Mike Murillo is stumped!!! Need Help w/ tuning!!

You read the title right! My brothers car is a 97 Cobra with the following mods a P1SC intercooled, bassani x-pipe, Mac Cat-back, Lightning 90MM mass air, 42#inj., MSD DIS-4, 255high pressure high volume, Aeromotive regulator, and 4:10 gears! We started of with the installing of the charger and it was easy no problems and now the tuning bit! We started of with a mail order JMS Autologic chip and a matching 80MM Pro-m Bullet that was requested by them to have instead of using the Pro-M Univer that we were going to use. That chip didn't help out all, we decide to bring it down to Murillo Motorsports, because he said he would be able to tune it alot better that was on 12/10/03! We got it on the dyno and sure enuff it was running rich especially in the higher upper RPM range! Mike Murrillo said that it was dumping at least 40percent of fuel on the top end by the end of the afternoon we had change the plugs on the car and still it was dumping fuel at the top end. By the end of the day Mike decide to switch to the Lightning mass air meter and it was still dumping fuel at the top, everything was working fine below 5000rpm’s but anything past that the car just started backfiring and sputtering cause of all the fuel. Well by now it’s time to close up shop still problem not solved as to why the car was sputtering, he had tried everything all afternoon he even shut off the O2’s just to make it even work right, but still problem not solved. So we left it there for him to tinker with it more, and the only thing he found was that the IMRC plates were not opening right at one point they weren’t opening at all! He fixed that but still problem not solve, he even changed out the computer to see if was a bad computer but it was still doing it! He found that a fuel relay module was shorting out and replaced that, still problem not solved! Well he’s had it for over a month and we talked a couple times on the phone he even told my brother he was on the other line with Mike Wesly trying to solve this problem but still no solution he even took the charger off to see if that was it and now it’s sputtering without it but I think maybe it’s due to the 42#injectors. Well anyway he’s stumped because it stopped doing it up top but now the car is dumping fuel at like 4500 rpm’s and now it’s backfiring even worse! He has just given up on it and basically told us to come and pick it up! I’m pretty upset because not only are we taking a Cobra home that is not even tuned but my brother has $1200 dollar bill to pay with nothing to show for it but a sputtering Cobra! If anybody has any bright ideas or clues as to why the car is doing this maybe I can tell Mike something he might be overlooking, cause we are going to pick his car up this Wednesday!
Thanks, Jon
:mad:
 
First off, services were not complete from that dyno tuning place. You buddy has EVERY RIGHT not to pay him until the job is complete. I sure the hell wouldnt pay a dime when my car runs the exact same as when I brought it into the place. That is total bull**** to charge that much for a dyno tune and install parts, yet the car doesnt even run.

Could it be that regulator?

Nick
 
Mike Murillo did NOT do the installation or sell him the parts. Why doesn't he deserve to get paid for his efforts?? Has is dawned on anyone that it's an installation error, which Mike didn't do, so you wanna stiff him?? Pathetic. Apparently, it's NOT an issue with tuning, and Mike attempted to diagnose WHY it is acting up. He finds a few minor problems while searching, yet, according to you guys, he doesn't deserved to get paid??

Back to your car's issues, there's a couple of things I need to know. Does the Procharger kit utilize an FMU ? You didn't mention it, but I'm positive they come with them. If you installed it, it's possible that the FMU is acting up...........seen it before with brand new Procharger kits (even Vortech kits). Also, bypass the MSD box to ensure that it's not an issue..........the DIS4 boxes work great WHEN THEY WORK! There is likely an installation issue, not a tuning issue. I'd double check all the lines, fuel pump, FMU, etc. Something is definately screwy........
 
I didn't say to stiff him. Anything he replaced should be paid for with labor costs. He did not/ could not tune it. You have ideas about what is wrong. Why wouldn't he test those thiongs. Bottom line is IMO, if you are in the business to tune a car , you should be able to diagnose the problem or not get paid. That is just my opinion. Now, I probably jumped the gun a little because we don't know what Mike's side of the story is. It is obvious that something is bad or was installed incorrectly. Before anyone else bashes Mike, it would be nice to know some other info, conversations, etc.
 
I hear what you're saying Forpit, I just hate seeing reputable shops get bashed. Murillo is one of the best guys in the business, and there is an obvious underlying issue. If you bring a car to a tuner, the tuner is under the assumption that everything is in fine working order, it just needs tuning. So, the tuner schedules time of his day to tune a car. So, if he gets into tuning and issues arise, then it's not his fault and he should be paid for his work. NOW, if Murillo did the install, then I agree with what you all are saying. If he did the install, and couldn't figure out the issues while tuning, then by all means, he doesn't deserve to get paid for the attempted tune. But he was brought the car under the assumption that it was fine, but needed a good tune. MHO.
 
VTEngine said:
Mike Murillo did NOT do the installation or sell him the parts. Why doesn't he deserve to get paid for his efforts?? Has is dawned on anyone that it's an installation error, which Mike didn't do, so you wanna stiff him?? Pathetic. Apparently, it's NOT an issue with tuning, and Mike attempted to diagnose WHY it is acting up. He finds a few minor problems while searching, yet, according to you guys, he doesn't deserved to get paid??

Back to your car's issues, there's a couple of things I need to know. Does the Procharger kit utilize an FMU ? You didn't mention it, but I'm positive they come with them. If you installed it, it's possible that the FMU is acting up...........seen it before with brand new Procharger kits (even Vortech kits). Also, bypass the MSD box to ensure that it's not an issue..........the DIS4 boxes work great WHEN THEY WORK! There is likely an installation issue, not a tuning issue. I'd double check all the lines, fuel pump, FMU, etc. Something is definately screwy........

doesn't matter that Mike created or didn't create the error. The fact is that he runs a business. They car was taken to him to get tuned, its not tuned. The service/product rendered was not complete.

should the parts be paid, yes
should the labor be paid for installing the parts, yes
the tune, no. How can you pay for a product/service that isn't finished/complete?



VTEngine said:
I hear what you're saying Forpit, I just hate seeing reputable shops get bashed. Murillo is one of the best guys in the business, and there is an obvious underlying issue. If you bring a car to a tuner, the tuner is under the assumption that everything is in fine working order, it just needs tuning. So, the tuner schedules time of his day to tune a car. So, if he gets into tuning and issues arise, then it's not his fault and he should be paid for his work. NOW, if Murillo did the install, then I agree with what you all are saying. If he did the install, and couldn't figure out the issues while tuning, then by all means, he doesn't deserve to get paid for the attempted tune. But he was brought the car under the assumption that it was fine, but needed a good tune. MHO.

edit:
yeah that is a good point but I would think that Mike would have seen the problems before starting the tune and told the customer that he wouldnt work on it. I would have if that was my business. It makes it look like Mike didnt/couldnt tune the car if someone were to talk with the owner of the car or read the post.

I dont know mike and I dont want to sound like Im bashing. Im not trying to if its coming off like that.
 
Murillo Motorsports Side of story

Hello Everyone,
As much as I hate having to respond to internet gossip this is one worth responding to. As everyone should know there is more to the story. Bottom line is a customers car is not fixed. Let me start off with this. I have not charged this customer for any tuning time. He has only been charged for Dyno Time and Diagnostics. THIS IS NOT A TUNING ISSUE!!!! I have not been able to tune this car because of the underlying problem. I have never claimed to "Know it All". Including the knowledge that I do have and of my staff, we have tried just about everything that we know and anything that anyone worth listening to has suggested short of digging into the motor. I realize that customers often times will misunderstand what they are being told in return they can mis quote information on sites like this. So with that in mind I understand some of your responses to his thread.
On Dec. 12th one of my repeat customers brought me his brothers 97 Cobra to custom program. From what I understand he had purchased and installed supercharger off of E-bay. This application is by no means special from anything that we have done in the past. This should be a nice,neat and clean programming session. Right?......Wrong!!!! One of the first things that we noticed was a some wiring issues. Again, I understand these things and this is why shops like mine are needed. We attempted to tune this car up until 9:00PM on a Friday night. I felt we did everything that we could do that night so the customer could take his car back home with him. Realizing that we were facing other problems than just tuning, he left the car with us. The customer did express that this all started when he put the supercharger on and he was low in funds so please dont rack up a huge bill. We worked on the car for the next several days. The car was extremely fat when it came here but that was and is an easy fix. The car drops over a 100hp @ 4500rpm and then starts to come back up. Almost like it was blowing out spark or IMRC would shut. We checked all the settings on the MSD DIS4, Changed and regapped plugs, Diff. Mass Air, ECU, Coil Packs, Wires, Crank Trigger etc etc. No Fixy! Scanner shows nothing unusual. The following items were tried but not charged for. Mass Air, ECU, Plug Wires, Coil Packs, and Injectors. This car DOES NOT have an FMU. Again the scanner does not show anything out of the ordinary. Fuel pressure stays constant. We have had this car on and off the dyno a total of 5 different times for a total of 11 hours of just Dyno Time. We do not do WOT pulls (which is when it acts up) w/ customers not present out on the streets. We found the MSD was not working once we relocated it from it's original location and sent it off to be repaired (AT NO CHARGE). There were Misc. wiring issues that were fixed amongst others. Compression and Leakdown are within tolerance. The problem seems to be getting worse overtime and is coming in at lower RPM's as we go. Again I don't feel this is a tuning issue. My technician and I have over 10 hours of diagnostics and R&R different parts not to mention reinstalling parts that were not bad. This will be the first time we send a car out not fixed. Understandably, customer does not want to spend anymore time or money. Before he pulls motor apart any suggestions will be appreciated and considerd.
 
Back when I ran street outlaw with Crawford Performance (1996) Mike was kicking everyone ass in the class (including mine) running high 8's to low 9's while we were all in the mid 9's or higher. With as many years of experience as he has, I would say you have one of the best tuners in the marketplace looking at the car. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to work out electronic gremlins and if funds dont allow for it, then I would suggest not throwing around someones name and reputation on a popular site such as this. Many of us wish we were in Mikes area so he could work on our rides. Long ago I was driven crazy by a similar problem with a supercharged GT and after days of trying to find out what was wrong, it ended up being a crack in the Pro-M AFTER the meter. Air was getting in unmetered and it only went nuts between 5000 and 8000 rpms. Im sure you have looked at that but it took us days to find that simple problem. Next time be generic on your posts. "Went to a very reputable speed shop and they are stumped please help" or something like that. Best of luck. You will see it will be some simple wiring or electronic issue and youll laugh after you find it.
 
N20302,
You post is ok up until you start talking about money. It is none of anyone's buisness what money issues your brother has with this tuner. Leave that stuff out! There is no need to try and ruin the reputation of a respectable buisness man.
 
Good Lord, in the first place I am not BASHING MIKE MURILLO!!! I came and posted on here to see if any of you modular guys may have run into the same problem! I was only trying to help Mike out with this problem but, apparently it backfired and now everybody is jumping on the band wagon just to bash on him! In the first place if you have ever met Mike, he's a real a nice guy for the 2 times that we were allowed to hang around his shop to watch him dyno tune cars he knows what he's doing! Jimmy and Tony you guys rock too! :nice: So for any of you guys that are saying not to even pay him that is totally wrong, we watched him work on the car all afternoon and yes he should be and will be payed for the time he spent on the car! So Mike I'm sorry again if this turned into a bashing on you or your shop, I was only trying to help you out but it turns out everybody has to throw in there 2 cents and say anything they want to say just because they can hide behind the keyboard! Even though they don't know anything about you or the great work that you do!
 
I guess I'm giuilty this time of initially jumping to a conclusion without enough info. I do not know Mike , but I appoligize to Him. I perform service work in a different industry and should have heard both sides first . One of the reasons I believe some are so quick to judge and bash is that there are a lot of dealerships and shops that rape people, get paid for it and never get it right. Seeing Mike come on and explain( shouldn't have had to do that) shows that he is one of the good ones.
Hope the problem gets resolved soon. ( and cheap :D )