60* durability and boost

[Driver_10]

I have been having a few discussions lately about durability of boosted 3x00 motors. I have heard some conflicting info about the longevity and maintenance of these powerplants.

After hearing rumor after rumor I figured, "why not here it from the horses mouth". Is there anyone out there with a boosted 3X00 motor that has encountered any issue with head warpage, oiling, blown headgaskets etc.

Id like to hear some testimonies, share your 2-cents.

[sharkey]

i myself am not turboed, but ive heard a lot of good sucess storries. i know of one guy running a remote mount turbo, 10 psi with water injection and ran mid 12s, 15000 miles and broke a piston skirt (not a boost related failure though).

i havent heard of many blown head gaskets, dished pistons, warped heads, ect that were from normal boost, only from mis-tuning. in stock form, 10psi is reliable with a good tune. i think the record around the comunity is curtis walker made 471 wheel hp from a 3.1l ironhead motor.

[SappySE107]

You can always upgrade the motor, as curtis did. The only boost related negative feedback I have heard is that piston (not sure what the problem is), and the RSM supercharger setup (poorly tuned, ticking time bomb SC shaft setup). Done right, you can boost your 60V6 a good amount without upgrading anything but the valve springs and the tune.

Im sure you will get feedback from those actually running boost, but id like to see where people are saying they have issues with head warpage and blown head gaskets running boost.

[ForcedFirebird]

My only problem was tuning, but I can say that the detonation I've had would kill most other motors. The last incident was from hitting the rev limiter (just being stupid) and it sounded like a cannon went off, lol. Any other stock engine and I am sure there would have been broken rods involved.

Boosted89rs was having some head gasket failure (not until 12psi, IIRC), but I am unsure of the gaskets he was using.

[Driver_10]

Hey Ben, do you know what the safest rpm attainable on stock springs are. I intend to upgrade later when I introduce the 3500 top-end, so Im not going to alter the my stock 3400 heads any further.

Ive heard that 6k was safe on a stock valvetrain. any comments?

[SappySE107]

Sounds about right. Some claimed it as soon as 5400 RPM but that was probably knock retard killing the power. I am not sure if anyone has recorded it on a dyno of if power drops off too much before then anyway.

I would like to know what a stock LS1 floats at.

[zofo61]

MIne blew up due to a lean out in #6 either because of a bad/clogged injector or tune......I would probably go on the tune side but who knows............I was running the RSM Vortech set-up and am going back to it after tuning and fuel issues are explored more.................Havnt heard anything from TE Johnson in a while .....he seemed to have the best or more thought out set-up but i dont know if he ever finished it. He did blow the head gaskets at first but was going back to the graphite ones when his photoblog stops........maybe he can help more as I am back to stock and still at the drawing board.

Chris

[farmerz24]

ive cracked my ringland before the head gasket or anything else blew, at 11 psi. made 323wheel hp and tq at 5600 rpm.

this is a 3100 with stock internals, ported heads, and a milzy stg 1 boost cam.

lets see what my built 3500 can do!

[rickykline]

i pulled the #6 connecting rod out of the piston... sent it into the head and bent both valves.. trashed the whole motor... 12psi stock motor= death.... im sticking to 10 with the new setup..lol

[pontiac3100]

that seems to be the common thing when useing turbos.

it's not only our engines i've heard this on hondas.
they slap a turbo on...don't tune it properly and it blow the engine.
detonation is one of a engine killer.
thats why i run mid grade in my car.

i'm pretty sure a stock 3x00 could handle about 6-7psi if tuned right....

[ForcedFirebird]

that seems to be the common thing when useing turbos.

it's not only our engines i've heard this on hondas.
they slap a turbo on...don't tune it properly and it blow the engine.
detonation is one of a engine killer.
thats why i run mid grade in my car.

i'm pretty sure a stock 3x00 could handle about 6-7psi if tuned right....

If tuned right it can handle a lot more. I have seen 16psi on them reliably (once he got the head gasket thing figured out).

[z24turbo93]

I am boost spiking 15 psi and back down to 11-12 psi and have no problems. Good tune though. Increasing boost in the next couple days to 14-15 psi to see what it does.

[ForcedFirebird]

Good tune though

That's ultimately the key ingredient. I have seen 30psig on stock cast pistons, and it lasted until he made a dual core intercoler that pushed so much more air in, that it detonated. I have a pic of the piston around here somewhere. What are you using to tune, z24turbo93?

[Joseph Upson]

A key element in keeping the stock engine parts together is HEAT control. Under boost the piston gets hotter and hotter until you come off the boost. The high temps contribute to detonation and weakness in the rotating parts. That's why I'm so dead set on taking advantage of the oil squirters coupled with an engine oil cooler in an effort to keep oil temperature between 165 and 180 degrees since in the past I have seen engine oil temps on a turbo setup in excess of 240 degrees. The molecules stay packed tighter together and there is not as much metal expansion, not to mention the anti detonation effect, I can't imagine the amount of heat the cool oil hitting the bottom of the piston takes out of it.

I would aim for an even lower oil temp than 165 if the properties were not affected in a manner that might be detrimental to the engine.

I broke a ring land once in a 2.8 after a good bit of service however the engine had seen a good degree of detonation on and off and had been run as high as 12psi.

[pontiac3100]

these engines can take a detonation.
my friends 90 grand prix 220k miles and runs lean like a mofo, and there's some detonation in there