Whipple gen3 locked up... discuss next options?

[doodguy]

I was driving normally to pick up my son when my car suddenly bogged stalled wouldn't start. Towed home.

A month later I finally had time to diagnose thinking I had some engine issue. Pulled plugs, pulled belt off and car turned over just fine.

Turns out whipple won't spin. It only has about 2k miles on it but I've had it a few years so no warranty. Pulled head off and there are some metal shavings on top of the heat exchanger. Have not pulled that off yet.

I contacted whipple and they say it will be between 2k to 5k to fix.

Now I'm debating what to do. I have a fully built/ sleeved motor but my car is a convertible and bad recipe for high horsepower (was making 970 wheel). Car is a manual and has a 6060 swap. Not the easiest thing to launch at the track.

I'm debating. Pull motor try to sell it return car to stock and sell/ trade for a tesla model s? I don't drag race much but be nice to have power for small hits. I like acceleration.

Should I roll the dice have whipple fix head unit?

Should I buy a turbo kit mix things up?

Another thought is buy another mustang that is an auto coupe swap everything over, then sell the convertible as near stock.

Not looking to spend boat loads out of pocket so at a cross which way to go. Would love to have a discussion and share opinions.

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[fast306stang]

90% of your answer is going to be "What do YOU want to do?"

If it was me, I'd go turbo. But I've also never had an FI Coyote, so take that for what it's worth lol

Good luck with whichever direction you take, hate to hear that it happened!

Any idea what caused the failure?

 

[doodguy]

Thanks, no idea what caused the failure.

I realize it's my decision but looking for advice on what others have done. For example say I go turbo or return car to stock... where would I sell my built motor. What would I do with the whipple parts? Junk it? Is there somewhere cheaper/equally as reliable as whipple to repair the head unit?

Just curious what others have done in this boat.

 

[fast306stang]

Thanks, no idea what caused the failure.

I realize it's my decision but looking for advice on what others have done. For example say I go turbo or return car to stock... where would I sell my built motor. What would I do with the whipple parts? Junk it? Is there somewhere cheaper/equally as reliable as whipple to repair the head unit?

Just curious what others have done in this boat.

I gotcha. I didn't pick all that up from the 1st post. Wish I had some insight to share!

 

[Angrey]

I'd focus on what caused it. If you didn't do anything abnormal and the unit seized or the rotors binded with the housing, and whipple won't cover it under warranty, then me personally, I wouldn't give them MORE money just to roll the dice with it happening again.

I'm saying this without perfect information. Nothing from your post indicates you did something to cause the failure (but that remains to be seen). Bad installation? (did you do it yourself or have a shop do it). Did you put bags of ice on the housing to cool it down then run it (I'm guessing no, but that's a surefire way to get rotor strike/bind).

If it's truly nothing you did, I wouldn't spend MORE money on a product that's just as likely to do the same thing to you again. Furthermore, if it IS something you did, I'd want to identify that before dropping more coin and having it happen again.

If you decide to cut your losses and move on, then I think it's truly up to you and your financial circumstances.

 

[rolfe.oliver]

Weird that you've had this on the car for a few years with a few thousand miles, with no issues. I have heard some Gen 5's have eaten material on initial startup, but it is strange that this happened out of the blue.

 

[doodguy]

Thanks for the info! I did do the install myself but it's fairly straight forward. I did not put bags of ice or anything on it. I was simply driving in the city when it locked up on me.

 

[doodguy]

Weird that you've had this on the car for a few years with a few thousand miles, with no issues. I have heard some Gen 5's have eaten material on initial startup, but it is strange that this happened out of the blue.

Agreed. It's odd. My car only has 16k miles total on it. I started with roush vmp supercharger swapped to whipple gen 2 then whipple gen 3. Haven't driven car much, decided needed to take it out. Drove to pick up my son and whipple took a dump.

 

[rolfe.oliver]

Agreed. It's odd. My car only has 16k miles total on it. I started with rough vmp supercharger swapped to whipple gen 2 then whipple gen 3. Haven't driven car much, decided needed to take it out. Drove to pick up my son and whipple took a dump.

My $0.02, Whipple would not get one more penny from me.

 

[SolarFlare]

Man whipple don’t want to cover nothing. I agree that I’d take a financial hit before giving them 2-5k to fix what is supposed to be covered and a known issue.

 

[doodguy]

What do you mean by known issue?

And what do you mean by fix what's supposed to be covered? Time wise I'm sure I'm out of warranty.

 

[SheepDog]

What do you mean by known issue?

And what do you mean by fix what's supposed to be covered? Time wise I'm sure I'm out of warranty.

You sure there was oil in the blower?

Reach out to other companies to see what they charge to rebuild it

https://superchargersonline.com/product/whipple-supercharger-rebuild-service/
https://www.jonbondperformance.com/product/whipple-supercharger-remanufacture-rebuild/

 

[SolarFlare]

What do you mean by known issue?

And what do you mean by fix what's supposed to be covered? Time wise I'm sure I'm out of warranty.

Nvm. I thought you meant gen 3 coyote. Idk off the top of my head the gen 3 2.9 whipple history. I know the 3.0s have been known to lock up quite often. I’d still hoped whipple would help. 2-5k is a kick to the nuts on a low mile unit.

 

[Ruiner46]

I'd recommend talking to Jon Bond Performance about a rebuild or trade-in. I gave them a call when my gen 2 started making noise. Jon ended up buying my gen 2 from me and I bought a gen 4 to replace it. His rebuild quote was half what Whipple quoted.

 

[jvandy50]

I’ve seen some jokes about failures on the trackhawk unit, but I’m not up on my whipples so no idea which model. I’d also want to know a cause

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