Con rods breaking on turbo motors...

ktmsx350f · Dec 29, 2014

On the way home from Val last year we got 2 flat tires and stuck on the side of the road .....I was thinking of doing a turbo on my 14 xm so I went on kijiji and called every turbo add in all of Alberta and BC and lots of shops for pricing and options ......my findings were everyone loved their tss set up but every tss set up had had a motor replaced no one seamed to have dislikes of aero charger and only 1 had a broke rod every shop had heard of it ......so for this year 2015 to stock and a cat with boost next year rods and aerocharger for the t3

sledneckx69 · Dec 30, 2014

Ol' Sarge said:
Fred. The 3 or 4 like this that I have seen all had blue bottom journals. Even tho the rod broke the same as yours I am not convinced the problem is a weak design or materials, but no doubt the stronger sno-x rods would be an improvement. If you watch the video you posted from JJ Machinery again you will see the same thing I saw…overheated bottom bearings. A connecting rod is designed to be able to take a massive load in the vertical or near vertical direction. Higher cylinder pressures (8-12lbs boost) normally are not enough to cause this kind of catastrophic failure. But what a rod is not designed to handle is more force in the horizontal direction, like what a hot or seizing bottom bearing would cause. But that's only my opinion. When the e-tecs were introduced the case lost the ability to have the fuel help move the oil around. It's splash only now and as little oil as possible to meet emissions. Not a good scenario for the extra load that boost introduces. The new cranks that I have seen going into these engines on boost not only have stronger rods but a lot more relief and notches around the bearing for lube. It's great to hear that at least a couple of shops are aware of the problem and offering an upgrade.

Is it really that complicated, the oil issue I mean? I asked a builder about oil after boosting and he told me that he sets the oil back to break in mode. I'm no doctor, but he made it sound simple.

Toro · Dec 31, 2014

All of the posts made for interesting reading, the idea of installing a turbo system on my sled is appealing but it seems that there's still a lot of unknowns. Has anyone ever taken the failed components to a metallurgist to define exactly what the cause of the failure is? Is it a material failure due to heat, due to lack of strength in the material it self? Does replacing the the "con rods" with higher strength material now leave another component in the engine subject to failure? If it's a case of weak material "cast con rods" it's cheaper on a mass production scale to go to forged rods. Cast anything never has the strength of forged materials.

fredw · Dec 31, 2014

Yes it's a little funny, some guys dont like to report carnage... I am just the opposite for that... If it breaks and its not my fault, I spread the word..

Well rods and new crank finally showed up, so we will see how it holds together:d:d

deaner · Dec 31, 2014

I wonder how many guys are turning their oilers up when boosting xms? I just picked up a 2014 TSS XM with a new engine in it. Most unreal sled I have ever been on. Even if a guy cant get the engine to last more than a season it is seriously worth it. At 7lbs it feels like this thing has a friggin small block chevy in it.

fredw · Jan 19, 2015

Well first 100 miles with new crank and snowx rods on bb turbo..

Seen a few times boost at 4.5 to six pounds or so... Hard to read gauge and navigate...

happy to spread the word that no rods broke, will need to find more fuel under boost on this build... Hi a/f numbers with fuel controller maxed out

fredw · Jan 19, 2015

sledneckx69 said:
Is it really that complicated, the oil issue I mean? I asked a builder about oil after boosting and he told me that he sets the oil back to break in mode. I'm no doctor, but he made it sound simple.

On this fresh motor I turned up oil on stock ecm to number three.. It was at 5 with candoo... And uses around 1 liter of oil per 50 miles approx

popcorn popper · Jan 19, 2015

Fredw Allrevsrule has the direct number for nasa's titanium division. I'm sure they could help you out!! He has the market covered on titanium shares so you have to go through him!!!

allrevsrule · Jan 19, 2015

That's by appointment only !

fredw · Feb 5, 2015

Few more to report, dealer in Colorado lost one on a ero setup last year and became a tss dealer this year, lost a rod on their kits now, this is on a 15 t3

few more in Cdn as well builder mentioned this last week, on 15s.. Some guys are relating high a/f to motors that lose rods.. Not sure what tss runs on average a/f but my aero was 13 or so when it went down

sarem · Feb 5, 2015

i broke one at 800 kms. up to 2200 now. hasnt missed a beat. 2014 tss instaboost. abused hell out of it last weekend too.

fredw · Feb 5, 2015

Any idea what boost and a/f yours broke at??

sarem said:
i broke one at 800 kms. up to 2200 now. hasnt missed a beat. 2014 tss instaboost. abused hell out of it last weekend too.

sarem · Feb 5, 2015

not really. i still had my blinders on. you know, just pull rope and go!. now im running lower boost- 7 to 8 - i clutched for it and all smiles

young-gun · Apr 2, 2015

Well after reading this, I pulling motor and sending down to linderman for a little work. Getting new rods, head, case and cylinder porting.

mmagic · Aug 15, 2015

We carry complete billet rod turbo cranks from two different engine builders have a season on both and no problems at 10 psi . Call for pricing 17804749400

Diamondledinc · Aug 21, 2015

Call for pricing usually means fawking expensive.

POWDERCHOWDER · Aug 25, 2015

tell me what part of a turbo is cheep????

POWDERCHOWDER · Aug 25, 2015

just had my whole motor done and beefed!!!! ready to be bagged !!!!

Diamondledinc · Aug 26, 2015

you're right. not cheap, but who wants to spend another 3 after spending 7-10.... like... where does it end? haha!

rsaint · Aug 26, 2015

POWDERCHOWDER said:
tell me what part of a turbo is cheep????

Cheaping out causes DISASTERS

Con rods breaking on turbo motors...

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