Here we go again..2nd motor gone after alpha supercharger

    Yep..here I go again.. after the original motor getting blown to bits, here I am again with another engine issue with the apparently ungodly power the alpha supercharger is putting out.. I initially thought the head gasket was blown on my second engine, but no..it appears that the #2 cylinder has been compromised. THIS TIME I am getting the engine rebuilt with forged internals and ARP head studs as I should have from the beginning. Not blaming fault on anybody here..my own fault for not building the engine from the start. Let's us all pray (for my wallet) these engine internals are the answer. (LOL). <X


    so the question is..has anybody other than me had issues with the alpha supercharger blowing engines? Seems like that I'm the only one having this issue. Bad luck?

    You know Henry will figure this out. I know it sucks, but I am sure he will be very interested. Seems strange to me with a SC with fixed boost it would blow. I have the Alpha turbo and head studs. Running about 7lbs of boost max. No issues so far. I sure hope he can figure out what happened. Sucks though big time

    There's got to be some other issue going on than just the SC. I'm also running the Alpha turbo with ARP studs in stock engine and I have had no problems at all, and I'm running about 9 pounds of boost (red and natural). I run the piss out of it on a regular basis (ask @MiM, @Cywolv and @gpcustoms). There's got to be something else going on with that engine or maybe even fuel supply setup. Keep us updated and sorry about your issues man. I feel for you :(

    like i said this is engine #2. same supercharger..same ecm tune..ddm said it was pushing 15 psi at 7000 rpm on the dyno. they tested it twice.. when i picked it up, it was fine. when I got it back home it was blowing smoke.

    Quote from jorgebri60

    There's got to be some other issue going on than just the SC. I'm also running the Alpha turbo with ARP studs in stock engine and I have had no problems at all, and I'm running about 9 pounds of boost (red and natural). I run the piss out of it on a regular basis (ask @MiM, @Cywolv and @gpcustoms). There's got to be something else going on with that engine or maybe even fuel supply setup. Keep us updated and sorry about your issues man. I feel for you :(


    Quote from Cywolv

    I can attest to that @jorgebri60


    amazed-squared


    Yyyyyyyeeeeeeepppppp..... 8|

    Wow! 15 psi!! . I thought they were only supposed to push 9-10 psi on stock engines. I'll let those that know more about these SC's chime in, but I didn't think they pushed that much boost unless the pulley is changed. Curious to see if someone with an Alpha SC can chime in about what the std boost is on theirs. 15 sounds too high to me, but what do I know ?(:huh:

    Sorry to hear this. Nothing worse than having your SS down and worse when it is broken. Best of luck on the repairs.

    Joey | 2016.5 Base Black :BLACKSS:
    "Defensor Vindex" | "Born of Freedom" | "None Shall Pass" | "Deter. Defend. Respond." | "Supra Et Ultra" | "Valor Honor" | "Si Ego Certiorem Faciam... Mihi Tu Delendus Eris"


    "Dating a skinny chick is fun until you hit 110mph in the Slingshot and she flies out like a napkin... thumbsup.png" - 2W2X1

    15 psi is at the very very very edge of the 2bar sensor. I know this because I would set a check engine light each time I would turn the boost up on my turbo setup. It would max out the scale and give a "voltage to high" on that sensor. When you run out of numbers it doesn't know how much fuel to add.


    Do you have a AFR guage and if so what are you seeing where you seeing under boost ?


    What exhaust do you have @jaytee?


    It makes me wonder if there is some restriction on the exhaust side...


    I hate to hear anytime an engine dies.. it hurts you feelings and your wallet.....

    My engine is all stock, no head studs etc, with the alpha supercharger and welter 2.5 duals. I've not had a lick of trouble since install. Just over 3000 hard driven miles at this point with the supercharger. It's not babied. at. all. I do now check the map sensor (hasn't moved) before each trip. I have no AFR gauge.


    Sorry @jaytee It makes me sick thinking about it. Keep posting so we all learn.

    Alpha Supercharger is still spinning fine... it gets rode hard, every time.

    My thoughts...does GM put super chargers on those motors? If they do...is it the same motor or a beefed up motor? It could still be the same displacement but with stronger parts...so as to appear to be the same as yours.


    You might need a professionally built racing motor to start with..


    What does alpha suggest doing to any motor before installing their supercharger.?

    Quote from jorgebri60

    @Texas T and @jaytee I would HIGHLY recommend an AFR gauge if nothing else. Even if @MiM didn't like looking at numbers, once to learn that those numbers are telling you if your engine is happy or not, especially at full throttle, you'll appreciate he value of that one little gauge.


    Yep. An AFR will tell you when something is starting to go wrong instead of a blown engine telling you it's way wrong. An AFR would have saved my first engine.

    yes I have an AFR gauge..didnt see anything out of the norm. I have the 1320 headers and exhaust with a baffle..you think the baffle has something to do with it? I put it on because without the baffle the exhaust is too loud for me.

    Quote from jaytee

    yes I have an AFR gauge..didnt see anything out of the norm. I have the 1320 headers and exhaust with a baffle..you think the baffle has something to do with it? I put it on because without the baffle the exhaust is too loud for me.

    Does it have a downloadable history log? You might be able to determine if you exceeded the Fuel mapping at some point. I'm still boggled with the high boost. Henry's really careful not to push that much boost through a stock engine. He leaves that up to the owner if they so desire. After a couple of years of watching folks experiment with boost levels, the norm (and safety limit) seems to be no more than 10 on a stock engine with ARP studs (allowing for boost creep would bring that down to about 7-8 pounds of spring pressure on a turbo). It's still a crapshoot as to what internals are in our stock engine, but if you read up on many of the threads, that's about the accepted limit for them in stock form with upgraded head studs. I would have been worried about pushing 15 pounds of boost on a stock engine. Did they mention anything to you about that or raise any red flags when they tested it? Even with a Built engine, that's really high boost without the proper fuel management. Sounds strange that they wouldn't have said anything about that.
    Oh well, sorry about the rambling on... just thinking outloud here, but really, if that AFR gauge has a log on it, that's where I'd start and again, so sorry this is happening to you.. it's got to be frustrating as hell. :(

    Quote from lawdogpup

    @jaytee I would suspect with the baffle in you did have to much back pressure.
    Sorry it was the motor that took the hit.

    Hmm....I'd be inclined to agree. With that massive amount of boost....the engine would need the most unrestricted exhaust flow as possible

    Those who will give up essential liberty to secure a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety


    2016 Slingshot SL Vin# 8855 (born in September 2015) w/ Alpha Stage 2 Turbo @ 7.5psi

    I talked to some buddies who are in the turbo and super charger crowds. After reading about the baffle I sent them a note. They all agreed that the supercharger is a fixed spring. Should be no creep. However a restriction like a baffle will cause back pressure cause the boost to creep. Simple concept, you blow into a hose, and there is no restriction at the other end. Now stick some paper in the other end and restrict it. You have to blow harder and pressure builds......Boom!