W457 blew #5 piston

[Sean880]

I guess what I was trying to go for is it it all falls to pieces what are my options to move forward with.

I will have a look into lodging a claim through ACCC any experience with this, timeline to get it though??

There is no point in running off to the ACCC until you have lodged a formal warranty claim with Walkinshaw and you have a response from them. If you are going to go down that path then do it thoroughly.

You have such an expensive and major issue with the car that you should use a lawyer to file a well constructed written warranty claim with Walkinshaw.

1. If your car is still covered by the Walkinshaw voluntary warranty (which only applies as long as the Holden factory warranty is still valid) then you claim under that with a further concurrent claim on Walkinshaw under Australian Consumer law.

2. If the voluntary Walkinshaw warranty has expired on your car then your warranty claim on Walkinshaw needs to be submitted under Australian Consumer Law.

If you make a warranty claim on Walkinshaw I would suspect they will be defensive so be prepared for that and they will almost certainly want to inspect the car.

(You cannot realistically sustain a claim on Holden given the very significant modifications to the car made by Walkinshaw which substantially changed the product from the original specs unless you could convincingly demonstrate that the failure could not have been caused by any modifications performed by Walkinshaw but by a fault attributable solely to Holden's original product).

http://www.walkinshawperformance.com.au/W-Series/W457/

Walkinshaw 457 Kit...

"Package Contents

• ► WP230 Supercharger Package

• ► Large high flow injectors
• ► Eaton Twin Vortices 2300 Series (TVS) Gen VI rotors
• ► Water to air intercooler package
• ► Custom moulded heater hoses
• ► Cast aluminium coil covers
• ► Full dyno tune from an authorised Walkinshaw Performance Centre
• ► Unique Walkinshaw Performance roto-moulded cold air intake package
• ► Heavy duty serpentine belt drive system utilizing Goodyear ‘Gatorback’ belt
• ► 12” long intake runners
• ► Custom moulded intercooler hoses
• ► Self-contained oil system

• ► Walkinshaw Performance Ceramic Coated Headers
• ► Walkinshaw Performance Dual Active Cat Back Exhaust
• ► Walkinshaw Performance Cold Air Intake
• ► Walkinshaw Performance ECU Calibration
• ► W457/497 Badging
• ► W Series Certificate of Authenticity
• ► Walkinshaw Performance Drive Line Warranty

 

[W375 redline]

Hi all : from 2012 onwards, holden replaced the fuel pump with a larger unit which continued thru to the end of vf : this was to address issues that were occuring with the fuel pump not supplying the required pressure for the larger injectors associated with the W457 package : walkinshaw would have been well aware of this, so hence the larger fuel pumps from 2012 : the OP should b able to claim full repairs from walkinshaw as they knew of this issue with the earlier fuel pumps : hope this helps the OP somewhat ☺

 

[monstar]

Hi all : from 2012 onwards, holden replaced the fuel pump with a larger unit which continued thru to the end of vf : this was to address issues that were occuring with the fuel pump not supplying the required pressure for the larger injectors associated with the W457 package : walkinshaw would have been well aware of this, so hence the larger fuel pumps from 2012 : the OP should b able to claim full repairs from walkinshaw as they knew of this issue with the earlier fuel pumps : hope this helps the OP somewhat ☺

Thanks, but I thought the e85 L77 release 10/10 was the start of the ZL1 (GTS) high capacity pump?
So in 2012 SS were fitted with a larger pump that is higher capacity than the e85 pump?

 

[monstar]

Worth noting also that Harrop has blogged that it's FDFI2300 is also borderline with the stock fuel pump yet claims a safe tune at 460 (617 BHP) on 98. That's a time bomb as well...
Bottom line is that supercharging a 1900 stock pulley, with ZL1 (e85/GTS) pump, and LSA injectors, is fine. Actually not fine, it performs about the same as a mild cam in an SS and is one of the most inefficient engines ever produced in terms of brake specific fuel consumption and indicated thermal efficiency. Yay, blow me.
Add a pulley, up the injectors or put a 20% bigger blower than that and the pissy fuel pump needs new controller firmware and even then, no matter what, is maxed at around 600 BHP. Raising output expectation without more fuel input is a recipe for what's happened. Bad engineering, supercharged (exaggerated) performance and warranty claims.

 

[revster]

When I had my L77 2014 with a Harrop FDFI2300, when I phoned them to enquire about reducing the pulley size from 80 mm (I think) to 75 mm they said that was getting on the edge injector and pump wise. Any lower size pulley or running E85 would definitely require bigger injectors (bigger than the bigger ones that come with the 2300 kit) and a change to the pump.

 

[W375 redline]

Thanks, but I thought the e85 L77 release 10/10 was the start of the ZL1 (GTS) high capacity pump?
So in 2012 SS were fitted with a larger pump that is higher capacity than the e85 pump?

Well from what i know the fuel pumps that were on from 2011 backwards were smaller even for e85 use : but for e85 they may have been larger as u said but im not sure if that was the case : what i know is that 2012 onwards had the high flow ones : the OP had the smaller pump thats a definite

 

[monstar]

Also interesting is the cost and complication of a suitable fuel pump for a 2300 with bigger injectors, even the OEM unit from GM to this spec is US$3000 (LS9) but that doesn't physically fit. So might as well go aftermarket for bespoke setup for about same price, plus fitting.
Ah now it makes sense why one builds a 640 BHP naturally aspirated 14:1 CR V8 that uses Atkinson and cylinder deactivation to get 7.7l/100k and 11s 1/4. Because it's cheaper, safer, more energy efficient and eco friendly for a daily driver.
OP I've got your back, I don't know much but what I do know is this engine and exactly how to lower BSFC, same power, same pump, same controller, and requisite injector characteristics.

 

[OzTurtle]

Do HSV use a larger fuel pump in the sealed tank, compared to the Holden unit to accommodate their 1900 blower? If so would a tank (and pump) from a Clubsport solve fuel supply and pressure issues, and be a direct bolt in replacement?

 

[monstar]

Do HSV use a larger fuel pump in the sealed tank, compared to the Holden unit to accommodate their 1900 blower? If so would a tank (and pump) from a Clubsport solve fuel supply and pressure issues, and be a direct bolt in replacement?

Same pump as e85 SS, which is not enough margin for a 2300, but can flash the stock firmware in the control module with custom specs to maximise pump delivery for a 1900 with mods.
Problem is not necessarily WOT lean condition BTW, more that the pump and injector combo is mismatched / not tuned to the big supercharger's output. i.e. could happen on transitions or light load.

 

[OzTurtle]

Any update on the warranty claim through Walkinshaw?