DaSilva tune blew my head gasket

Try Me · Sep 3, 2005

Last weekend i tried the DaSilva tune i paid $172 for.. only this time i filled with 94 octane and a bottle of octane booster to cure the detonation they sent me home with and told me that more octane would complete the tune.

Only thing that happened was steam coming out from the hood and the coolant resevoir totally spilled over.

My car has been stinking of coolant ever since.. this morning i noticed coolant and air bubbles seeping from the passenger side head.

10 hour round trip drive.. 172$ for detonation tune.. and now a blown head gasket.

Dealing with DaSilva has been expensive.

DoubleONegative · Sep 3, 2005

I call it a piss poor tune if they told you to add octane boost to cure the problem, they should have retarted the timing to cure it IMHO

Kilgore Trout · Sep 3, 2005

DoubleONegative said:
I call it a piss poor tune if they told you to add octane boost to cure the problem, they should have retarted the timing to cure it IMHO

mrvax · Sep 3, 2005

DoubleONegative said:
I call it a piss poor tune if they told you to add octane boost to cure the problem, they should have retarted the timing to cure it IMHO

Sounds to me like whomever did your tune at that place qualifies to work at Jiffy-Lube. I'm sorry to hear this. Retarding the timing is the correct answer.

hotmustang331 · Sep 3, 2005

WOW, thats RETARDED! That guy doesnt desirve the title "tuner", he apparently doesnt know anything. You dont operate a buisness like that, you get it RIGHT the first time. Well you get what you pay for. I say drive to modular powerhouse in georgia...Tim will get that car right on 93 octain. Mine is running like a champ! 0 detination.

Kilgore Trout · Sep 4, 2005

hotmustang331 said:
WOW, thats RETARDED!

I do not know why but I find that extremely funny

The tuner was retarded INSTEAD of the timing

back_in_black · Sep 4, 2005

Kilgore Trout said:
I do not know why but I find that extremely funny

The tuner was retarded INSTEAD of the timing

reeber · Sep 4, 2005

If your telling us the whole story (There's always 2 sides), then the tuner is dead wrong. However, if you said you wanted the MOST HP regardless of engine conservation, then you got what you asked for.

2000BLKGT · Sep 4, 2005

Sorry to hear that.

sux bigtime

SilverStallion · Sep 4, 2005

That is unfortunate for sure. Call Joe and let him know what happened. I have found him very supportive on all the mods that they have done to my car.

Again, let them know the issue...and then go from there. Diego has been rolling out some stout and safe cars from there. Generally he will not tune a car that does not have Ultra 94 in the tank as he tunes it for optmum performance, and then backs it down to compensate from potentally a cheaper grade of gas in case the 94 is not available.

I hope you get your issues resolved. Best of luck.
~Darren

Try Me · Sep 4, 2005

reeber said:
If your telling us the whole story (There's always 2 sides), then the tuner is dead wrong. However, if you said you wanted the MOST HP regardless of engine conservation, then you got what you asked for.

I specifically asked for a stout DAILY DRIVER tune.
Believe me i'm not holding back any details or laying blame where it not be.

Just a heads up to others that read this, my experience might save them some unnecessary grief.

hotmustang331 · Sep 4, 2005

Kilgore Trout said:
I do not know why but I find that extremely funny

The tuner was retarded INSTEAD of the timing

LOL thats funny, i didnt even realize my own pun .

trinity_gt · Sep 5, 2005

Try Me...you're saying that detonation destroyed a head gasket? Looking at your sig, I'll assume that you're normally aspirated. I also notice you appear to be a PI swap ("FULL PI HEADS, CAMS, INTAKE").

I've never, ever heard of detonation causing a blown head gasket. Detonation in supercharged cars seems to always hurt hardware like pistons, plugs and even bearings before headgaskets get hurt. But normally aspirated?? Never heard of it. My 02 GT will detonate fairly hard under certain conditions with a 93-tune, even when running 94 Sunoco and its fine. I simply used Extreme Tune to back off a couple of degrees of timing and the problem is gone...

The fact that you're swapped (I assume) means the gasket is not the factory seal. What kind of gaskets were used? Were studs or original hardware used? Was the proper torque sequence used (esp. if the TTY originals)? Were new fasteners used?

I'm not trying to be a dick but it seems unlikely to me that headgaskets would go normally aspirated due to detonation. Given that it appears to be swapped, I'd be more inclined to suspect something on that side of the equation.

Try Me · Sep 5, 2005

Lot's of supporting accounts here including my own personal experience that detonation can blow out a head gasket on NA cars..
http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=698604

All hardware used is Ford oem.
Not corners were cut.
I watched with my own eyes the Ford tech assemble the engine.. this includes him torquing the heads at the right tension AND sequence.. and REMOVING the head bolts in proper sequence.

I put about 10K on the engine post swap without a hickup.
Its the fact this happened during the 3mins and 10 block drive with the DaSilva detonation tune (despite running a higher octane level as he recommended) that caused the engine to completly boil over and that when the previous tune was reloaded everything has been fine since.. except for the gasket leak.

Josh-'96 GT · Sep 5, 2005

trinity_gt said:
I've never, ever heard of detonation causing a blown head gasket. Detonation in supercharged cars seems to always hurt hardware like pistons, plugs and even bearings before headgaskets get hurt. But normally aspirated?? Never heard of it. My 02 GT will detonate fairly hard under certain conditions with a 93-tune, even when running 94 Sunoco and its fine. I simply used Extreme Tune to back off a couple of degrees of timing and the problem is gone...

I'm not trying to be a dick but it seems unlikely to me that headgaskets would go normally aspirated due to detonation. Given that it appears to be swapped, I'd be more inclined to suspect something on that side of the equation.

This has to be one of the most misinformed posts I've ever read. PLEASE do some homework before making a post like this... Blowing a headgasket is actually more common place than you suspect, but it's way more common on engines that have a much higher specific output. Detonation can waste a headgasket, and it's not always a bad thing. Blowing a headgasket is often times like blowing a fuse. If the detonation were to get any worse, you would likely destroy a lot of stuff; namely pistons, rods, and cranks. The A/F ratio is too lean, the timing too advanced, or the DCR is too high for a street engine. Here is a little info on how the Dynamic Compression Ratio works. This will explain how even a street engine with a small cam could detonate, leading to a blown head gasket. Read this:
http://www.kennedysdynotune.com/Dynamic Compression Tech.htm

Venom_Nitrous · Sep 5, 2005

Josh-'96 GT said:
This has to be one of the most misinformed posts I've ever read. PLEASE do some homework before making a post like this... Blowing a headgasket is actually more common place than you suspect, but it's way more common on engines that have a much higher specific output. Detonation can waste a headgasket, and it's not always a bad thing. Blowing a headgasket is often times like blowing a fuse. If the detonation were to get any worse, you would likely destroy a lot of stuff; namely pistons, rods, and cranks. The A/F ratio is too lean, the timing too advanced, or the DCR is too high for a street engine. Here is a little info on how the Dynamic Compression Ratio works. This will explain how even a street engine with a small cam could detonate, leading to a blown head gasket. Read this:
http://www.kennedysdynotune.com/Dynamic Compression Tech.htm

very very useful. Thank you for that link. I never would have thought of that before. Make sure you read this guys. and gals

trinity_gt · Sep 5, 2005

Josh-'96 GT said:
This has to be one of the most misinformed posts I've ever read. PLEASE do some homework before making a post like this...

Please. Headgaskets are simply not common failures due to detonation on normally aspirated engines. They just aren't. I'm not saying it can't happen, but it's not common at all. Even in supercharged apps headgaskets do not usually blow before ring lands break or pistons otherwise break when detonation sets in. When they do go it's usually because of assembly deficiencies or in extreme cases because of the head actually lifting off the block due to extreme cylinder pressure and insufficient clamping.

"And speaking of "misinformed"... A blown head gasket is a "fuse"? Who's misinformed? Get a clue dude. Sparkplugs and their electrodes are the canary in the coalmine when it comes to detonation: they will melt away or the porcelain will show bits of aluminum from the piston long before the 30-thou or so thick stainless steel fire ring on a head gasket goes away. An owner hearing persistent, severe detonation should be pulling plugs and checking their health before merrily proceeding to knock parts out of their engine.

It's a headswapped car and it has blown a headgasket. My first suspicion would be the swap.

I want to hear from Try Me: What do the plugs look like?

Blowing a headgasket is actually more common place than you suspect, but it's way more common on engines that have a much higher specific output. Detonation can waste a headgasket, and it's not always a bad thing. Blowing a headgasket is often times like blowing a fuse. If the detonation were to get any worse, you would likely destroy a lot of stuff; namely pistons, rods, and cranks.

Blowing a headgasket is always a bad thing. Ever see what glycol does to bearings after coolant leaks into the oil drainbacks?

The A/F ratio is too lean, the timing too advanced, or the DCR is too high for a street engine.

It's a headswapped, PI-cammed normally aspirated modular with a few bolt-ons. Why are you even bringing dynamic compression ratio into this? BTW, why didn't your link mention the inertia of the intake charge when considering the DCR?

Josh-'96 GT · Sep 5, 2005

Venom_Nitrous said:
very very useful. Thank you for that link. I never would have thought of that before. Make sure you read this guys. and gals

Glad you liked it. Carefully calculating the DCR led to my being able to run 11.7:1 static compression on my 383/N20 WS6 with NO detonation...on pump gas. It's much easier to do some homework in advance than paying for another rotating assembly!

sgarlic · Sep 5, 2005

trinity_gt said:
I've never, ever heard of detonation causing a blown head gasket.

trinity_gt said:
I'm not saying it can't happen, but it's not common at all.

Make up your mind. You made a mistake, so own up to it like a man.

Dan_Soprano · Sep 5, 2005

Blown head gaskets are not common at all in 4.6's. In fact, this is the first one I have heard of in awhile.........

DaSilva tune blew my head gasket

Try Me

DoubleONegative

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