mhead
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Encinitas, CA
Re: Stoker: Titan Engine: My Story
01-MAY-2008
It appears that I was supplied a defective fan clutch. I installed a new one with the Titan engine and swapped it out last night. Today the Jeep runs much more dependably cool. Temp sticks at 210 and doesn't show all the highs that I saw early this week. Air temp here in San Diego has cooled a great deal since the start of the week so I can't be sure, but it really seems a lot better. The acid test will come soon. Deserts, grades, air conditioning.
I suspect this is not the end of my Titan story but it might be nice to summarize.
In December 2007 I purchased a Titan 4.6 liter 0.060 bored I6 in my 1992 XJ. Titan had it to me in under two weeks. I installed along with 24# injectors recommended by them. It ran hot from the start. The heat now appears to be a result of the fan clutch and not the engine. I requested a stock cam which Titan supplied. The stock cam breaths more air into the engine. Measured compression at 200 psi. This is quite high. Engine pinged. In 2500 miles with the engine running hot and pinging, the valves overheated and bent, head cracked.
About mid January 2008 I pulled the head and purchased a new one from Titan. They gave me a good deal ($300). There then occurred a comedy of error on Titan's part, beginning with their sending two heads to the wrong addresses followed by their sending a head setup for roller rockers, resulting in 3 months passing until I had all the parts to install a roller-rockered head that I didn't want in the first place but am glad I received now. Titan has either paid part or all the cost of the roller rockers and all of the cost of associated parts. I paid for a new 'hot' cam and installed.
This week I finally got the engine going. I've put cold plugs into it as recommended by go-jeep. Engine seems to run great and no pinging. Idles a little rough. Maybe this is the cam.
So the stroker died because of a combination of a bad fan clutch and a bad cam choice. They didn't know a factory cam would have such an effect on compression. Neither did I.
I've learned Titan's build. They use pistons from a standard application that have 11 cc of dish. Working forward from this you end up with a rather large quench height (about 0.100 in my engine) to keep compression in the lower 9s. I guess these pistons are inexpensive. It's a budget stroker and I got what I paid for. The jeep really leaps and if the ping doesn't start again, well I don't care about quench height.
So if I'd purchased their normal stroker with hot cam, and if I'd had a good fan clutch, the stroker install might have gone smoothly. I'd be happy with Titan now.
But it didn't go that way. On the negative side for Titan, the time it took to get the new head and the frustration of calling basically every day are a very black mark. But on the other hand they didn't give up and have at least shared in the cost of the repair even though the reason for engine damage was not completely clear.
My only complaint at present is about *time*. If they'd only been able to get me the head a week or two after I ordered it I would be happy right now.
To be fair to them it would be nice if others here at
who have had good or bad experiences with Titan contribute to this thread and allow the reader to make their choice.
Stay tuned... the jeep goes to Utah next week. 2000 miles high speed driving under hot conditions. Think I'll make it?
Mike
01-MAY-2008
It appears that I was supplied a defective fan clutch. I installed a new one with the Titan engine and swapped it out last night. Today the Jeep runs much more dependably cool. Temp sticks at 210 and doesn't show all the highs that I saw early this week. Air temp here in San Diego has cooled a great deal since the start of the week so I can't be sure, but it really seems a lot better. The acid test will come soon. Deserts, grades, air conditioning.
I suspect this is not the end of my Titan story but it might be nice to summarize.
In December 2007 I purchased a Titan 4.6 liter 0.060 bored I6 in my 1992 XJ. Titan had it to me in under two weeks. I installed along with 24# injectors recommended by them. It ran hot from the start. The heat now appears to be a result of the fan clutch and not the engine. I requested a stock cam which Titan supplied. The stock cam breaths more air into the engine. Measured compression at 200 psi. This is quite high. Engine pinged. In 2500 miles with the engine running hot and pinging, the valves overheated and bent, head cracked.
About mid January 2008 I pulled the head and purchased a new one from Titan. They gave me a good deal ($300). There then occurred a comedy of error on Titan's part, beginning with their sending two heads to the wrong addresses followed by their sending a head setup for roller rockers, resulting in 3 months passing until I had all the parts to install a roller-rockered head that I didn't want in the first place but am glad I received now. Titan has either paid part or all the cost of the roller rockers and all of the cost of associated parts. I paid for a new 'hot' cam and installed.
This week I finally got the engine going. I've put cold plugs into it as recommended by go-jeep. Engine seems to run great and no pinging. Idles a little rough. Maybe this is the cam.
So the stroker died because of a combination of a bad fan clutch and a bad cam choice. They didn't know a factory cam would have such an effect on compression. Neither did I.
I've learned Titan's build. They use pistons from a standard application that have 11 cc of dish. Working forward from this you end up with a rather large quench height (about 0.100 in my engine) to keep compression in the lower 9s. I guess these pistons are inexpensive. It's a budget stroker and I got what I paid for. The jeep really leaps and if the ping doesn't start again, well I don't care about quench height.
So if I'd purchased their normal stroker with hot cam, and if I'd had a good fan clutch, the stroker install might have gone smoothly. I'd be happy with Titan now.
But it didn't go that way. On the negative side for Titan, the time it took to get the new head and the frustration of calling basically every day are a very black mark. But on the other hand they didn't give up and have at least shared in the cost of the repair even though the reason for engine damage was not completely clear.
My only complaint at present is about *time*. If they'd only been able to get me the head a week or two after I ordered it I would be happy right now.
To be fair to them it would be nice if others here at
who have had good or bad experiences with Titan contribute to this thread and allow the reader to make their choice. Stay tuned... the jeep goes to Utah next week. 2000 miles high speed driving under hot conditions. Think I'll make it?
Mike
