2011 jeep jk, RIPP supercharger and a blown head gasket

[1997tj]

Im working on this jk at work and the head gasket is blown on the number 4 cylinder. Its not just leaking coolant it blew the gasket around the combustion chamber. The heater core is also busted but they already had that bypassed. None of this happened until they had the supercharger installed. I called RIPP to see if they had ran into this or had a solution but I wasnt able to get much help. They were more defensive than helpful. He said the headbolts were probably loose and that was a common problem with the jks. Trust me they werent loose. He also said these only put out about 6 to 7 pounds of boost and shouldnt cause any issues. Is there supposed to be a programmer? I dont see how you can add that much air without adding fuel or adjusting the map or something. The cylinder does not look like it has been ran very lean. There is a long history on this thing and it has been to many other "jiffy lube" type places that wouldnt do the big work and thats how it ended up here. I know they have a lot of these things sold so I wouldnt think they would cause this issue but why else would the head gasket be blown there at 40,000 miles? Whats yalls opinion?

 

[1997tj]

 

[Phatchick]

I used to build and boost many mustangs and now into the Jeep stuff. I have often wondered how RIPP just gives you a box tune and it works for all the JKs. In my experience with boosted vehicles you need to have them tuned. How can one tune work for all JKs from the east coast to the west coast? On the last boosted car I built I had to have a summer tune and a winter tune to keep the engine safe. I bet there are more cases than just what you are working on that's probably why they are so defensive.

 

[1997tj]

Well the kid never had it tuned at all so he wants to put the super charger back on there and he is going to bring me the programmer to set it up. I told them that as long as the super charger was on there we could not warranty the head gasket job so if he wants to tear it up again its on him.

 

[Skinny]

Wait, the owner is at supercharger levels but can only afford Jiffy Lube type places for work? I'd run from this job.

I agree that the stock programming probably doesn't have enough adjustment for forced induction but some OEM's have that tucked in there if they offer a factory option supercharger like TRD. Regardless, the owner may have just been in the skinny for too long and blew it up. May have been slightly lean which it could handle but run for just too long. Never know how long it has been beaten for and most drivers/owners won't be honest with you up front.

"Yeah, it blew up as I had it pinned to the floor doing a top speed test"

Usually you get, "Yeah, it just blew up while I was parking"

The owner from what you describe sounds like a guy that will blame you for everything that goes wrong and will want free stuff done because he can't afford to run what he has IMO.