Well, my setup is the following:

ARE engine:
385CID stroker
stg3 ARE heads
111lsa 242/248 .610/.613

in:
TSP 85mm airlid
LSX-90 intake
90mm TB
Z06 MAF

out:
Kooks 1-3/4 stepped 1-7/8 headers w/ 3" collectors (stainless)
3" true-duals dumped before the axles

Car has never been able to make more than 420rwhp... doesn't make sense.
Last time I picked up the car, was after the LSX-90 install, and car was tuned/dynoed.
Gained nothing from a LS1 intake manifold... doesn't make sense.
On top of that, 1st run had A/F maxed at around 18 on the screen throughout the whole RPM

Added lots of fuel... then id dipped a bit around 3000-4000 rpm to high 14s A/F

Then added more fuel and tuned to decent A/F... but car was not able to make more than 420rwhp.
Now the thing is that it smokes like a cheminy coming from the oil dipstick area (will include a link to a video of it).

Car went back to ARE 4 weeks ago to have the nitrous installed... still not installed. Anyway, a leakdown test was done, and the numbers told to me that all cylinders leaked down nicely and that the worse # was still under 10% leakdown... Engine is perfect.

Now given the situation where the engine isn't making power, and has so much blow-by, I'm thinking there is something seriously wrong and that the #s provided are not true.

The engine is presently being verified by an independant source and I'll keep you guys updated on the "new leak-down test results" as well as what is found when we pull the heads off.

I will update as I get more data... please don't make this thread go south or become a flame-war.
If you have any ideas on what could be wrong, feel free to do so, any input is good and will be looked into.

 

I can't see not picking anything up on the intake swap. What injectors are in that thing. The a/f for na should be 12.9-13.2 depending on what the motor likes. What gasket are you running and static compression? What does the timing and knock look like? What rpm are you running it to? Seems like a valve not sealing or a busted piston ringland. Need more info to make a more educated guess. Pulling the heads is a good idea to get to the bottom of it.

 

can u post a copy of your graph?? i know you should be putting down better numbers than that!

 

What is your fuel pressure? Maybe you dont have enuff pump. Also you need a catch can and a check valve on you pcv system. And it wouldnt hurt for you to go ahead and put a metco breather on the valve cover. And as stated what injectors are you using? If your going with the spray also I hope you have the fuel system to support that.

 

I'm just thinking that I'm being BS-ed again about the leak-down test.
You'll be seeing the video of the blow-by and you know what I mean... it's impossible the leak-down was good... so the heads are coming apart anyways, and we'll see right away what the bottom end looks like.
At that point, I'll also verify that all the items that are supposed to be in the engine are actually there.
What I can tell already, is that the heads that I paid for don't seem to be the ones in the car.
I paid for ARE stage3 heads with 5-angle job or something like that, and it says Patriot on the heads, something that was covered, and I removed it.. :rant: :rant2:
That's a place for EXPLANATION #1: I did not pay for Patriot Heads.
So the engine is coming apart and being rebuilt... I hope I have a 385 in there.

As far as injectors, they are 37or 38... and the pump is a Racetronix one... if that was the problem, we would start seeing a problem after a given RPM, which isn't the case.

 

damn dude, that really sucks... seems like alot of sponsors lately are starting to slack on QC and most importantly reliability/trust.

 

basically, the plan is:
1. validate the information I was told by ARE on my engine
2. validate I have all the parts that I paid for (well I still have the whole nitrous kit missing)
3. getting it rebuilt
4. go race and have a

You guys will get updates of everything as it gets unveiled.

 

and as far as I can tell, ARE isn't a sponsor here, and the point of this thread isn't to bash, but to show in a factual manner what is happening, and eventually get to share what the issues are.
I'm fed up of waiting after so many empty promises and "swearing on mom's grave" since december 2003.
I want my car in a running state.

 

Well hopefully whoever you took it to gets it to run right. I am interested to see what the issue was. The heads ARE sent me were supposed to be 11.1-1, and after my all. stock block blew up I found they were milled to 11.8-1 and the tune that came with the package had stock timing. The heads did flow 295 @ .600 with no valve job at all so I guess things could have been worse.

 

Man, that sucks eugenioSS. I believe the Heads are why you are not making that much power. I hope it is a 385. You should make 450 plus.

 

ask ARE why their motor isn't making the power...

it sounds like they built the motor correct? did they do the tuning?

 

I've asked more than once, and never got a straight answer... just some blah-blah and change of subject.
Tuning was also done by them... from A-Z.
I'm also fed up of all those empty promises that I kept on believing/hoping, and results never ended up showing.
I'm no longer in a state to get calls to discuss things... if they want to call me, it better be with a tracking # on the missing parts that they owe me.
But I could bet I will be getting a phone call from Nick this week... because of this thread, but he always ignored my voicemails for updates and wanting to know why he was falling short on his word (wathever that is worth)

 

Puffing from the dipstick and oil cap is usually broken ringlands, hole in the piston or a cracked head.

Good luck getting it fixed. You should be making 480+ RWHP with your mods compared to my old 385 that made ~465/440RWTQ RWHP with LS6 intake, stock throttle body and stock MAF.

 

sounds like you got hosed. GL getting it fixed.

 

I just looked at this quickly, but if your AFs are wacked out even after tuning you could have a spark/ingition or fueling issue. Start by pulling plugs and checking all the wires.

You could also have a broken spring -- this is what happened with my motor, although you would probably see this on a leakdown test.

 

here is the video of the perfect engine that had under 10% (says ARE) on all cylinders for leakdown.
http://s97997631.onlinehome.us/temp/Eugenio/hurt385.wmv

 

Leakdown test #s are in:
cylinder #1: 18%
cylinder #2: 20%
cylinder #3: 13%
cylinder #4: 35%
cylinder #5: 15%
cylinder #6: 31%
cylinder #7: 28%
cylinder #8: 20%

Looks like 3 are really bad
2 are not good
and 3 are barely acceptable.


I'd like to get an explanation how ARE got leakdown test numbers showing that the worse # was under 10%.
I'm thinking that they just gave me that # for me to shutup and move on... fed up of being gullable and being BS-ed.

next step, open the heads, and show what is found... and go from there.

 

2 questions come to mind:

1. was a leakdown really done @ ARE ?
If not, I was lied to again, and given BS #s.
If it was done, they should know the engine was dammaged.

2. If that was the case, how ethical are they ? Were they waiting for me to blow the engine off ?

I guess I'll never know the answer to those questions, but anyone that builds engines should know that an engine with that much blow-by has issues.
Even I know there was something wrong, but didn't know what... I'm glad I decided to get it checked since I found it unsatisfactory what I was told, and never given any explanation on power being done and the smoke (blow-by).

Next step... open the engine up, and document the whole thing... for the whole world to see.

 

I will be following this thread closely. If I was getting an engine built there I'd be getting a little nervous about now. Good luck, Eugenio.

 

bummer