BBK SSI Intake Fuel Leak Problems. SAVE YOURSELF!

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t.o.93_GT

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Jun 2, 2002
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Mississauga
A little rant i wrote on Stangfan

Well, as some of you know i went with the BBK SSI intake for my 93 mustang. Its a very unique intake and really matches my vehicle color scheme well.

When i first got it and took it the car to MPW to have it all put together, Mike had mentioned how these intakes fuel rails leaked. He had faith that there had been a revision and that there shouldn't be a problem. ......

One of my friends had mentioned my car smelled like fuel when it left MPW.

Aprox 1.5 months later my ride went into Nicks for some more goodies (blower etc) Nicks been hard at work making the car look kick ass.

Now though, my intake is now off. Why? Fuel leak from the fuel rail press fittings. The exact issue MPW warned me about.

This is sooo dangerous and if a another shop has already experienced this problem, and now i have the problem, others are surely having issues. This is so dangerous and could burn your car down.

Ive contacted BBK today with a thorough email expressing my deep concern in regards to the safety of their product. (customerservice [at] bbkperformance.com ). I hope to hear back from them early Monday with them telling me they can overnight some new fuel rails to me!

Anyhow, heres some quick pics so you know where to look when you hear what you think is a fuel injector leak .

stangfan-2tone_93gta.jpg


stangfan-2tone_93gtb.jpg


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That could be the case, i didn't install it, i paid 2 shops. Regardless of whose at fault, im just not liking the idea of being on fire :D

MPW - aka MPW racing

Alongside their impressive race history, MPW also boasts the fastest ever stock-suspension vehicle record in Canada: Their 1988 Mustang finished the quarter mile in just 8.19 seconds driven by Mike’s wife, Sandra Grella

and now Nicks Automotive

To think both shops couldn't get it to work right, especially when they specialize in Ford Mustangs is a scary thought, and i don't think its the case. But, we will find out from BBK.

We will see what happens. And i will keep the thread updated. But as a consumer whose had 3 mustang builds, 2 blower and 1 turbo, id like to think the shops im dealing with are capable (ive learned the hard way that some others aren't).

But.... we will see :)
 
Had the exact problem with fuel leaks you describe. Had the damn thing apart about 15 times with numerous guage o-rings before it finally sealed. The fuel crossover tube is a crappy design with shoddy tolerances! BBK now offers a different flexible crossover tube that is plumbed at the rear of the rails, supposedly in order to work with other lowers on the market. It does offer more compatibility, but I think they finally threw in the towel on the POS hardline design.
Looking back, it would have been a simpler, and quicker fix to just plug the crossover holes, tap the rear holes, and install AN fittings with some braided SS line.
Would also have been nice if all of the parts had been supplied in the kit. 45 minutes of driving to the machine shop for the alignment dowels was not fun.
Also had the oil consumption issue, but most of that turned out to be that the bottom plate was put on backwards. User error for sure, but it came packaged that way, and it appeared to be installed correctly. Only a call to BBK and a re-read of the small print in the instructions revealed the problem.
Also had hood clearance issues and ended up grinding some of the inner structure away to make it fit.
The SSI does look different, and cool, ....and it runs strong above 3500, but it ain't worth it IM(veryhumble)HO.
 
Well, i called BBK Performance this morning (951-296-1771) and spoke to Doug.

Doug was pretty nice, listened to my story and had put in question shop install error. Now i had told him 2 shops had worked on the car, problem still exists and the first shop warned me of the issue. Again, he questioned the install. Doug was friendly, not rude and in all fairness, he wasn't there when it was installed.

Doug stated that they may need the parts back, im not sure what that means. Complete intake or just the fuel rails, he didn't say. He said he needed to look over the proof of purchase and my other email.

I of course mentioned that i was reading on the net how there are some issues with this intake. Doug let me know he does not surf online forums and is not familiar with any including stangnet (i find that hard to believe Doug..you're probably reading this now :p )

So, now we shall see what happens. I hope they go the distance to resolve this. Ive sent them documented pictures and everything they need.

SSI-FOR-DOUG-online.jpg
 
Please contact us FIRST when you run into any issues with the products..

We have spoken with the owner of Mustang Parts Warehouse who verified that there was never any fire.

We've also spoken with Nick's.

Nick's seems to have a good handle on what needs to be done.

New O-rings have been sent out to them already, the gentleman I spoke with there told me that there weren't any O-rings installed in the crossover tube, which would undoubtedly cause a leak.

We have also supplied Nicks with a copy of the installtion instructions.

regards,
BBK
 
Please contact us FIRST when you run into any issues with the products..


Hey there, i imagine this is Doug. You guys are quick :D

Just an update to the community, i had spoken with Doug and it seems things are going to be handled. O-rings are being shipped out and should be at Nicks Automotive (hopefully by tomorrow) so i can get this thing off the hoist.

From where we are at now, issue with the intake is "installer error". Thats with me having all the facts. Be it the first shop didn't read the instructions or didn't do it right, i don't know.
Point is, at this stage its shop error. Car didn't burn or catch on fire, so its not the end of the world.

Anyhow, thumbs up for BBK. So far the customer service has been A+, you cant go wrong. Besides, the intake is sexy :canada:

I will keep everyone updated on this until the car leaves the shop :nice:
 
lol, this is why I always do all my own work...why pay someone to install an intake?!

Well, there are a few reasons why i paid someone to install the intake.

1) i don't and didn't have the time. my day consists of long work hours and a brutal commute.

2) the know how. I don't know, and with a new motor in the car, i really don't wanna take any chances... even if there wasn't a built motor, i would pay someone.

3) i have the cash. my hard work affords me the leisure to pay a professional to do the job. everyone makes errors, ***** happens. no damage came up. so what can you do??

I'm not freaking out over this or making to big of a stink. I am just a consumer, i don't what exactly happened to give my car a fuel leak. I am going from what i am being told and what i am seeing.

Informational post, thats all :)
 
Well, i called BBK Performance this morning (951-296-1771) and spoke to Doug.

Doug was pretty nice, listened to my story and had put in question shop install error. Now i had told him 2 shops had worked on the car, problem still exists and the first shop warned me of the issue. Again, he questioned the install. Doug was friendly, not rude and in all fairness, he wasn't there when it was installed.

Doug stated that they may need the parts back, im not sure what that means. Complete intake or just the fuel rails, he didn't say. He said he needed to look over the proof of purchase and my other email.

I of course mentioned that i was reading on the net how there are some issues with this intake. Doug let me know he does not surf online forums and is not familiar with any including stangnet (i find that hard to believe Doug..you're probably reading this now :p )
So, now we shall see what happens. I hope they go the distance to resolve this. Ive sent them documented pictures and everything they need.

:lol: that was quick.
 
Sorry to hear about your problems with the fuel rails I have the same kit installed on my 93 LX. When I installed it the first time I accidently pinched the O ring putting the crossover tube between the fuel rails and it caused a small leak, but I quickly removed and replaced the O ring and this time I was very carefull and followed the directions to a tee and it was perfect no more leak. So seeing how I made this mistake while installing this setup I can see how someone could easily do the same thing.Good luck to you and enjoy your new setup!!:nice:
 
t.o.93_GT-

Before you called Doug this morning, I had already read your email to him that he forwarded to me, and been in contact with MPW and Nicks.

In your email you claim that you had been informed by MPW that another car had caught on fire and they suspected that an SSI with a fuel leak was the cause.

MPW verified what I assumed.

There was never any fire.

If there had been a fire, I would've known all about it and had all of the details available to share the exact cause, which more than likely would've been installation error,

This leads me to my discussion wth Nicks.

The guy I spoke with at Nicks (who was very familiar with your car) told me that there were no O-rings in the crossover tube at all.

I guess someone at some point assumed that the crossover tube is a metal on metal "press fit".

This is obvious because whoever it was definitely didn't read the instructions that I spent weeks preparing and wording clearly ( in an effort to avoid situations like this).

The instructions directly address the O-ring installation and have a section that tells the installer how to check for fuel leaks BEFORE installing the upper intake.

The upper intake should've never been installed if there was a fuel leak.

I've already packed and shipped all new O-rings to Nicks and emailed them a copy of our installation instructions.

Hopefully they will get it right for you.

Anytime you need to ask us a question or get some help with our products we will do our best for you, But we willl not take internet flaming lightly, especially when it's due to something like O-rings not being installed AT ALL. How is that our fault?

In the time you spent sitting in front of the computer to flame the product, you could've had a BBK tech on the phone, or at least got my email address from the receptionist and described the issue in great detail to me.



BTW, I know not everyone is properly equipped, or lives in a place where they can work on their car, but I bet if you had read the instructions, you probably could've installed the SSI yourself.

Bryan Rogers
 
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