392 Wrangler with Whipple Supercharger kit

[Asad 27]

Hello hope everyone is doing well, I have a 24 Jeep Wrangler 392 with portals from 74weld, Raceline Beadlocks on Nitto Trail Grapplers on 40s, & Whipple Supercharger kit.
After the install was done on the S/C kit the jeep was started & it was "misfiring". Installer reached out to Whipple and was told to use colder plugs (which comes in the Whipple kit as part of the package)& was not installed. Colder plugs installed once Whipple sent them to installer and jeep was still misfiring. Installer believed that there was an issue with whipples tune but no response from whipple or their tuner. Installer reached out to MMX & used their tune. Jeep was running fine no signs of misfire.

About 5k miles later I started having some blow-by in my intake and I was told that I just need an oil catch can & this is normal after talking to the installer. Few weeks after that I was on a road trip and started to experience extreme loss of power so I check the engine bay and found out that my air filter & airbox was full of oil from blow by. While experiencing poor performance but no CEL, I nursed the jeep home and took it back to the installer to get it looked at. Couple days after I was informed that I need to change my lifters which is causing the jeep to run poorly but there was no sign of ticking so I thought the best thing would be to get a second opinion. I had my mechanic check the jeep and he started with pulling the spark plugs. Plugs came out with bent tips so a bore scope was done and there was major piston damage. Here are some photos of the bore scope and spark plugs. What do you guys suggest that I do here? Any help or information will be appreciated.

 

[RubiconHemi]

Yikes!! Compare the stock plug size to the bent ones first, so you get more familiar on what the issue is. Then call Whipple to see if you can get the part number of the plugs they sent to see if those bent plugs are the ones they sent. Then unfortunately, your going to have to get with your Whipple mechanic. Incorrect plug length causing this issue has been around forever, especially when people change to different heads. It's basically lack of attention to detail or knowledge.

 

[OldVetteGuy]

Looking at the boroscope pictures and seeing the damage I think your looking at a major re-build and a ton of machine work.

You won't know for sure until you have a complete engine disassembly. That's a tough nut to crack!

 

[JTR]

It looks like whoever was doing the job had no idea of what they were doing. With those pictures, upon first start up, there would have been a huge banging and clanging from the engine that would have told a first year high school auto shop kid that something was seriously wrong!
If it were mine, I'd have a good mechanic check for flat spots on the crankshaft journals.
Good luck with your repair!

 

[CJMore]

You're looking at a top end rebuild, if not a complete.
First you need to find a better mechanic!
Second you need to look at the differences between, Hellcat's and HEMI builds as that's what you've stepped towards.
Rings, pistons, block, crank shaft all need upgrades to handle added pressure and heat.

I'm curious if the MDS system played a role in the failure. Was it "tuned" out?

 

[Asad 27]

MDS was tuned out…..

 

[AUSTX]

@Asad 27 - Would you care to reveal the installer?

 

[TuffyMan]

You broke the piston ringland. This is not caused by the spark plug. This is caused by detonation. The stock 392 pistons were not designed for boost. You will need to rebuild this engine with the proper parts. I would call Ryan at FRPTUNING.COM. He has the parts and tuning you need. He did mine. I'm running 16 pounds of boost on E85.

 

[station378]

Sounds like a rough chain of events. The bent plug tips and bore scope pics pretty much confirm something serious happened in-cylinder, so at this point you’re dealing with more than a lifter issue. The oil in the intake and the heavy blow-by point to the rings or pistons getting hurt a while before the power loss showed up. With the supercharger and multiple tunes in the mix, I’d want a full teardown and a written assessment from a shop that knows the 392 well. That’s really the only way to know if you’re looking at a rebuild, a short block, or a replacement engine. I’d also be documenting everything with the installer and both tuners in case you need to escalate it.