Project Thread Vortech on a tired 1UZ-FE

The 1UZFE EGR Delete Kit is available for sale here.
After a couple months and 2500 miles, the car still runs just great.
in fact, I just took it to get smogged at a CA test only station and IT PASSED! I didn't even take it out on the highway to warm it up. the smog tech pulled me into the bay and started to tell me that my modifications needed CARB approval, and I just pointed at the placard on the blower itself. he bought it and didn't even bother to check the evaporation system which is vented to the atmosphere. haha.. it went on the rollers and barely registered co, zero nox, but borderline hc at low speed.
ahhh... the joys of vortech ownership. he sent me out with a pass certificate, no lookup necessary. sweet.
 

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Good job! I don't know what fuel system that you have. But Vortech supercharger system is CARB legal because it only contains a FMU and a hi-flow hi-pressure fuel pump. The fuel is only enriched when the engine is under boost. When the car is smog tested, the highest RPM is only 2500 RPM, in which the engine barely makes any boost at all. I like that setup.
 
Sorry to bump an older thread but I was wondering how your car is doing? Did you fix all the little bugs? Now I read the thread but since the attachments are all screwed up, what exhaust did you use?

Thanks, James
 
Jeez, those attachments are really out of control.
Car runs perfectly.
Stock exhaust. Everything in the car is 100% stock except for the following:
1) Fuel pressure regulator plumbed into return lines
2) Battery moved to trunk
3) Electric fan used to replace stock cooling fan
3.5) Top radiator mounts massaged to provide more clearance to the supercharger
4) The supercharger, of course, and the inlet piping all the way up to the AFM.

My driving style is typically very easy and relaxed. The biggest point of having the blower in there was to improve low-throttle performance, which it has done.

I'd still like to put on a smaller blower pulley, maybe 3.125" or thereabouts, but right now I'm fine leaving it as it is. My job has me very busy right now.
 
I just took it to the dyno today. I expected 230RWHP. It pulled 245RWHP and 245lb-ft. The AFR was ridiculous. It went way below 10:1 on boost, even with the FPR disconnected from vacuum. I think that I can probably pick up a good 30RWHP and more torque with a simple tune.
I am pleased with the result. The transmission is a horrendous drag on the drivetrain. At a 25% correction factor, that's about 310 horsepower at the flywheel. Not bad for stock everything except for the blower, 263,000 miles, and 3psi.
 
I need more power. I have a line on a 2.95" pulley. The seller is trying to talk me out of it - he comes from the Ford world where crank-mounted blower pulleys are 8 inches! I'm hoping that it gives me 5-6lbs boost instead of 3.5lbs as current with the 3.75" pulley.
I've also disconnected the AFPR for now. It might not be working right, and the system is disgustingly over-rich under boost as it is.
I am also getting light pinging at high RPMs. Thanks, CA 91 pump! I will experiment with BKR7E plugs soon too.
 
You might want to consider a M/W injection kit also. Think of it as detonation insurance.

If you're planning to increase boost AND lean it out, and you're already pinging, you're heading into some choppy waters.......
 
You might want to consider a M/W injection kit also. Think of it as detonation insurance.

If you're planning to increase boost AND lean it out, and you're already pinging, you're heading into some choppy waters.......
The AFPR made no difference on the dyno when disconnected, the A/F ratio was still nutty.
I will try the new plugs before I increase the boost. I don't think that I'll get to up the boost for another few months as the bracket needs alignment and solidification work. I think the M/W kit holds great promise - I have to piece it together as well, before I put that smaller pulley in. Once the car is ready, I'll turn the screws on the motor to make it scream :D
 
3.5psi and its pinging? Thats not right. I overboosted 9psi by accidently revving past 7k and mine never started knocking. What AFR are you seeing at redline? If its pinging at redline your not getting enough fuel or the timing is off. If its still rich up top and its pinging 2x check timing for anything abnormal. Maybe the IAT sensor is off and its telling the ECU your running cooler temps than actual? Maybe stock fuel filter is clogged, impeding flow?

This thanksgiving I will be slapping my P1 into the SC400 and im shooting for 7-9psi with only my RRFPR and stock fuel pump/injectors.
 
My pinging problem has become very real, with P0325 - a knock sensor code - getting thrown when the car is cruising on the highway around 60mph, when hot. The code throwing makes the car very slow and makes the motor lope and buck - which is really disconcerting.
I can't even see the knock sensor! But I do need to change it, no matter what it takes. Anyone have a knock sensor that I can have for cheep? :)
 
Actually I'm getting the problem with the blower disconnected as well as with it connected. In fact since it came up I've been driving around with the blower disconnected the whole time to try to make heads or tails of the situation and eliminate the variable that I'd introduced by supercharging in the first place. Too late though, the damage has been done - at least to the knock sensor?
 
Thats strange. You might want to have your fuel injectors cleaned and balanced. If one is flowing less than the rest due to carbon buildup or wear, a single weak injector can cause a cylinder to lean out and engine will knock. Of course a faulty knock sensor will also solve this.

Easy way to test a knock sensor. Take the manifold off, and backprobe the single wire knock sensor with a multimeter. With the screen set to volts, smack the engine block with a rubber mallet and watch how much voltage is produced. Then test the sensor on the other side of the block and compare or compare to a certified new one. Knock sensors use whats called piezoelectricity.. where when a sensor is exposed to pressure or shockwaves, produces a voltage.
 
Got any picture of your setup?
I've put it into an attachment.

So my car's started misfiring really, really badly now. No CELs were triggered. I bought some ngk v-power copper plugs to replace my 4 year old ngk iridiums, but when i pulled my iridium plugs out to inspect they looked perfect. even burn, no increase in gap.

so my car is parked while i wait on a new set of ignition coils to arrive from rockauto. $25 each, lol.
 

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check the maf sensor. Its usually a 50/50 shot wether or not the maf will take well to boost. Mine went out shorty adding my blower. Simpy unplugging the maf brought it back to normal. Im planning to a MAP conversion in the near future. Also if there is any trace of blower oil inside the boost pipe, it will totally throw off the sensor. Does it miss when the pedal is at wide open throttle?
 
Okay,
So I changed the ignition coils. Absolutely NO difference. That was money well spent. sheesh.
Out of desperation, I put the copper plugs in anyway. Holy smokes, that fixed it! No more misfiring at all!
But I still had my knock sensor code going, and it was annoying the hell out of me, so I installed the knock sensor that KC95SC400 gave me a great deal on. The knock sensor's installation was actually easy! I didn't have to remove the intake manifold. I just removed the EGR valve and the plate behind it on the plenum, and that gave me enough access to stick my hand into there. After a great deal of pain on my fingers, and thumbs, from pushing the damn tab in, I was able to get the connector off. Then I snaked a 27mm deep socket, a 1/2" U-joint and a flex-head breaker bar in there and cranked on it at a very awkward angle until it came loose. I unthreaded the sensor by hand, threaded the new sensor in there, reconnected it, and went for a drive. Whammo - my car's performing like it did a few years ago now. No more check engine lights, great performance, more power (I track speed, MPG and acceleration for relative TPS values through my Scangauge to measure how "healthy" my car is).
So my motor wasn't bad. My overheating, misfiring and knock weren't related to a blown motor or head gasket, it was just an ignition and sensor issue. Our '95+ motors aren't as horrible as I'd thought, and I've just crossed 270,000 miles on mine.
 


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