[3XBlackCHC]

Hey everybody!

First post!

I wish I had a better post to start with, but unfortunately I don't. What I have is a dead HC, no warranty coverage and I have now been labeled a criminal mod-er by Dodge. Yes, I made the mistake of listening to my salesman and I am now paying the price. I can go into details on anything anyone cares to know more about but I will try and keep this first post short and to the point.

Here are the details on the car:

2018 Charger HC
Triple Black

Performance related Mods:

Toyo R888R DR’s
BWoody End Links
LMI
Catch Can
Metco Valve cover breather
Cat deletes
2.85 metco pulley/gates belt
Trinity 2 tuner tuned via email tune/data logging
93 octane tune/Race gas tune

Yes, I installed the End links, LMI, Catch can, Breather, Unlocked PCM, Pulley/belt and the trinity 2 tuner and emailed remote tunes.

I learned everything I know from the same research everyone here does and I actually had the time of my life installing these mods by myself and changing out tires several times for track days etc. This had been a life long dream to have a car this powerful, make it more powerful, race it and TRY and do the work myself. I guess that's where I made my mistake. You all can be the judge of that.

I tracked the car once before the mods and ran 11.4/124 which I believe is about what the car should run stock. I then ran it stock at a 1/2 mile event and made a modest 149.6 mph run which I thought wasn't that good. After the mods and tune, I tracked one more time and reduced my times to 10.8/132 which I was very happy about. I was scheduled to again attend a 1/2 mile event and the following occurred just a few days before the event.

The pulley and tuning had been on the car about two weeks when my life changed forever. While out and about, I hit the gas and ended up throwing a P0300 code (random piston misfire) and the engine began running rough. Later after getting home I could hear ticking coming from the engine. Nothing from the SC that I could detect that day. I knew this was bad as anyone would but for the life of me couldn't figure out why it happened.

The only additional piece of information for that day was that I had gotten a fresh oil change that morning. Don't know if that plays into any of this at all.

The only other time a code had ever been thrown was after the first emailed tune I received. It was a P0106 (MAP/Barometric pressure performance problem). The tuner stated that he may not have increased one of the values enough in the base tune he had sent me. He revised it and I installed the new tune and never saw that code again.

After that, I was happy with everything except that when I data-logged I couldn't record the 24 values the tuner was looking for and after much trial and error got 16 values he said he could work with. After receiving another revised tune, I data-logged again and sent those to him with a request for a 93 and separate race gas tune for track days. He sent a final revised tune and stated he had advanced the timing one degree. I asked if that was the 93 or race gas tune and he stated that it could be used for both. I was not sure if that was correct but I went with it since I know he is an experienced tuner.

I obtained some ms109 and ran about 2.5 gallons mixed in with about 5 gallons of 93 to see if there was any difference. I couldn't really detect anything. The day of the engine failure, I had about 2.5 ms109 mixed with about 10 gallons of 93. This was completely a testing and research period for me as I was intending to data log one of the runs. I never made it that far.

The car is not being warrantied due to the mods which I did not try to hide. I had listened to a dealer representative and thought I was completely covered. I was wrong. It also appears that the SC is now making a weird noise as well, sounds like bearings to me. I had taken it to a mechanic nearby just to hopefully help diagnose and after listening to the cylinders with a stethoscope, he noticed a weird sound coming from the SC when the car is shut off. I think the SC must have been damaged as well and is just now starting to show signs of it. I listened to it as well and could hear something I definitely don't like as the engine is turned off. I have videos of both I will try to attach to this post. BTW the mechanic noted that the rattle seems to be coming from the passenger side rear cylinder. He said all the other cylinders sound smooth.

That's my story. I contacted multiple mechanics and so far only one will even attempt to fix the car. Unfortunately he is about 6 weeks lead time before he could get started. I am searching for anyone in So Florida that could get me up and running sooner but it's not looking good. I will be contacting Gearhead Fabs as well, but they are 85 miles from me. I am open to all options though and plan to discuss this with them as soon as tomorrow.

Go easy on me guys, I can hear all the moans and groans already but my questions are:

1 - What happened, why did it fail
2 - Any recommendations on a shop down here that could handle this kind of work in house
3 - What would you be looking to do with your HC if this happened to you?

I don't know what my options are but I know they're all expensive, I've resigned myself to that reality.

Couple things, my baby's name is Bessie the HellBeast. I planned originally on keeping her forever. I mean that. Second, did I mention this was my daily driver? Yes, I'm currently ****ed.

Suggestions, constructive comments, questions, ALL WELCOME.

*I tried to attach video but it wouldn't let me. I will try again down below once I figure it out. Sorry. Added catch can to the list, forgot about that.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am familiar with those shops, but I’m looking for a shop closer to the house in Broward. I think i’m out of luck on that front. The shop I have contacted is very reputable and I would gladly take it there (which may end up being where I take it), i’m just looking for anyone that can do the job sooner than 6-7 weeks from now.

As far as the tuner, I don’t know the protocol on that. I’m not blaming him or anyone for that matter as I don’t have evidence that it’s anyones fault at this stage. I only have the sequence of events. I don’t want it to appear I am bad mouthing him and so I left his name out. He may have done everything right. I have his tunes and my logs so anyone that can actually read that stuff and knows how to analyze the situation would have to make a judgement on that.

As far as opinions in modding/not modding, I can say unequivocably, it wasn’t the smartest thing i’ve ever done but I live once and its my money and time. I dreamt of having a super fast car and as fast as HC’s are they can be faster. I’m an enthusiast, I love to drive fast, I love to race and even though I got started late, I wanted to be as fast as I could be and I probably let my excitement and some friendly competition to be the fastest get the best of me. It is what it is.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

1st - Welcome to Hellcat Nation from H-Town !
That's a tough 1st thread , sorry to hear this happen to you , but like others have said & others will say, that the tuner & tune is the most important mod of all & you can't cheap out on that.
I hope everything works out for you ASAP, GL.

I agree 100%

This tuner came highly recommended, however if I had it to do all over again I def would have taken it to a reputable shop and had it done. Thank you for the advice.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

Your mods dont seem out of line, but I wonder and I know many will want to ok know who is your Tuner?

Gearhead is a good reliable speedshop
So is Stage 6 Motorsports, LLC. | Performance Through Innovation in Florida!

The distance to get your Hellcat there will be well worth the money because of the experienced Hemi builders.
Me I'd tell you to go to De to the most experienced Hemi shop HighHorseman

Just make sure you send your HC to an experienced shop and Tuner.

Linda

Thank you Linda! I have read more of your responses to other posts than I can recall. I am in agreement with you about going to the most experiences and I think I am definitely looking for the most experienced I can find that can get to the work somewhat quickly. Thank you so much for responding!

 

[3XBlackCHC]

Moving on to the diagnostic phase now....

Did you bounce off the rev limiter at all? What max RPM did you reach? These modern Hemis don't like excess RPM, and the supercharger isn't a big fan either. You can fix that with reinforced parts, but your mod list doesn't show any of those so it's important to know if there was a high RPM event in here to get on the road to recovery....

Good question. I can only speculate, but I know I was probably in 5th gear as I was wot with speed still climbing. I don’t think it bounced the limiter but that day is all kind of a blur now. I heard the engine light sound, looked down and let off the gas immediately. I clicked the code that popped up on the tuner when I saw the multiple random piston misfire code P0300.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

I feel bad for ya especially because those are considered mild mods. I really like your honesty and candor though. Hope you don't let this situation discourage your experience of owning one of these machines. Get it fixed right and keep us posted. Hang around, we could always use more people with your attitude. Good luck.

Thank you sir! I am def getting her fixed one way or the other and I am hoping to use this as an opportunity to make some improvements.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

Second question...Given your mods, I see the potential for more boost, but stock injectors. That's possible but you need to be sure you didn't run out of injector and go lean.

So there's a couple of things to consider...will stay tuned!

Yes the pulley I installed showed a 3-4 lbs additional boost depending on the gear. In 4th it was at 14 and in 5th it would jump to 15lbs for a few moments but mainly stayed at 14. Def stock injectors, you are correct there, I did as much reading as I could find and I think I found as many people indicating bigger injectors are reccomended as said they’re not absolutely necessary. My future plans included bigger injectors.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

Ok here are the videos:

 

[3XBlackCHC]

Unless you are at elevation, most reputable tuners require upgraded injectors for the basic 2.85 setup.

Maybe you got lucky and only ate some plugs

Ok, I was not aware of that, that may be me not being aware enough of certain limitations. My tuner def knew exactly what my set up was and def knew my injectors were stock and I was in So Florida.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

What exactly happened to the engine.

Would be nice to know who tuned it.

Sounds like too much timing on 93 even with a little good gas mixed in. Did you melt plugs, crack a piston, swhat is wrong with the engine?

These superchargers are actually fairly stout. An electronic noise after the car is shut off is normal. The bypass valve is known to make some noise once in awhile.

It hasn’t been determined yet. I am looking for a shop still that can handle the work, I have found one but am looking for an alternative due to a lengthy lead time. They are a good shop that has other HC’s they’re working on. I am calling Gearhead tomorrow although they are pretty far from me so it may be an issue. The tuner is affiliated (or used to be directly affiliated with) with DiabloSport which is who I got the Trinity 2 from. He was recommended by a friend who had used him so I wasn’t completely blind but that may have been a mistake.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

I would not do 15 lbs. on stock injectors , I think any pulley change should get the appropriate injector.
When I had mine on the Dyno a couple weeks ago , it was at 90% duty cycle at WOT on the injectors with stock pullies just a tune. I have even thought about putting bigger injectors in with stock pullies just to get more head room.​

Great advice, I think I read too many conflicting statements on this issue and decided it wasn’t as big of an issue as it most likely is. I did have plans to go bigger injectors though, it was slated for a future addition.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

You also mite have floated some lifters ?
If that's all it is ?... that wouldn't be terrible but the heads still have to come off.

Thank you, Im hoping I will get some good news out of this situation somehow, maybe it wont be as bad as I am imagining but i’ll keep the thread informed once I have a final determination.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

How does the oil pressure look (psi) ?

The oil PSI has been within normal limits since before and after the incident. At idle it sits around 30-40 and at speed around 60-65psi. Temps all normal on every front and no engine codes come on at all since that day.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

Best of luck and hope you get it fixed fast. For those mods you shouldn't have had any issues. Definitely was the tune. I was really confused about your tuner telling you the 93 tune and Race Gas tune where the same??? That sounds like a big blunder to me. Those are two different worlds. I mean you can't run the amount of timing you would on Race Gas when running 93 octane. Was it some sort of flex tune?
But in the end if the tune was set for race gas (more timing etc etc) and you were running a mix of lets say 98 octane average then I'm betting that's what caused the damage.

Thats been my biggest question since this happened. The car ran flawlessly before that day and once the new tune which he claimed was good for both got installed, the car had a melt down. Really makes me wonder but I honestly don’t know enough about tuning and fuels to know it should or shouldn’t have been done that way. Im hoping to get that information here. Thank you, for the response I am starting to sense people have at least a small issue with that type of tune.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

If I'm not mistaken , mine at idle is still 60 psi.
I think- lifters, plugs & injectors is possible issues ?

I think mine has always idled lower psi but I could be wrong. I was paying attention to that on that day because of the oil change that morning. I did some quick googling to see of the psi was normal and I remember being satisfied that it was in a normal range.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I am coming up on a engine transplant in about a month. I’ll be removing a complete 915whp (Tim Barth tuned) 2016 engine that I will be putting up for sale. Has a total of 2,800 miles, with 2,000 of those being easy street break-in before the build. 12 conservative quarter mile passes at this point with times in the 9.80s at 144+ mph. Two half mile runs at 170+ mph. Very nicely mannered street motor that is as strong and tight as new with no issues. $10k complete. I haven’t advertised this as we are not quite there yet but should be in 4 to 5 weeks. Might be a good deal depending on the cost you are looking at to fix or replace yours and what you ultimately want performance wise. Just the build on one like this will be $8k by the time you add everything up (the tune is included). Again... sorry this happened. As previously said.... tuning is everything so whichever way you go in getting yours fixed I would recommend using one of the recognized tuners that are available here on this forum. Good luck!

I will def keep this in mind. That could be a real game changer for me and may actually be cheaper than what I am facing. Idk how to PM someone on here but I would def be interested. Where are you located?

 

[3XBlackCHC]

First sign of trouble was the P0300 code. Remove all spark plugs and check. Guaranteed you'll find the one or more bad cylinders. If you can afford a cheap borescope check the bores.
If any plugs are missing the tips your gonna need pistons at the very least. Do not run that engine any more!!

Roger that, I will pull the plugs once I fig out how lol and check them all out. Thanks for the advice.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

3XBlackCHC
When the problem occurred were you using the 93 tune or race Gas tune?
Is your Race Gas tune MS109 or Q16?

I was using the last revision tune I recieved after submitting some data logs. I was told, here try this one, I added one degree of timing. I then asked where the race gas tune was and I was told that the tune could be used for either. I assume then that this was a 93 tune that he was claiming could be used for both, i asked can this be used for both and his response was, yes it can. The race gas I have is ms109.

 

[3XBlackCHC]

Look into American Muscle Performance out of Pompano Beach, good folks. Scott’s been building engines, racing and tuning for a long time.

Thank you sir, I will call them today. Had not heard of them.