BoBo racing
New Member
- First Name
- dave
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2026
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- 1
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- Location
- south florida
- Vehicle(s)
- integra type, eg6 sir, ctr fk8, 8th gen si
- Thread starter
- #1
I’m posting this on behalf of two friends who are dealing with serious issues involving their Honda Civic Type R FL5 and Integra Type S DE5. Neither owner currently has an account to make this post themselves, so I’m sharing their experiences with permission because we believe the Honda community should be aware of what happened.
This post is not intended to encourage harassment, threats, review-bombing, or attacks against anyone. The purpose is to make other Honda owners aware of these situations, document what has happened, and hopefully get input from people who have experience with the FL5/DE5 and K20C1 platform.
Both vehicles were associated with the same South Florida tuner, S.E.S. Electronic Solutions / Alejandro Alvarez (Ale).
There are two separate situations.
CAR #1 DE5 Integra Type S with approximately 2,000 miles
The first vehicle was a DE5 Integra Type S with less than 2,000 miles.
After having the ECU unlocked, the owner was looking for someone locally in South Florida to tune the vehicle. He was part of a Honda group chat where several people recommended Alejandro at S.E.S. Electronics. Based on those recommendations, he took the car there.
After the vehicle was tuned, the engine began experiencing issues.
One of the major concerns surrounding this vehicle is the condition of the spark plugs. The tips of the spark plugs broke off. When the owner asked why this happened, there was reportedly no clear explanation. Alejandro from S.E.S. installed FK8 spark plugs as replacements.
The owner later used a camera to inspect the cylinders and found light scoring on the cylinder walls. According to the owner, S.E.S. stated that the scoring was normal and not something to be concerned about.
The owner eventually decided to change tuners.
I want to be fair here: an issue occurring after a tune does not automatically prove that the tune caused the issue. That is exactly why we are looking for people who understand these engines and can independently review the available evidence.
However, when a nearly new vehicle with an OEM engine that had only approximately 2,000 miles experiences an issue, and there are questions regarding the tune, spark plugs, and cylinder condition, we believe those questions deserve legitimate answers.
CAR #2 Rebuilt FL5 / K20C1
The second vehicle is an FL5, and it has a similar story in the beginning the ecu was jailbroken from Pherable during a AHC car event. After it was unlocked the owner was involved in the same group chat setting and listened to the admins who strongly suggested in using SES for its tuning and mechanical needs, since he specializes in this platform.
The car had basic bolt-ons and was tuned by S.E.S. Shortly afterward, the vehicle experienced major engine issues that ultimately resulted in S.E.S. rebuilding the bottom end using used pistons and rods supplied by S.E.S.
According to the owner, S.E.S. suggested and encouraged using these previously used components.
The owner provided an OEM long block. However, Alejandro strongly suggested building a different bottom end for the owner, telling him it would make more power.
The owner told Alejandro, “I don’t have the money for that.”
According to the owner, Alejandro responded, “We’ll find a way.”
Alejandro ultimately took the head from the OEM long block provided by the owner and installed it onto the bottom end he rebuilt using used pistons and rods. The owner was told that this engine would be stronger and faster.
After startup, the vehicle began burning oil.
According to the owner, S.E.S. initially explained that the oil consumption was normal because the engine was a new race engine and needed to be broken in.
The owner continued driving the vehicle, and after approximately 500 miles, it was still burning oil.
At that point, S.E.S. stated that it was time to tune the vehicle, despite knowing that it was still consuming oil.
After the custom S.E.S. tune was installed, the vehicle began smoking and consuming an extreme amount of oil.
The spark plugs were inspected, and once again, the tips were missing.
A camera inspection of the cylinders showed significant scoring. Compression testing was also performed, and the compression numbers were inconsistent between cylinders.
At this point, the rebuilt engine had approximately 1,000 miles or less.
S.E.S. then provided a revised calibration. After that, another set of spark plugs lost their tips, followed by misfires and additional issues.
This is where some of our biggest questions began.
The owner repeatedly asked why the spark plugs were losing their tips. According to the owner, he was told that the tune had nothing to do with it.
He was also told that the engine rebuild was not S.E.S.’s responsibility.
When questions were raised regarding the ringlands, ring gaps, and the construction of the bottom end, the owner says he did not receive clear answers.
THE TUNING QUESTIONS
Several people with experience reviewing datalogs have looked at portions of the available information and raised concerns regarding the calibration.
Among the observations were:
• Cylinder #3 reportedly experienced more than 5 degrees of knock retard.
• Ignition timing appeared aggressive to the individuals who reviewed the logs.
• There were periods where the commanded air-fuel ratio appeared lean while short-term fuel trims were highly negative at higher RPM.
These observations do not, by themselves, prove that the tune caused the engine damage.
That distinction is important.
We are not claiming that a screenshot of a datalog automatically proves causation. We are asking people who genuinely understand the K20C1 platform, FL5/DE5 calibration, ignition timing, knock control, fueling, boost, and engine failures to look at the actual data and tell us what they see.
If the calibration is safe and the data supports S.E.S.’s position, then we want to know that too.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING
The owner has attempted to communicate with S.E.S. and get answers regarding the spark plugs, engine damage, bottom-end construction, and calibration.
According to the owner, instead of receiving clear technical answers, the concerns have largely been dismissed or redirected.
The owner also feels that the situation has been treated as a joke publicly rather than as a legitimate customer concern involving a nearly new vehicle and a damaged engine.
Again, we are posting this because we want answers, not because we want anyone to attack anybody.
We are asking the Honda community for help.
If you have experience with:
• FL5 or DE5 tuning
• K20C1 engines
• Hondata/FlashPro calibration
• Ignition timing
• Knock retard
• Fuel trims
• AFR/lambda
• Boost and torque targets
• Spark plug failures
• Ringland failures
• Bottom-end engine rebuilding
• Cylinder scoring
• Engine break-in
• K20C1 engine failures
• Datalog analysis
and you are willing to independently review the available information, please reach out.
We are also interested in hearing from anyone who was personally present during the tuning or engine-building process, participated in the group conversations surrounding either vehicle, or has screenshots, messages, calibration files, datalogs, photographs, videos, or other documentation specifically related to these vehicles.
What we are looking for is factual information and evidence—not assumptions or comments such as “my car is tuned by S.E.S. and mine is still running.”
If you have something relevant that can help answer the questions surrounding these two vehicles, we would genuinely like to hear from you.
We are working to preserve and organize whatever documentation is available, including messages, payment records, conversations, calibration files, FlashPro information, datalogs, photographs, videos, diagnostic information, and engine inspection results.
TO BE FAIR TO S.E.S.
We are also completely open to S.E.S. Electronic Solutions and Alejandro providing their side of the story regarding both engines, the tuning, and the work performed.
We are asking for direct answers to the questions being raised, rather than deflecting to unrelated issues or other aspects of the vehicles that do not address the specific questions regarding the engine failures, spark plugs, bottom-end construction, and tuning.
If there are calibration files, datalogs, diagnostic results, engine-building specifications, measurements, or other evidence that explains what happened, we are willing to look at it.
If the evidence ultimately shows that the tune was not responsible for the failures, we are willing to acknowledge that.
But if an independent review of the calibration, datalogs, spark plug failures, cylinder damage, compression results, engine construction, and other available evidence demonstrates that the calibration or work performed contributed to the failures, then we believe the owners deserve accountability and a proper resolution.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The goal here is not to destroy anyone’s business.
The goal is to determine what actually happened.
These are two different cars associated with the same tuner, and both situations involve serious questions that, in our opinion, deserve answers.
If you’re an FL5 or DE5 owner in South Florida or anywhere else and you’re considering having your car tuned, please do your own research and make an informed decision.
We’re asking the Honda community to look at the evidence, not simply take our word for it.
If you know these cars and can genuinely analyze the data, we want your opinion.
Transparency. Technical answers. Accountability.
That’s all we’re asking for.
