive..

It sounds like you lost fuel pressure and that surely would have caused the air/fuel mixture to go lean enough to cause detonation. Anytime you have detonation, you risk damage. It doesn't matter what caused the detonation it could be a lean mixture ,carbon deposits, bad spark plug or any other number of things.

 

[SlowFiveOh]

Thankyou , im just curious becaused i paid 4 grand for the install of my turbo kit and small things such as my fuel pump have cause me to have to rebuild my motor or buy a new one. Ive also spent alot of time going over things and fixing things myself. Its been a hell of a year.

 

[Moosee1955]

Like Sinatra sang, riding high in April, shot down in May. In your case October! It doesn't take much to blow a high performance engine. Why do you think pro drag race teams bring a minimum of 4 spare motors!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[General karthief]

Thankyou , im just curious becaused i paid 4 grand for the install of my turbo kit and small things such as my fuel pump have cause me to have to rebuild my motor or buy a new one. Ive also spent alot of time going over things and fixing things myself. Its been a hell of a year.

Sounds like you got a boched job for 4k. Sorry to hear that.

 

[elarm1]

What head gaskets are you using? @SlowFiveOh

 

[SlowFiveOh]

Long story short time to build a 351w for big boost. F*** it go big or go home i guess. 380whp wasnt that impressive anyway lol. Thankyou for the tips and info. The only reason i asked this question is because i feel as if i have been screwed royally for the cost of install vs the job that was done. Thanks all.

 

[2000xp8]

I'm a little more skeptical that the same thing happened 3 times because of a loose connector, yet you have never lost power during normal driving.
If you had multiple fuel pumps (which is why most guys dislike the T-rex), I could see it, but my thought is that at least some other times the pump would have shut off and you would have had some symptoms.

Was the car on the dyno? How do you know the a/f was right in the first place?
Was it tuned?
What injectors and meter?
What size fuel Pump?

 

[SlowFiveOh]

I'm a little more skeptical that the same thing happened 3 times because of a loose connector, yet you have never lost power during normal driving.
If you had multiple fuel pumps (which is why most guys dislike the T-rex), I could see it, but my thought is that at least some other times the pump would have shut off and you would have had some symptoms.

I suppose i could have explained what happened better.
-they installed the turbo kit
-i took it to a dyno
-blew gasket 5 min after leaving dyno
-my mechanic "buffed the heads" re gasketed
-i took it for a drive and was loosing tons of coolant
-checked dip stick, seemed fine
-brought it back to mechanic
-found out gasket was blown still, along with shot piston rings
-noticed they didnt put my gastank straps on right
-Dropped tank to realize the clip was broken off the harness and it was wobbling around. Turned car on and realized if i was to just bounce my rear end the fuel was cutting in and out.

 

[2000xp8]

I suppose i could have explained what happened better.
-they installed the turbo kit
-i took it to a dyno
-blew gasket 5 min after leaving dyno
-my mechanic "buffed the heads" re gasketed
-i took it for a drive and was loosing tons of coolant
-checked dip stick, seemed fine
-brought it back to mechanic
-found out gasket was blown still, along with shot piston rings
-noticed they didnt put my gastank straps on right
-Dropped tank to realize the clip was broken off the harness and it was wobbling around. Turned car on and realized if i was to just bounce my rear end the fuel was cutting in and out.

That does explain more, but I've been at my buddies shop when cars are the dyno. You can hear when something is wrong with fuel delivery or an ignition miss.
Not to mention, on the dyno, rarely does any shop just strap it down and go all out. It probably should have been run through the gears. They are also normally staring at the a/f meter and get out of the throttle when things don't seem right.

While I wouldn't rule out the pump issue, i'm not totally sold on that being the reason either.
On most turbo pushrod cars, it's not if you blow a head gasket, it's when (part of all the jack stand jokes)

 

[SlowFiveOh]

That does explain more, but I've been at my buddies shop when cars are the dyno. You can hear when something is wrong with fuel delivery or an ignition miss.
Not to mention, on the dyno, rarely does any shop just strap it down and go all out. It probably should have been run through the gears. They are also normally staring at the a/f meter and get out of the throttle when things don't seem right.

While I wouldn't rule out the pump issue, i'm not totally sold on that being the reason either.
On most turbo pushrod cars, it's not if you blow a head gasket, it's when (part of all the jack stand jokes)

Right 100% i have a picture of the fuel mapping and everything was perfect . but i was under boost on a highway and hit a bump and thats when the car went to . " i beleve the fuel pump harness fell off because the clip was broken when i hit a bump in the road" that caused detonation and blew my gasket. It would have rand fine on the dyno because its not bouncing up and down, yknow?. My question was could the fuel cut and the continuation of spark and air cause the gasket to blow.