I'm always amazed at guys that just assume parts fail for some RANDOM reason, now I'd be the first guy in line to say that yes!
there are occasionally defective components , but in the VAST MAJORITY of cases I see its improper detail or clearance work, or not verifying clearances or valve train geometry of pushing parts past their intended stress levels that results in component failure.
EXAMPLE
one of my friends installed a 250hp nitrous kit on a fairly new basically stock 350 sbc engine he had built ,
which within days basically self destructed, and he blamed the NITROUS KIT!
I examined the busted components and it was very obvious that the extra heat generated by the nitrous caused the engine to get into detonation and the rings had butted and locked up the pistons in the cylinders resulting it the top of the hypereutectic pistons basically self destructing and melting, cascading into the piston chunks being compressed into the heads combustion chamber and the rods bending, valves bending and resulting shrapnel destroying most of the rest of the engine, the intake and valve covers were about all that was re-useable...
he started bitching about the stupid nitrous system.........I started to inspect parts look for reasons parts failed and ask questions,
heres SOME OF what he failed to do that caused the problem, in no particular order
(1) he failed to read the instructions and installed the system with the wrong jets and failed to verify the fuel pressure requirements
(2) he failed to jet the nitrous a bit rich to lower combustion temps
he failed to start off with the minimum jets and work up as he learned to tune
(3) he failed to gap the rings correctly for the extra heat the nitrous was obviously going to generate
(4) he failed to retard his ignition advance curve, when the nitrous was used, he had the nitrous fuel & nitrous solenoids kick on at 1/4 throttle
(5)he failed to install a rpm limiter, or rpm window switch
(6)he use a stock 5 quart oil pan and no oil cooler of baffles
(7)he used a stock fuel pump, that was only 70 gph rated to supply both a 750 Holley and the nitrous plate system
(8) he failed to tune the engine correctly
(9)he did not use large enough fuel lines or a fuel pressure regulator
(10) he used a stock valve train
(11)he failed to install a larger oil pan and radiator to compensate for the extra heat generated
(12) he used 89 octane fuel
(13) he used a stock low duration cam and valve springs and never even adjusted the valves
(14) he used a stock automatic trans, converter stall and a 3.07 rear gear ratio.
(15) he did not use a colder spark plug heat range
(16)he used HYPEREUTECTIC PISTONS and stock ring gaps with a LEAN 250 shot nitrous kit and stock ignition timing curve , and very low fuel pressure and flow
A common misconception is that the nitrous oxide is a powerful fuel additive. but the fact is that nitrous oxide won’t burn by itself and contains no fuel. What it does have is an oxygen molecule that becomes available at elevated cylinder temperatures the engines combustion chamber sees after ignition once the F/A mix is compressed, to increase the fuel you can effectively burn in each cylinder of compressed fuel/ air mix, and its usually injected in a cold fog, of mixed fuel and liquid nitrous thats almost instantly turning gaseous that allows more fuel to be burnt, Earth’s atmosphere contains about 21 percent oxygen by volume, and that’s all the oxygen that is available in the combustion chamber of a naturally aspirated engine to oxidize the fuel. When nitrous oxide is added, the percentage of oxygen increases to about 30 percent or more. the extra oxygen allows more fuel to be burned, increasing cylinder pressure and resulting torque produced, dramatically. but the combustion process is far more rapid making the lowering of any ignition advance timing mandatory, you generally need to reduce the ignition advance by about 3 degrees per each 50 hp of nitrous added, so if your standard engine had a peak advance of 36 degrees a similar engine with a 150hp nitrous plate would likely require only about a 26-27 degree ignition advance
now I fully agree the engine damage was the SECONDARY RESULT of the using the nitrous, but the nitrous kit was hardly at fault!
if he had read thru the instructions and made the REQUIRED and SUGGESTED modifications to the engine and fuel system, cooling,system, lubrication system and valve train components and had the whole system installed and tuned correctly theres a very good chance all the damage would have been avoided.
a few related pictures off the internet
RELATED INFO
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=59&p=72&hilit=nitrous#p72
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=211
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2187
there are occasionally defective components , but in the VAST MAJORITY of cases I see its improper detail or clearance work, or not verifying clearances or valve train geometry of pushing parts past their intended stress levels that results in component failure.
EXAMPLE
one of my friends installed a 250hp nitrous kit on a fairly new basically stock 350 sbc engine he had built ,
which within days basically self destructed, and he blamed the NITROUS KIT!
I examined the busted components and it was very obvious that the extra heat generated by the nitrous caused the engine to get into detonation and the rings had butted and locked up the pistons in the cylinders resulting it the top of the hypereutectic pistons basically self destructing and melting, cascading into the piston chunks being compressed into the heads combustion chamber and the rods bending, valves bending and resulting shrapnel destroying most of the rest of the engine, the intake and valve covers were about all that was re-useable...
he started bitching about the stupid nitrous system.........I started to inspect parts look for reasons parts failed and ask questions,
heres SOME OF what he failed to do that caused the problem, in no particular order
(1) he failed to read the instructions and installed the system with the wrong jets and failed to verify the fuel pressure requirements
(2) he failed to jet the nitrous a bit rich to lower combustion temps
he failed to start off with the minimum jets and work up as he learned to tune
(3) he failed to gap the rings correctly for the extra heat the nitrous was obviously going to generate
(4) he failed to retard his ignition advance curve, when the nitrous was used, he had the nitrous fuel & nitrous solenoids kick on at 1/4 throttle
(5)he failed to install a rpm limiter, or rpm window switch
(6)he use a stock 5 quart oil pan and no oil cooler of baffles
(7)he used a stock fuel pump, that was only 70 gph rated to supply both a 750 Holley and the nitrous plate system
(8) he failed to tune the engine correctly
(9)he did not use large enough fuel lines or a fuel pressure regulator
(10) he used a stock valve train
(11)he failed to install a larger oil pan and radiator to compensate for the extra heat generated
(12) he used 89 octane fuel
(13) he used a stock low duration cam and valve springs and never even adjusted the valves
(14) he used a stock automatic trans, converter stall and a 3.07 rear gear ratio.
(15) he did not use a colder spark plug heat range
(16)he used HYPEREUTECTIC PISTONS and stock ring gaps with a LEAN 250 shot nitrous kit and stock ignition timing curve , and very low fuel pressure and flow
A common misconception is that the nitrous oxide is a powerful fuel additive. but the fact is that nitrous oxide won’t burn by itself and contains no fuel. What it does have is an oxygen molecule that becomes available at elevated cylinder temperatures the engines combustion chamber sees after ignition once the F/A mix is compressed, to increase the fuel you can effectively burn in each cylinder of compressed fuel/ air mix, and its usually injected in a cold fog, of mixed fuel and liquid nitrous thats almost instantly turning gaseous that allows more fuel to be burnt, Earth’s atmosphere contains about 21 percent oxygen by volume, and that’s all the oxygen that is available in the combustion chamber of a naturally aspirated engine to oxidize the fuel. When nitrous oxide is added, the percentage of oxygen increases to about 30 percent or more. the extra oxygen allows more fuel to be burned, increasing cylinder pressure and resulting torque produced, dramatically. but the combustion process is far more rapid making the lowering of any ignition advance timing mandatory, you generally need to reduce the ignition advance by about 3 degrees per each 50 hp of nitrous added, so if your standard engine had a peak advance of 36 degrees a similar engine with a 150hp nitrous plate would likely require only about a 26-27 degree ignition advance
now I fully agree the engine damage was the SECONDARY RESULT of the using the nitrous, but the nitrous kit was hardly at fault!
if he had read thru the instructions and made the REQUIRED and SUGGESTED modifications to the engine and fuel system, cooling,system, lubrication system and valve train components and had the whole system installed and tuned correctly theres a very good chance all the damage would have been avoided.
a few related pictures off the internet
RELATED INFO
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=59&p=72&hilit=nitrous#p72
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=211
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2187