Will your tuned car fail?

[gtman]

Let's take a look at the 40 major failures in my tuned reliability thread with some cliff notes from me. How concerned should you be that your tuned car will fail?

1. A car had a failed CVT (replaced under warranty). Possible factory defect

2. A car had a blown head gasket on a base +9 Hondata tune. Concerning

3. A car blew a CVT pushing the car hard with an existing emissions problem. Neglect

4. A car blew an engine running an E35/meth setup. Super high output tune

5. A car blew an engine when the owner mistakenly used non-race gas with a tune designed specifically for race gas. User error

6. An owner had major failures on a used car he purchased. Car was possibly abused by prior owner

7. An owner admitted he abused his car and destroyed his engine. Abuse

8. A non-Si owner blew his engine on a Stage 2 Powermetric flex fuel tune w/full bolt ons. Unknown, very rarely installed tune

9. An owner had his CVT replaced under warranty (high power ethanol tune); the new CVT has been trouble free for 70,000+ tuned miles. Possible factory defect

10. A car threw a rod under "iffy" circumstances. Owner loaned his car out and it was abused

11. An owner destroyed his CVT after some track time in 100° weather. Race track use

12. A car had a bent connecting rod but there were many factors (neglect) beyond the tune. Neglect; had hydrolock and ignored engine knock

13. An Si blew two OEM head gaskets (finally replaced with a better aftermarket gasket). Concerning; FBO+flex tuned

14. A car bent a rod while doing WOT datalogging for a custom remote tune (had run meth for a short time as well). Concerning; hatchback

15. A car blew a CVT after serious neglect/abuse with numerous brake launches and burnouts. Abuse

16. An Si blew a transmission running a high power flex fuel tune (full bolt ons). Concerning

17. A hatch bent rods, had bearing material in the oil and CVT issues. Concerning

18. An Si blew the head gasket and lifted the head after 14,000 aggressively driven tuned miles. Concerning

19. A Type R had overheating issues; blew the head gasket and the top piston ring scored the cylinder wall; engine replaced. Track car

20. A car had a failed CVT running a base tune on a stock setup (replaced under warranty). Possible factory defect

21. A car bent a rod after filling up with low octane gas (sold as high octane) in Egypt. Odd, one off situation

22. A car bent a rod on a high output custom tune during a WOT pull. Another hatchback rod failure, concerning

23. A car had a catastrophic engine failure when a tuner bumped up low end torque too far. Poorly set up custom tune

24. A car (a 1.5T hatch) had an engine failure where octane booster possibly contributed. Octane booster is a no no

25. A hatch blew an engine after adding too much octane booster to the tank. Same as above

26. An Si blew a head gasket running a high power flex fuel tune. Concerning; flex fuel again... is this a pattern?

27. A custom tuned 2.0NA had a CVT failure. Unknown; driving style or defect?

28. An Si failed when the engine seized up due to a likely oil pump failure. Are oil pump issues a thing?

29. A Non-Si engine was destroyed when the intake camshaft snapped possibly due to a defective oil pump. Same question as above

30. A hatchback bent a rod running a base tune with no bolt ons. Concerning

31. An Si needed a transmission replacement due to a bearing failure (replaced under warranty). Possible factory defect

32. An Si had damaged engine bearings likely due to a failed oil pump. Oil pump again

33. A car's engine had a spun rod bearing. Rare failure, factory defect? Car wasn't abused

34. An Si owner blew his transmission after admittedly beating on his car long term. Abuse

35. An Si blew a head gasket on an OTS flex fuel tune. Concerning; flex fuel again

36. An Si blew it's transmission after many hard driven miles on a high power tune. Honestly, not a shocker

37. A Non-Si owner had a failed CVT on a car he purchased used. We don't know if the prior owner abused the car

38. A hatchback owner blew his engine on a +6 Hondata base tune. Concerning

39. A CTR track car suffered a blown head gasket and scored cylinder walls. Race track use

40. An aggressively driven Si (on an OTS ethanol tune) had a transmission failure. Flex fuel strikes again or factory defect?

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Here are my takeways from all of this keeping in mind my tune reliability study is a work in progress.

I need all tuned owners to pitch in there by adding their car and adding new update posts. It's all about studying things as the tuned miles ramp up.

Head gaskets are a legitimate concern. But, so far, most failures have been limited to high power flex fuel tunes/FBO. That's not to say head gaskets aren't an issue but a guy on an OTS tune with little to no bolt ons, should fare OK on that front.

Don't touch octane booster with a 10 foot pole.

Type R's are rock solid. The only failures were two track cars.

Are oil pump issues something we need to be concerned with?

Weaker hatch rods are a thing.

My overall takeaway is that someone running a mild OTS tune, using the proper octane and maintaining their car, should be fine for the most part avoiding a major failure. Hatchbacks included. But once you add more bolt ons, up the power and/or abuse/neglect things, the failure rate goes up considerably.

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[LBP]

Good info. I busted my transmission last year, but it was due to improperly securing the harness connector for the reverse lockout after performing a clutch replacement. Entirely my own fault, had nothing to do with my tune/upgrades. I replaced it with a low mileage 2020 Si transmission, and it’s been trouble-free with no sign of issues for >8,000 miles now, even after upgrading my turbo.

I generally steer people away from ethanol, and the trends shown in your post back that up IMO.

On a long enough time frame, everybody’s survival rate drops to zero.

 

[Augenauf]

Tuning is always in the back of my mind, but I don't have much confidence in the pencil thin FK7 rods. The idea of having to take thousands out of my savings to replace my engine is a hard pill to swallow. How much DOES a 1.5t replacement cost these days, at a non-dealer mechanic?

 

[gtman]

Honestly. if you go into it thinking your engine is LIKELY to blow, please don't tune. Look closely at the FK7 rod failures and some were abuse or neglect. Most hatchbacks at OTS levels have done quite well. But sure, I get your concern. And no idea why the Swindon plant used the weaker rods.

Look, I was one of those cautious types that went back and forth on tuning due to blown engine fears. When I finally decided to tune I went the conservative Hondata Carb route. Then I upgraded to a KTuner V2 and 5+ years later I'm happy with my Phearable 1.5R setup. No other engine mods other than a PRL silicone air hose and an aFe performance drop in. A bunch of added handling mods.

This is a setup I feel very confident in. Would I like a bit more off the line punch and a bit more top end? Sure. But if I went that route, I'd be nervous just like you.

With my setup, my car is far, far more competent than it was stock so I'm very happy overall.

 

[That_slow_civicfc1]

Ill take #34 for 500 on a serious note I've noticed for the most part if you run Ethanol obviously you're running more boost and just about guaranteed to pop a gasket. At the end of the day all the love and "sporty" feeling went to the Type R and us 1.5 guys are the stepchild.

 

[That_slow_civicfc1]

Honestly. if you go into it thinking your engine is LIKELY to blow, please don't tune. Look closely at the FK7 rod failures and some were abuse or neglect. Most hatchbacks at OTS levels have done quite well.

Look, I was one of those cautious types that went back and forth on tuning due to blown engine fears. When I finally decided to tune I went the conservative Hondata Carb route. Then I upgraded to KTuner and 5+ years later I'm happy with my Phearable 1.5R setup. No other engine mods other than a PRL silicone air hose and an aFe performance drop in. A bunch of added handling mods.

This is a setup I feel very confident in. Would I like a bit more off the line punch and a bit more top end? Sure. But if I went that route, I'd be nervous just like you.

With my setup, my car is far, far more competent than it was stock so I'm very happy overall.

after seeing all the blowing trans and gaskets on your thread I've getting ready for the inevitable lol but I keep on pushing.

 

[Longislandcivic]

Tuning is always going to be pay to play. There's still a reasonable level of reliability for me not to worry. At what point are you going to be confident? I've owned plenty of cars that blew engines and transmissions at stock power level. You just never know.

 

[gtman]

Ill take #34 for 500 on a serious note I've noticed for the most part if you run Ethanol obviously you're running more boost and just about guaranteed to pop a gasket. At the end of the day all the love and "sporty" feeling went to the Type R and us 1.5 guys are the stepchild.

And the thing is --- I know the community appreciates your honesty. There were two main reasons I started the tune reliability thread.

#1 At the time there was a large contigent of members bogusly saying "If you tune you're guaranteed to blow your motor". Which honestly scared people.

And #2 we had a lot of people lying about what happened when they had a failure. "I was pulling out of a McDonald's at 5 mph and my engine blew", they'd say. After 20 pages of trying to get to the truth they'd finally admitted they were running a BOV, never looked at a datalog and raced their car every night. So sure, the engine gave out at Mickey D's but it was all the abuse before the Big Mac purchase that mattered.

So yes, we appreciate your honesty.

 

[gtman]

Tuning is always going to be pay to play. There's still a reasonable level of reliability for me not to worry. At what point are you going to be confident? I've owned plenty of cars that blew engines and transmissions at stock power level. You just never know.

As an aside, you added your car to my tuned reliability thread back in October. Can you add a new update post there with your additional tuned miles driven and any changes when you can? Thanks. And sorry for the shameless plug.

 

[NixChixFix]

The info you keep putting out really helps a worrywart like me feel better about my mild mods when I otherwise would be consistently anxious. I had a Neuspeed Power Module on my Audi A3 and info was super sparse on reliability with that, and every single day I was afraid I would have a bad story to share.

That being said, I still change my oil every 5-8k and run a fuel injector cleaner the tank before and after every change, just to be sure I'm doing all I can. I also drive very mildly, even my pulls are almost never foot-to-the-floor. It's been 3 years now driving my first manual car and I'm still scared to go ham.

 

[That_slow_civicfc1]

With the oil pumps I wonder if those 2 incidents have something in common. haven't heard or read enough oil pump failures to be considered a big issue. from the few I have they were due to raising the RPM limiter and either starving the engine of oil or the pump gear broke. This was canyon spirited driving and did not happen right away. then again more things play into that like if the oil was filled all the way or not Ect.

 

[gtman]

With the oil pumps I wonder if those 2 incidents have something in common. haven't heard or read enough oil pump failures to be considered a big issue.

Actually 3 of the 27 engine failures involved suspected oil pump issues. Certainly nothing rampant but that's 11% of the failures.

 

[rcolona]

Just ordered my tune yesterday and will update and add info as I go. My civic is a stock 2021 sport hatchback and I purchased the Phearable 1.5t Race.

 

[Longislandcivic]

Oh boy. 1.5r will put a smile on your face. Premium gas only!

 

[Gavin_Danitz]

Thank you for doing so much research to help the community. I have to say after 62k miles (40k miles on a big turbo) and a lot of time on track, the only issue I had was the headgasket. I loved my L15

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