1.5T Hobby-man's engine thread

hobby-man

Senior Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Threads
50
Messages
2,867
Reaction score
2,739
Location
GTA
Vehicle(s)
2021 WRX STi, 2018 Sport Touring Hatchback (sold)
Build Thread
Link
Country flag
So for those regulars around here who don't know yet, I lost my engine (L15BA) on Tuesday during some street datalogging for an e-tune with Derek Robinson. Here is a link to my most recent update post in @gtman's tuning survey.

In brief, I had been running for most of my tuned miles (nearly 20k km) on KTuner 21 PSI basemap and then TSP Stage 1 with a 27WON catted downpipe and Mishimoto intake. Around spring time last year (June) I decided to start working toward FBO and added on 27WON's intake with race MAF / turbo inlet pipe / FMIC. At that time I also had my TSP1 file re-scaled to use the Race MAF by Derek and we did some trouble-free datalogging. Since then due to work from home I have probably put 3k km or less on my engine with the full (- turbo) bolt ons. I probably hadn't even gone WOT since the required datalogs at that time.

Fast forward to last week, I pulled the trigger on a W1 turbo and got that installed. Other than two very quick test drives around the block, I did not drive the car with the turbo installed and obviously not hard at all. Derek and I then got the first revision of the custom tune flashed on the car and started to do datalogs. During the final datalog (WOT) is when I believe I lost my motor. Knock control started at 0.60 and rapidly hit 1.30 (the max I believe) over a single pull, and a rattle/tick noise developed from the engine. After inspection with a boroscope camera it appears cylinder #1 bent a rod and scored the cylinder wall.

To be extremely clear, nothing was wrong with the tune and nothing Derek did caused it. Revision 1 is always ultra-conservative and I believe the damage was already done before the W1 went on. Probably brewing for a while.

As things stand right now, I am looking at getting a 2020 Si (L15B7) motor from a recycler here. The plan is to do rods and pistons before putting it back in my car as I do NOT want to go through this again. I'll be using this thread to post pics/insights on the process as we go and try my best to answer any questions!

Datalogs attached via Google Drive for people who want to examine them






------------------------------------------------------------------

Ongoing list of non OEM parts:

Saenz Performance Series Connecting Rods: PS-HL15-A00-T
JE Pistons (standard bore/compression, 73mm/10.3:1, with wrist pin upgrade): 357429
Brian Crower valve springs/keepers/titanium retainers: BC0088
Boundary oil pump gears: L15-OPG
Wavetrac LSD: 60-309-195WK
MAPerformance ARP headstud kit: MAP HDAX-HSK


Honda Civic 10th gen Hobby-man's engine thread Capture.PNG


Honda Civic 10th gen Hobby-man's engine thread Untitled


Also got a couple photos from when the motor was collected at the recyclers. 2019 with 18,000 km!! Check out that VIN - genuine FC1. $1792.30 CAD taxes in for the long block.

Honda Civic 10th gen Hobby-man's engine thread IMG_2374
Honda Civic 10th gen Hobby-man's engine thread IMG_2375
 
Last edited:

kytos

Senior Member
First Name
Marcos
Joined
Apr 18, 2018
Threads
7
Messages
601
Reaction score
416
Location
Madrid - Spain
Website
www.instagram.com
Vehicle(s)
CIVIC SPORT 1.5t 2017 EUDM
Country flag
Thanks for sharing the datalogs and the honesty about it.
 

mrburgerUS

Senior Member
First Name
Nicholai
Joined
Dec 20, 2019
Threads
21
Messages
216
Reaction score
318
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Vehicle(s)
2020 Civic Hatchback Si Swap
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
Joining the club! Built engines are definitely seeming to be a good option for hatches wanting to go whole hog. Currently my car is awaiting parts for a body repair, so I haven’t done much in the way of modifications to my built engine. I would definitely recommend the Saenz rods over BC, the amount of material that had to be removed even for the Saenz rods on the 2020 block seemed like a lot. Just about 10 hours with a dremel silicon carbide bit and various fiber discs to smooth it out for me. I would have a shop do this if you can, I just couldn’t find any trustworthy shops in the area and my biggest contact had a baby and fell off the earth. Also, the Saenz rods use a larger wrist pin bore, so the factory pistons will have to be replaced. I learned this the hard way, but it was an excuse to get the JE pistons!
 

David228cx

Senior Member
First Name
David
Joined
Apr 24, 2019
Threads
10
Messages
230
Reaction score
144
Location
Spain
Vehicle(s)
2017 Red Honda Civic Sport (EU)
Country flag
Well this concerns me a little. I'm waiting for the clutch to install that, the downpipe and W1 turbo. My car has 100K km and so far so good. I treat the engine well but I do some spirited driving and track days every once in a while.

Could anyone shed some light into the possible causes of failure? Anything relevant in the data logs?
 
Last edited:

ivanCivix

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2019
Threads
10
Messages
142
Reaction score
58
Location
Italy
Vehicle(s)
Civic 10th gen 1.5 sport
Country flag
I'm following with attentions these failures, to me, if not custom tuned a downpipe could let the turbo spool too fast generating easly a good amount of torque at low rpms, where the rods are stressed.

They could have been damaged before the w1 install.

This a personal conjecture!
 


disgraced.fk8

IG: @break_ya_neck_fk7
First Name
Drew
Joined
Aug 15, 2019
Threads
35
Messages
1,279
Reaction score
950
Location
Rochester, NY
Vehicle(s)
2021 Boost Blue Type R
Vehicle Showcase
2
Country flag
Thank you for sharing and being open about this!!

Honestly, half the reason for my recent upgrade to the R was fear of doing some damage... I believe tuning a stock car with maybe intake exhaust will have little effect if you don't push it hard. I started to really, REALLY enjoy driving my car after the Phearable tune and intake/catted DP/motor mount/exhaust and started to get more aggressive. I think in another year I would be making a similar thread, so I made the call to swap. I agree with this here:

I'm following with attentions these failures, to me, if not custom tuned a downpipe could let the turbo spool too fast generating easly a good amount of torque at low rpms, where the rods are stressed.
I think you're on to something there. Even with the catted DP, I was hitting higher boost than I should, and it really came on early sometimes. You have to modulate that with your foot and I definitely wasn't the best of that especially with a CVT that likes to hold RPM below 3k if you are in D.

And this has been said other places too, this isn't new. I know personally I've seen comments from gtman about how once you get a downpipe, that's really the time you should start looking into a custom tune. There's definitely some merit to that.
 
OP
OP
hobby-man

hobby-man

Senior Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Threads
50
Messages
2,867
Reaction score
2,739
Location
GTA
Vehicle(s)
2021 WRX STi, 2018 Sport Touring Hatchback (sold)
Build Thread
Link
Country flag
Thanks for sharing the datalogs and the honesty about it.
Of course. You're not gonna hear me say the usual "babied it, never WOT, always shift under 3k" bs lol. I am definitely an overall responsible owner and commute a lot in my car, but I tune and mod to make things more fun to open up.

Joining the club! Built engines are definitely seeming to be a good option for hatches wanting to go whole hog. Currently my car is awaiting parts for a body repair, so I haven’t done much in the way of modifications to my built engine. I would definitely recommend the Saenz rods over BC, the amount of material that had to be removed even for the Saenz rods on the 2020 block seemed like a lot. Just about 10 hours with a dremel silicon carbide bit and various fiber discs to smooth it out for me. I would have a shop do this if you can, I just couldn’t find any trustworthy shops in the area and my biggest contact had a baby and fell off the earth. Also, the Saenz rods use a larger wrist pin bore, so the factory pistons will have to be replaced. I learned this the hard way, but it was an excuse to get the JE pistons!
Appreciate this insight. I want to do the motor right but also quickly as I need my car back. Fortunately the guy who I am working with is in the process of building another L15B7, but that dude had some issues and won't need it until April. So I'm basically taking the internals already on the way and we'll just place a new order for him. At this point I'm not even sure what rods they are but I think they're BC. Honestly not sure, my attention was focused on sourcing the L15B7. A machine shop will be doing all the work so I'm not overly concerned. We'll also be putting in JE pistons, standard bore to save on $$$ for not having to bore out and hone the cylinders.

It seems like you were running a meth kit?
Ah, thanks for pointing that out. Should have addressed that by bad. The meth kit was just installed like a week or two before the turbo. Similar to the W1, just ran it around a couple times to make sure it turned off/on when needed and no leaks. It was never tuned it (that was the final step of my custom tune with Derek) so there was no unsafe ignition advance or added boost. Funny enough, Derek told me that running meth without an ignition advance actually results in LOST power. But it does have the benefit of charge air cooling and knock prevention, which is the major reason why I got it in the first place. For engine protection l...o.....l.......

Thank you for sharing and being open about this!!

Honestly, half the reason for my recent upgrade to the R was fear of doing some damage... I believe tuning a stock car with maybe intake exhaust will have little effect if you don't push it hard. I started to really, REALLY enjoy driving my car after the Phearable tune and intake/catted DP/motor mount/exhaust and started to get more aggressive. I think in another year I would be making a similar thread, so I made the call to swap. I agree with this here:

I think you're on to something there. Even with the catted DP, I was hitting higher boost than I should, and it really came on early sometimes. You have to modulate that with your foot and I definitely wasn't the best of that especially with a CVT that likes to hold RPM below 3k if you are in D.

And this has been said other places too, this isn't new. I know personally I've seen comments from gtman about how once you get a downpipe, that's really the time you should start looking into a custom tune. There's definitely some merit to that.
As I said in the tuning thread, I don't think it's possible to say exactly what happened. Could definitely have been an existing factory weakness I exposed over time. Could have slowly damaged an otherwise great motor over time with bolt-ons. All we can say right now is even on the ultra-conservative revision 1 for my custom tune, the combined weight of FBO was too much.

I don't know very much about the L15B7 (yet), but for those with the weaker base motors I'd probably suggest that an intake and flash tune is as far as you should go without custom tuning if you are concerned about longevity.

I've anecdotally heard that individually a DP, the turbo inlet, and race MAF all helped with added torque. So all 3 of those bolted on could definitely have weakened the rods before the W1 ever went on, as @ivanCivix pointed out.
 
OP
OP
hobby-man

hobby-man

Senior Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Threads
50
Messages
2,867
Reaction score
2,739
Location
GTA
Vehicle(s)
2021 WRX STi, 2018 Sport Touring Hatchback (sold)
Build Thread
Link
Country flag
Well this concerns me a little. I'm waiting for the clutch to install that, the downpipe and W1 turbo. My car has 100K km and so far so good. I treat the engine well but I do some spirited driving and track days every once in a while.

Could anyone shed some light into the possible causes of failure? Anything relevant in the data logs?
What other mods do you have? The fact you held off on the DP is probably a really good thing IMO. If you're getting tuned immediately after installing those 3 parts (minus clutch break in) I don't think you have to be TOO concerned, provided you're extremely easy on it during break in.
 


David228cx

Senior Member
First Name
David
Joined
Apr 24, 2019
Threads
10
Messages
230
Reaction score
144
Location
Spain
Vehicle(s)
2017 Red Honda Civic Sport (EU)
Country flag
What other mods do you have? The fact you held off on the DP is probably a really good thing IMO. If you're getting tuned immediately after installing those 3 parts (minus clutch break in) I don't think you have to be TOO concerned, provided you're extremely easy on it during break in.
I currently have these engine mods:
PRL intercooler
27won intake
Custom exhaust
Tsp stage 1 with Ktuner

I also made a series of chassis reinforcement mods to hold the extra power well when I mount the W1.
Rmm Perrin inserts
Tein Flex z coilovers
Lightweight wheels (2forge zf1)
Hardrace front strut bar
White line sway bars kit
Custom big brake kit

Btw, good luck on the rebuild. I'll be looking forward to see it running again :)
 
OP
OP
hobby-man

hobby-man

Senior Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Threads
50
Messages
2,867
Reaction score
2,739
Location
GTA
Vehicle(s)
2021 WRX STi, 2018 Sport Touring Hatchback (sold)
Build Thread
Link
Country flag
Good luck on the rebuild! I’ll be following.
Thanks brother! Should be getting the L15B7 in today.

I currently have these engine mods:
PRL intercooler
27won intake
Custom exhaust
Tsp stage 1 with Ktuner

I also made a series of chassis reinforcement mods to hold the extra power well when I mount the W1.
Rmm Perrin inserts
Tein Flex z coilovers
Lightweight wheels (2forge zf1)
White line sway bars kit
Custom big brake kit

Btw, good luck on the rebuild. I'll be looking forward to see it running again :)
Appreciate that! :) Really nice chassis mods btw. I feel like you are still operating within what's safe but obviously my advice is worth less these days given my bent rod LOL. Are you e-tuning with Derek or doing something local? I'd maybe suggest having a tune file ready to load up before you even start the engine with the turbo and DP. Something ultra conservative and boost limited. Then you can at least drive around a bit to break in the clutch and you're not rolling around FBO on TSP stage 1, which is what I did. Just thinking out loud though...
 

David228cx

Senior Member
First Name
David
Joined
Apr 24, 2019
Threads
10
Messages
230
Reaction score
144
Location
Spain
Vehicle(s)
2017 Red Honda Civic Sport (EU)
Country flag
My plan is to get the base map to get the logs as soon as it's installed. I hope that's safe enough. I've seen people with the L15BA reach 300hp at the crank safely around here. So let's hope it goes well.

Yes, Id get Drob to e-tune it.
 
OP
OP
hobby-man

hobby-man

Senior Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Threads
50
Messages
2,867
Reaction score
2,739
Location
GTA
Vehicle(s)
2021 WRX STi, 2018 Sport Touring Hatchback (sold)
Build Thread
Link
Country flag
My plan is to get the base map to get the logs as soon as it's installed. I hope that's safe enough. I've seen people with the L15BA reach 300hp at the crank safely around here. So let's hope it goes well.

Yes, Id get Drob to e-tune it.
Nice, I think driving around for a long time with the downpipe contributed to my failure. Please keep us updated but I'm sure things will be fine for you!
 

Civii

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2020
Threads
3
Messages
312
Reaction score
189
Location
Los Angeles / Antelope Valley
Vehicle(s)
2017 Honda Civic
Country flag
I was riding around with a DP, IC and a CAI with TSP for quite a while before getting a custom tune. No issues (knock on wood). It could have been the DP but maybe it was something else. Good luck with the build!
Sponsored

 


 


Top