Okay I had a thread dedicated to my 1 month long bad block issue with my car, and at the end of all of this, I received a factory sealed engine from GM.

That being said here is my issue...

1. The car runs like **** IMO. It idles smooth, coasts smooth, but at WOT it lacks power...almost like a a parachute is strapped to the back of it. You can feel it and hear it.

2. The car smells like ass. It almost smells like something electrical is burning, but nothing is.

3. White..then black smoke comes out from the exhasut when I initially step on the gas after start up.

4. The exhaust note sounds like a raspy Honda 1.6L with a APC fart can.

The car boosts fine. It peaks to 18 settles at 15 then rises back to 17. Of course I havent taken over 5k RPM, and I havent really done a full WOT set on all the gears yet, just a few 2nd and 3rd almost WOT runs to 5K then I shut it down. I usually run the car moderately for the first 500 miles, around a 4-6 on a 1-10 with 1 being babying beyond babying and 10 being beating the **** out of it.

I am guessing this is just normal for new engine break in. The only thing that worries me is I did not have this problem when I bought the car new with 70 miles on it.

I am not for certain on our cars, but I do know manufacturers run a car before shipping them out to dealers. With this being said, do they do the same to engines when they need to be replaced, if not this could account for the above issues.

Any of you guys with a new engine chime in. Thanks.

 

They probably flashed the ECU back to day one, as if you just picked a new car up at the dealer, and you'll need several start cycles and/or miles before the ECU will allow the engine to develop full power. Be patient.

If this had been me I would have bought a cooling system tester (they can be bought for less than $50) pumped the cooling system up to 30 # and let it sit over night. If you can't find where the coolant went that way. ?????????????????????????? I once had a car, actually a customers car, that had a very slow coolant leak. If it had been my car I would have just added a quart every now and then. Anyway. It turned out to be an almost invisable crack in the block in the lifter valley right at a lifter boss. It would only leak after the engine got up to operating temp, then the coolant would evaporate in the heat and blow out the crank case breather as just hot, humid air. That one drove me crazy but I DID find it.

 

How many miles on the new motor? I work at a dealer and know that they smell like **** while all the oils and stuff burn out of the cylinders and exhaust from assembly.

 

I have around 40 miles on the new engine. 32,000 on everything else. The smell I can tolerate, but the hesitatation and lack of power sucks, and that raspy sound from my magnaflow sucks ass. I have checked everything, and all seems fine. It feels like I lost damn near 30 hp.

 

hmm i thought it was boost leak but if it the boost goes to 17 the its normal...clogged cat???

 

New engines and headers/exhaust manifolds do that.

A friend of mine put new headers on his car and got very worried when smoke and smell was coming from under the hood and out the back. It was just breaking in and burning off the oils on the metals and will go away.

 

and as for the raspy exhaust.....Thats magnaflow for ya


Edit:

suppose Ill put somthing useful here aswell.......If it didnt sound raspy before, you likely need to tighten down your header, header to dp, or dp to catback connections.

 

You're doing wot runs on a brand new, unbroken in, motor?

 

Yea I say your setting yourself up for another popped motor. Take it easy for a while.

 

I never had any of those problems when I picked up my car after the engine was replaced. Plus it says in the manual not to make full throttle starts. It's ok to do a few highway pulls, did one right after I picked it up to see if my tune was installed. I'm glad I did cause they forgot to clip the charge pipe and it was hitting my hood. Took it back in the morning and was all set.

 

There are many owners that say the LNF doesn't really "wake up" until it has 3K miles on it.

 

Tis true. My car would fall flat on it's face for the first 1k miles.

I could even see it pull timing with my DashHawk. Not sure how it determines this in the tune, you might ask this dealership if it's the case though.

 

First of all I am not doing WOT runs...i dont full throttle it. I am just used to it being quicker on accelerating. Secondly, even the owners manual states no full throttle starts or past 5k accelerations, so mashing the gas on a new engine is fine within reason. Third my engine didnt just pop, the block was bad from the factory, and I made it to 32k with it, which I think is farther than any other porous block lnf. I am trying to change rpms and gears as much as possible so I dont stay at one constant speed or rpm, and this is when I notice the hesitation. The engine just doesnt feel right. To better explain, if I slowly press the accelerator there is no hesitation, but the quicker I push the pedal the more hesitation.

Edit - BTW, since I cant express tone in words, I was not trying to come off as a dick, I am genuinely concerned and genuinely want advice. Thanks.

 

When i first got my SS/TC i was really questioning my decision because it was so sluggish compared to my SS/SC . After about 1500 miles it was like a whole new car . I know the sound your talking about too .......... it's almost like a bog between 2500 and 4500 rpm that sounds raspy.

I wasn't the only one having this problem ..... a lot of new owners were having the same issue . SO I'd say not to worry about it till you put some miles on .

 

Several people have suggested you be patient. The car will wake up when you have enough start cycles, and/or miles, and/or hours as determined by the ECU. Consider a forced break in period. It will probably increase gradually as mine did. I picked my car up at the dealership at 11:00 AM with 50 miles on it. I left for a 1200 mile trip the same day at 3:00 PM. I did NOT jump on the interstate, instead running US 1 which is a state road for about 400 miles stopping often for breaks. Not for me. For the car. THEN I got on the interstate and pissed off a lot of people by doing anywhere from 40 to 70 mph. The idea is to NOT run the car at a constant speed when new. Vary you speed so oil will get op the the valve stems to help break them in also. Coasting down to a lower will cause higher manifold vacuum which will help pull oil up to the valve guides. This MAY also cause a tiny bit of white smoke out the exhaust as the guides seat in. Not to worry it will go away when the car has miles on it. Mine started to run better at the end of that trip and was up to speed by the end of the return trip. It was a totally different car from when I left the dealership.

So be patient. The car will come to YOU. You don't have to go to IT.

 

Thanks guys. Maybe Im just worrying too much, which is to be expected since I did just get my engine replaced. I guess my first engine must have been test drove hard for those first 70 miles, because it was stout from day one. Anyways, considering their was coolant in my oil from previous engine block fiasco, would the coolant have had an ill effect on the turbo since oil is running to it?

 

i do feel for you man. i would be a complete basket case!! its not like they did a brake job and the brakes are marring again...this is a major key component "transplant"!! the best thing to do is journal what you see and hear for your own piece of mind...journal anything that seems out of the norm to you. date, times, condtions, etc. worst case, you did a lot of writing. if things act up down the road, you can refer back to the journal. i am **** and want the best for my car AND my money!!

btw - is there a bulletin about this? is this fairly common (porous block problem)?

 

Yeh, I am keeping notes on it. I honestly do believe its just breaking in, because the more I drive it, the better it feels. It gets into boost crazy fast now, even when I am trying not to, which is weird. It doesnt feel like its boosting, but the gauge shows it, so i dunno, maybe once I hit 500 or so miles I may bring the hammer down.

Regarding porous block...I think there have been 3-4 known cases on this forum, and 3-4 maybe cases as well on this forum. This can happen with any car, just ask the new civic guys. Alot of those guys are having block issues right after their warranty runs out, thank god for 100000 mile powertrain warranty.

 

I had my motor replaced due to a porous block after about 12k miles..

 

You shouldnt even be dabbling in boost until 500 miles..... how clueless are you

 

Second that you shouldn't be above 4 grand or boosting before 500 miles.

And to answer your ecm question, YES they have a OBD Drive Cycle counter before they will "unlock" to prevent hapless fools from destroying the lifespan of their engines and costing the manufacture money under warranty. This is also why you should not tune your care below 5K miles on the odo.

 

Can anybody answer this?

 

There is no way to reset the PCM back to "day 1" so it can "unlock" slowly. Honestly, if it lacks power and smells bad (I'm guessing like sulfur?) you probably have a bad catalytic converter (maybe from burning all the coolang).

 

Did you check to see if the oil is over filled? that might explain the white smoke?

 

Threads from the dead are popping up everywhere this week.