best pistons?

[deviousgst]

what are better pistons? i recently rebuild my engine with je pistons ,but for some reason some of the pistons melted on the top corners. and im goin to have to rebuild it agian.. but i was jst wondering, what pistons should i go with now

 

[1gDSM4g63]

Some others options are Wiseco, Mahle, Ross, Arias, but JE Forge pistons don't lack in quality there are good. It probably wasn't balanced correctly or the tuning was bad.

 

[deviousgst]

JE pistons are good, probably it wasn't balance correctly or the tuning was bad.

i got it tuned pretty good and curves were good.. it all happend after i raced one night

 

[kahl23]

If you managed to melt the pistons something was definitely not right. JE pistons slap a lot on cold startup, but they aren't exactly low quality slugs. I think you might have some underlying issues here. What were your AFRs when you melted the pistons?

 

[my2AWDgst]

I like ROSS the best.

 

[Ajax]

Venolia pistons are pretty good aswell

 

[deviousgst]

If you managed to melt the pistons something was definitely not right. JE pistons slap a lot on cold startup, but they aren't exactly low quality slugs. I think you might have some underlying issues here. What were your AFRs when you melted the pistons?

im not sure what were teh afr wen they got melted..
but i got tuned down in long beach ca and i live in bakersfield ca, you think the tunning at a diff elevation could of caused this..(i rebuilt my car 8k miles ago, and got it tuned 6k miles ago..)

 

[kahl23]

I'm really not sure, I know the air is thinner at elevation, but I've never had to deal with anything over a couple hundred feet. Im sure anyone from the RM area could chime in on this one. How much elevation are we talking about here?

 

[toofast82]

I had Ross in my last 1g with good success! Sounds like there may have been some issue with the described pistons. JE aren't junk and they are a top choice for small/big chevy

 

[turboglenn]

I've ran JE ( in 2 4g63's of mine now) and besides being slap happy as hell they never let me down. If youmelted the top edges the tune was off and soemthing got way too hot. If the shop tined the car on the ragged edge to get every bit of power thye could out of it, this could easily be the cause (there's a reason you hear of the pro teams melting holes in pistons, toasting valves, etc.. they are looking for every once of power! Now, as for elevation all ECU's have an altitude or barometric compensation map or factor system, just most people never see it. Being on a stock ECU w/ SAFC on it the table should have still been correct enough that if the tune was safe the altitude would not have mattered. And the only way it would have gotten leaner was if it was tuned at a higher elevation than where you live/burned it up at.

I currently run wiseco pistons as they've never let me down in the 2 stroke and motorcycle world and after not relaly seeing any difference in all the various pistons in cars i've worked on, built or have been owned by friends, I chose them because i got a really good deal on them and i had a history with the maker already and it was a good one.

A very good friend of mine ran Ross pistons in his 4g and had no complaints with them but had 2 exact failures in a row when he ran them, the #1 piston broke at the wrist pin each time, both times on eagle H0beam rods ( but i'm of the belief that the failure wasn't due to piston quality but rather the conditions under which it operated) ...there was a 55* spike in the timing map at near 30 psi when i loaded up the software for his ECU and checked out his maps...the tuner most likely overlooked this, downloaded a map, or was after some "repeat business" when the motor went out.

I would say any forged piston of recognizable manufacturer will be good enough for you until you get to making in the 900+ horse range. A capable fuel system and the management are what keeps the motor together at high horsepower. I will say that i think JE as a company is kinda flakey to not fix the alloy or change something to where there's not such an expansion rate causing so much slap opn turbo engines. I've heard this complaint on other turbo motors besides the 4g's, but for NA conditions, i've never seen or heard of any issues

 

[toofast82]

A very good friend of mine ran Ross pistons in his 4g and had no complaints with them but had 2 exact failures in a row when he ran them, the #1 piston broke at the wrist pin each time, both times on eagle H0beam rods ( but i'm of the belief that the failure wasn't due to piston quality but rather the conditions under which it operated) ...there was a 55* spike in the timing map at near 30 psi when i loaded up the software for his ECU and checked out his maps

What turbo was on there? Were you in the car, bet it was pulling pretty good! Most likely the cause of some sort of failure as well

I would say any forged piston of recognizable manufacturer will be good enough for you until you get to making in the 900+ horse range. A capable fuel system and the management are what keeps the motor together at high horsepower. I will say that i think JE as a company is kinda flakey to not fix the alloy or change something to where there's not such an expansion rate causing so much slap opn turbo engines. I've heard this complaint on other turbo motors besides the 4g's, but for NA conditions, i've never seen or heard of any issues

well said

 

[deviousgst]

I've ran JE ( in 2 4g63's of mine now) and besides being slap happy as hell they never let me down. If youmelted the top edges the tune was off and soemthing got way too hot. If the shop tined the car on the ragged edge to get every bit of power thye could out of it, this could easily be the cause (there's a reason you hear of the pro teams melting holes in pistons, toasting valves, etc.. they are looking for every once of power! Now, as for elevation all ECU's have an altitude or barometric compensation map or factor system, just most people never see it. Being on a stock ECU w/ SAFC on it the table should have still been correct enough that if the tune was safe the altitude would not have mattered. And the only way it would have gotten leaner was if it was tuned at a higher elevation than where you live/burned it up at.

I currently run wiseco pistons as they've never let me down in the 2 stroke and motorcycle world and after not relaly seeing any difference in all the various pistons in cars i've worked on, built or have been owned by friends, I chose them because i got a really good deal on them and i had a history with the maker already and it was a good one.

A very good friend of mine ran Ross pistons in his 4g and had no complaints with them but had 2 exact failures in a row when he ran them, the #1 piston broke at the wrist pin each time, both times on eagle H0beam rods ( but i'm of the belief that the failure wasn't due to piston quality but rather the conditions under which it operated) ...there was a 55* spike in the timing map at near 30 psi when i loaded up the software for his ECU and checked out his maps...the tuner most likely overlooked this, downloaded a map, or was after some "repeat business" when the motor went out.

I would say any forged piston of recognizable manufacturer will be good enough for you until you get to making in the 900+ horse range. A capable fuel system and the management are what keeps the motor together at high horsepower. I will say that i think JE as a company is kinda flakey to not fix the alloy or change something to where there's not such an expansion rate causing so much slap opn turbo engines. I've heard this complaint on other turbo motors besides the 4g's, but for NA conditions, i've never seen or heard of any issues

thanks for all the information, i appreciate it.
i think it was the tunning on my car. because i called up road race and they said that the shop i got my car tuned at, sucks at tunning..
i have another question..what do you recomend, stock bore or should i bore it and to what size? thanks

 

[Team Addiction]

You dont get to just decide a random overbore
Have a machine shop check the cylinder walls and they will TELL you what it needs as fas as hone/overbore

 

[turbo23]

melting the sharp edges on the piston is most likey a detenation problem, could have been run very lean as well which would have made the det even worse.. as far as boring, I'd only do it if it needs.. I'll bet your going to need it though. when a cylinder is run hot enough to "melt" the piston, then the bore is typically quite a bit out of round. in that situation, have it bored till it just cleans up, might get away with .020 but might not as well.

 

[deviousgst]

melting the sharp edges on the piston is most likey a detenation problem, could have been run very lean as well which would have made the det even worse.. as far as boring, I'd only do it if it needs.. I'll bet your going to need it though. when a cylinder is run hot enough to "melt" the piston, then the bore is typically quite a bit out of round. in that situation, have it bored till it just cleans up, might get away with .020 but might not as well.

well im goona be using a diff 6 bolt block..

 

[dirtbike_79]

I am very happy with my Mahle pistons. They are a great choice if your car is a dd because of the high silicon content in the material. This means that you don't have to worry to much about piston slap. I haven't had any problems with mine, and I have about 10000 miles on them.

 

[blazebolt]

I am very happy with my Mahle pistons. They are a great choice if your car is a dd because of the high silicon content in the material. This means that you don't have to worry to much about piston slap. I haven't had any problems with mine, and I have about 10000 miles on them.

What clearances did you use for your Mahle's? I about to drop my Mahles off at the Machine shop

 

[alansupra94]

I love Mahle, they are great! Alot of racing teams like running them, especially Porsches

 

[Team Addiction]

maperformance.com uses Mahle in their 800hp talon

I also run them in my daily as well so far so good

 

[blazebolt]

Yup! That's why I chose to run them too. What clearances did you guys use? I haven't decided how low I want to go.

(sorry for the hijack)

 

[datrip]

I have ran some CP's in my Evo's 4G63 for 15K with no issues at all.