(Found the issue)Bypass Valve on Whipple 2023 FP700

[BeauFlexFP700]

Noticed an odd sound on a cold start one day. Only lasted a few seconds and was unable to reproduce it at first. It would only happen sporadically on cold starts, usually on the first start after not being driven for a day or 2. The best way to describe it is like when you blow up a balloon and then pinch & stretch the neck and it makes that squealing sound as the air escapes. It recently started doing it consistently on startup, cold or warm, and will actually do it during driving. It happens when the throttle is first engaged from a stop or when accelerating while driving and only during the the initial press of the pedal. It will go away once you've gone past half throttle. It will linger under light throttle but not consistently. Since it became more prevalent I tried to determine where the sound is coming from and as far as I can tell it seems like the bypass valve is the culprit. I will post a video if I can where I pointed the camera at the bypass valve and started the truck and gave it some throttle.

Sponsored

 

[BeauFlexFP700]

I apologize my initial post seemed more like a statement once I posted i

Just wanted to know if anyone has had this issue/sound or if anyone more knowledgable with these whipples than me thinks I'm on the right track thinking the issue is with the bypass valve. I've submitted an email to Whipple so hopefully I can get this figured out. Don't really want to drive the truck with it acting like this. I can provide more info if need be. Thanks in advance for anyone taking the time to respond. Im hoping it's not going to be a difficult fix.

 

[EcoB259]

I would check all the hose clamps on the air lines and also check the blow off valve

 

[Tilstad]

Maybe the valve itself could use a little lubricant, check hoses/clamps etc, beyond that I'd rather contact Whipple directly and ask if they had a suggestion.

 

[BeauFlexFP700]

Maybe the valve itself could use a little lubricant, check hoses/clamps etc, beyond that I'd rather contact Whipple directly and ask if they had a suggestion.

I emailed whipple and started that process just before I made this post. So far I have received a few automated responses asking for some additional info. Had to get the serial number off the unit and provide them with the video I have posted in this thread. Just awaiting a response. Im crossing my fingers that this bypass valve is the issue and that it is a pretty straightforward fix.

Apart from the catalytic converters its been an awesome truck.

 

[Davidwnuc]

Apart from the catalytic converters its been an awesome truck.

you had cat failures?

 

[BeauFlexFP700]

you had cat failures?

Yup. The truck has been to the dealer 3 times for cat issues. It seems to be an inevitability. Even heard of people running aftermarket cats and still having failures. Ive seen several posts saying its the base Ford/Whipple tune that is subpar and getting the truck tuned on a dyno can make a huge difference. Also seen alot of people hollowing/deleting the cats. The dilemma is that each of those options voids the warranty. Not sure which is the better option. Do I keep warranty intact and gamble with the hope that every time the cats fail it doesnt damage the engine. Or do I take steps to eliminate the issue and have some peace of mind, albeit without a warranty. Im leaning toward the latter more every time the CEL pops up with a p0420 or p0430 code. This is my next concern after I get this issue rectified.

 

[Davidwnuc]

There have been lots of cat failures. Even in stock trucks. I have a Roush supercharged truck and had a cat fail last year.

 

[EcoB259]

I would do the latter and go to a well known tuning shop. Get it dialed in with good high flow cats. I had my supercharged car tuned to E85 or 93 if E85 isn’t available. A good tuner will let your motor run at optimum performance without getting in dangerous numbers. It’s like a concert and all components have to harmonize.

 

[TexasTruck]

Wow, that is interesting. Definitely let us know what Whipple says. I never heard of that till now. In my experience Whipple has been very good at supporting their customers.

The video looks like when the bypass valve opens or closes it has a momentary leak, then seals again. I would think if it was something besides the bypass diaphragm it would squeal all the time. Meaning the bypass diaphragm has a small leak or tear. When vacuum comes and goes it changes the shape of the diaphragm.

When I installed my FP/Whipple I noticed the little vacuum hose on the bottom of the bypass valve didn’t have clamps. I bought little spring clamps for each end of the short hose. If it is the bypass valve I’m not sure if it can be changed without removing the blower first ?

There’s also an adjustment screw on the bypass lever, but I wouldn’t touch anything until you hear from Whipple.

Gosh, there could even be a slight leak as the bypass lever changes position…

As far as the CATs… we know there are other things besides a tune that can hurt them…

Please let us know what Whipple says…

 

[TremorDave]

Yup. The truck has been to the dealer 3 times for cat issues. It seems to be an inevitability. Even heard of people running aftermarket cats and still having failures. Ive seen several posts saying its the base Ford/Whipple tune that is subpar and getting the truck tuned on a dyno can make a huge difference. Also seen alot of people hollowing/deleting the cats. The dilemma is that each of those options voids the warranty. Not sure which is the better option. Do I keep warranty intact and gamble with the hope that every time the cats fail it doesnt damage the engine. Or do I take steps to eliminate the issue and have some peace of mind, albeit without a warranty. Im leaning toward the latter more every time the CEL pops up with a p0420 or p0430 code. This is my next concern after I get this issue rectified.

A clean tune should fix that. Livernois is a pretty good tuner, would it be worth it to send it to them? I’m thinking that driving there or shipping in the truck for a tune would be cheaper than 2-3 sets of replacement catalytic converters.

Regarding the issue, it does seem like there’s a loss of vacuum or gaining a vacuum at an improper point, so I think the other others that mentioned vacuum issues are on track.

 

[BeauFlexFP700]

Seems I'm kind of a bone head. I didn't notice whipple asks for you to put your ticket reference # in your response emails. So I'm not surprised I didn't get an answer back seeing as I couldn't follow a simple instruction. ? I sent a follow up email with all the pertinent info so hopefully I will hear something soon.

As far as the cats, I am leaning heavily at this point to doing a cat delete and getting the truck tuned by a professional. I live in the Houston area and it seems there is no shortage of qualified personnel to chose from. One of the reasons I hadn't looked into this route after the first issue with the cats was that they are under warranty for 80K miles. I didn't figure it was that much to worry about seeing as it wouldn't cost me if it happened again. That was until I started looking into the cat issues. Also the first time I took it to the dealer for the cat they actually had them in stock and my truck was only down for a week. Second time... almost a month. And from some of the stories I've read about I was lucky that's all it took. Luckily the truck is not my only vehicle, though you might not think so with how much I drive it. I love the damn thing. The more miles I put on it and the closer I get to that warranty expiring combined with what ive learned from others situations really has me thinking that just relying on ford to put new cats on every time and just crossing my fingers that it won't hurt the engine is not the right move. Especially if I want to keep the truck for the foreseeable future. Regardless of the issues, which I think you have to kind of realize can come with a vehicle like this, ive been over the moon with this truck.

Once I get this bypass actuator issue cleared up my next step is to address the cats and tune. I really wanted to get an Eaton True trac rear end put in. I have the super 8.8 that they just recently put out the geared version for it as opposed to the clutch style ones. But that I think needs to be put on hold until I get the cats/tune situation and this most recent development taken care of.

I appreciate everyone's responses. I will update the thread as soon as I hear from whipple and find a resolution for what's going on.

 

[BeauFlexFP700]

When I installed my FP/Whipple I noticed the little vacuum hose on the bottom of the bypass valve didn’t have clamps. I bought little spring clamps for each end of the short hose.

I noticed that also and thought it might have been a QC issue when it was installed. Sounds like they just decided it didnt need the clamps. I am going to throw some clamps on mine when I replace the Bypass Actuator.

I got a response from Whipple and they confirmed the Bypass Actuator was the problem. Had to submit an order form for part #BACT-1025 as they do not list it on the website. Cost is $150 plust tax and shipping. They also verified that it is not difficult to replace so I plan on doing it myself. The customer support experience was great. I had a little trouble contacting them via email at first but that was purely my incompetence. Once contact was established the replies to my inquiries were quick and concise.

Once ive got that taken care of I can figure out what im going to do for the cats and tuning. Im in the Houston, Tx area. If anyone has a suggestions for a shop in this area let me know.

 

[BeauFlexFP700]

Well, I finally got the truck back to "normal". It was not as straight forward as I thought it was gonna be but I guess thats just how it goes sometimes. Fortunately I finally found what was causing the squealing sound from the video in my first post and it was just in the nick of time it seems.

After consulting with Whipple and providing them with some videos and my suspicion of a bad bypass actuator they agreed that it looked like the most likely culprit. I ended up not having to remove the lid of the unit to replace it. Instead, I removed the nut located on the bypass valve shaft that retains the bracket that the bypass actuator rod connects to. There is a little locking tab you have to bend upward so you can remove the nut and that will alow you to rotate it so it lines up with the tab on the actuator rod and disconnect them and install the new actuator.

I also decided against doing a cat delete at this point and went with the SPD alpha catted y-pipe. It was alot more $ than I was initially looking at spending. Unfortunately I live in an area that still requires emissions inspections and I was just not 100% comfortable with a cat delete. The SPD y-pipe seemed like the best chance to remedy my concern and not have to worry about "legality" issues.

Took a few weeks to get the y-pipe so I havent been driving the truck for the last month or so because of the sound that had developed in my original post. Also because I knew most likely my current set of factory cats were compromised and I didnt want to run the risk of making anything worse. So I had the y-pipe installed and I replaced the bypass actuator and..... The squeal is still there.

Not only that but the exhaust is so loud, raspy, popping, when I first drove it during and after break-in of the cats that I thought my neighbors were going to slash my tires during the night. Looked at my stock cats with a flashlight and the passenger side honeycomb medium was cracked and had visible chunks missing. Driver side looked intact but you could see the center section of the honeycomb medium about 2-3 inches in diameter has a different look to it than the surrounding material. Like it was burned or melted. Probably not far behind from the passenger side.

At first when I drove it after the y-pipe install I thought the squealing sound wasnt as bad as before but I think I was just in denial and the reason why it didnt sound as bad was because the exhaust now drowned it out. LOL. In fact on the way back from my test drive when I was driving slow in the neighborhood the squealing got really loud and sounded worse than ever. It was kind of a let down to spend that money and then have things basically get worse. So yesterday I just decided to start poking around and kind of go as far as I felt comfortable with myself checking stuff before I just gave up and towed it to a shop/dealer to have it checked out. First thing I did was remove the air intake to get a better look at the front of the unit. I noticed that the bottom of the filter box was not seated correctly with the two locating pins/protrusions and it was causing the lid and middle section to be slightly binded up but it wasnt that bad. I thought maybe it was causing there to be a leak in the seal between the rubber connecting boots of the air intake sections or that the band clamps may have come loose and were allowing air to enter between the joints and make a sound. Pretty much just grasping at straws at this point. That wasnt it. But in the process of completely removing the components of the air intake to give them all a good clean and going over I did notice something. I was giving the throttle body a little clean when I noticed a hole where a bolt should be. After further inspection what I found was the adapter plate that allows the stock throttle body to mount to the SC had 1 bolt that completely left the chat and the other three were barely hand tight if even that. The throttle body completely covered access to 1 of the bolts so I had to remove the TB to get to all the bolts easier on the adapter plate. I had to get a replacement bolt for the one that went adios and once I got everything tightened down and put back together.... NO MORE SQUEAL!

Im relieved that I figured out what was going on before it became a bigger issue. Even that 1 bolt falling out could have been a disaster. When I first noticed what had happened and took a closer look at it I could see there was a slight gap between the adapter plate and the housing and the sound was from the air starting to leak in through the seal. Now theres one more thing I will be checking when I pop the hood while topping off the gas tank.

After a few drive cycles with everything back to normal the truck is running like a champ and the y-pipe is sounding great. I am thinking the air leaking in at that adapter plate was causing a lean condition maybe? At any rate it was doing something that was causing problems and was probably slowly getting worse until it finally started making the squealing noise and making an already precarious situation with the factory cats even worse. Ive heard other people complain of a mystery "whistle" or "whine" on partial acceleration/throttle. Maybe check the bolts on that adapter plate if you have the stage 1.

 

[Davidwnuc]

Glad you got it sorted.

Sponsored