Stage 2 Whipple Engine Failure 2021 F150 5.0

[Confu11]

Truck has 12,XXX miles
Whipple Stage 2 for over 10,000 miles
Livernois Tune for 9,000 miles (to eliminate the gear skip shifts)
Never had detonation or a check engine light at any time ever on the truck.

WOT getting on the freeway and it let loose.

Whipple were fantastic at no cost to me (Stage 2, No warranty) they rebuilt the supercharger and also powder coated the unit from Black to Blue.

Livernois said a "known" issue are the cats plugging up...back pressure etc... but that Was Not True in my case...cats were not plugged or damaged they work fine now on the new engine.

Trying to figure out as best I can how to avoid it happening again if I...aka when I put the Whipple back on.

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[Viper]

OUCH!!!

 

[JExpedition07]

Good to see actual verification they are running a nice forged crankshaft in the truck motors, that large parting line tells me it’s a fully forged unit. A stage 2 is pushing what 800 horse?

Probably set of 5.2 rods from Ford performance or Manley H-beams and rebalance crank for the beefy rods if you want a long life of pounding on it. Mahle pistons probably wouldn’t hurt either. The rod likely failed when the piston exploded anyway.

 

[dolsen]

Good to see actual verification they are running a nice forged crankshaft in the truck motors, that large parting line tells me it’s a fully forged unit. A stage 2 is pushing what 800 horse? Probably set of 5.2 rods from Ford performance and rebalance crank for the beefy rods if you want a long life of pounding on it. Mahle pistons probably wouldn’t hurt either. The rod likely failed when the piston exploded anyway. Could have been a poorly sintered rod from the factory too and just a crazy one off, you are testing the limits a lot more than N/A will never find.

What is the large parting line you mention in the crankshaft? I have looked 4 times through those pics and can't tell what you're referring to

 

[JExpedition07]

What is the large parting line you mention in the crankshaft? I have looked 4 times through those pics and can't tell what you're referring to

See below circled. Cast cranks have a razor sharp parting line, forgings have a large parting.

 

[Dakar09]

Yikes!

 

[KingDavid]

Glad it's fixed. What fuel and what's your oil change interval? Who changes your oil?

 

[Davidwnuc]

Truck has 12,XXX miles
Whipple Stage 2 for over 10,000 miles
Livernois Tune for 9,000 miles (to eliminate the gear skip shifts)
Never had detonation or a check engine light at any time ever on the truck.

WOT getting on the freeway and it let loose.

Whipple were fantastic at no cost to me (Stage 2, No warranty) they rebuilt the supercharger and also powder coated the unit from Black to Blue.

Livernois said a "known" issue are the cats plugging up...back pressure etc... but that Was Not True in my case...cats were not plugged or damaged they work fine now on the new engine.

Trying to figure out as best I can how to avoid it happening again if I...aka when I put the Whipple back on.

Wow. That sucks.
Was the engine replaced under warranty or on your dime?

 

[Confu11]

Engine on my dime.

I should have beefed up the guts to be safe but figured obviously foolishly, there was some testing done before it went to market. Pay to Play. Whipple stepped up and took care of me as mentioned no warranty on Stage 2’s. But I believe at the time I purchased they had a 3 yr warranty for $300 or 600 that I didn’t get around to mailing and paying for. So it’s really on me.

I got probably one of the first ones and was not light on the throttle.

I changed the oil every 3K & checked the plugs as well.

Was running 91 and was advised to add octane boost at each fill up but didn’t.

This truck w 400 hp is boring.

 

[Davidwnuc]

Engine on my dime.

I should have beefed up the guts to be safe but figured obviously foolishly, there was some testing done before it went to market. Pay to Play. Whipple stepped up and took care of me as mentioned no warranty on Stage 2’s. But I believe at the time I purchased they had a 3 yr warranty for $300 or 600 that I didn’t get around to mailing and paying for. So it’s really on me.

I got probably one of the first ones and was not light on the throttle.

I changed the oil every 3K & checked the plugs as well.

Was running 91 and was advised to add octane boost at each fill up but didn’t.

This truck w 400 hp is boring.

Thanks for the reply.
Best of luck

 

[NavyChief]

Cool that Whipple stepped up, they took care of me as well. Curious on the new engine if you went with a forged short block like RPG? I had one in my GT350 and it’s the route I’m going with my new F150 build.

 

[12Lariat21]

I can really only think of 2 possibilities there;
1. There was a defect in the piston or rod that was un-noticed by whatever manufacturing quality checks they do.
2. The stock parts can't handle the speeds (piston speed, not vehicle speed) your running. Does the tune you have raise the redline? The simplest solution might be to just lower the redline, or change the transmission shift points to keep your max rpm's lower.

I'd lean more towards No. 1, cause your piston is still 'intact', so likely also a forged piece. Lowering your max RPM is still the simplest solution to avoid a repeat, unless you can discover exactly what went wrong.

 

[HammaMan]

Engine on my dime.

I should have beefed up the guts to be safe but figured obviously foolishly, there was some testing done before it went to market. Pay to Play. Whipple stepped up and took care of me as mentioned no warranty on Stage 2’s. But I believe at the time I purchased they had a 3 yr warranty for $300 or 600 that I didn’t get around to mailing and paying for. So it’s really on me.

I got probably one of the first ones and was not light on the throttle.

I changed the oil every 3K & checked the plugs as well.

Was running 91 and was advised to add octane boost at each fill up but didn’t.

This truck w 400 hp is boring.

You can blend in a few gallons of e85 each fillup. Use e85 to blend to e20. Not sure if you have enough fuel system overhead left to run e85 and retune.

 

[Confu11]

Cool that Whipple stepped up, they took care of me as well. Curious on the new engine if you went with a forged short block like RPG? I had one in my GT350 and it’s the route I’m going with my new F150 build.

I am running bone stock for now. Just not sure which way to tackle it.

 

[Suns_PSD]

I am running bone stock for now. Just not sure which way to tackle it.

Seems like quite a few Supercharged 5.0s end up popping before their time.

I'd either build a motor, or sell off the Whipple and keep it stock.

GL

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