powerdyne question

[jessica2112]

Greyman gave me some info on RK kit for my 99 bird. How long should a competent mechanic take to do this? He's worked on my 84 Camaro, till I got this car. Old mexican guy, hard to understand, but he does good work at a good price. I want to do this and not have to worry about shelling my motor. I only have 40,000 miles on it. It's a daily driver, but not fast enough for me [img]smile.gif[/img] I want to keep my ac/and all that stuff working. I don't want any headaches, just a faster car. I almost have the purcase price $$$ saved up. Need to add up his time for installation. Thanks! Jessica [img]smile.gif[/img]

[1DangerousV6]

id say about 3 - 4 hours for someone who is not familiar with the kit..as i always say..i slapped on the blower without the FMU or boost timing module in 20 - 30 minutes [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Mighty Thor]

If it's something that he has never done before, it might take him 6 hours. Download Mccanda's instruction on this. The only hard part to install is the FMU and TRC-1 boost retardant. But everything else is straight forward.

You may want to have your plugs change while he's at it for a colder one .032 NGK.

You don't loose any accessories. Most of all your AC. Check the For Sale forum. I think there is one for sale.

[Wicked 3800 V6]

You could give a local young member a few bones to do it, would be cheaper than a mechanic. Just don't expect a warranty!

[NCState98]

If you feel like makin a weekend trip to NC I'd put it on for ya... fun install.

Brandon

[jessica2112]

Thor, where do I get Mccandas instructions??

[Mighty Thor]

http://home.comcast.net/~grayman99/MCAANDA-page.htm

I got this from grayman's website for you. Major props for grayman.

Good luck.

[grayman]

Get my mcaanda addendum as well. Things have changed since the John_D Wrap.

I don't like the idea of paying a mechanic to put in the powerdyne. The real powerdyne install tricks are here on the internet...not in the stock instructions.

Maybe save money by not having him install the boost timing module. Switch to premium fuel before you install the kit. Change plugs to NGK TR6 and gap to .035. Basicaly take my website and run with it. Seriously.

He will have to do a PCV mod to the throttle body so you do not shoot oil out of the dipstick tube, etc. This is easy stuff for even a begining mechanic but will take a while in shop time.

You sorta need to know about the powerdyne because it will be on your car. (IMO) You will have to tighten the belt every couple of days for the first couple of weeks....etc.

If you want the powerdyne to work you will have to do the John_D powerwrap mod. This means doing a little clearancing of the oil filter elbow. Again, easy stuff...I just used a rasp file.

Gather up info on the different additional mods. See if you can find a friend or somebody to help with these things. You can and should do them before you actually put the blower unit on the car. You can install the FMU and even the Ignition module (if you want) before hand.

It will take a mechanic several hours just to put in a fuel pressure gauge. (unless you want wires hanging out...looking all ugly and stuff)

The thing with paying a mechanic...um...I have seen this several times already. It has never worked out for the person. That is even how I was able to buy my powerdyne at half price. It was brand new and a young guy (not mechanicaly inclined) was paying to have it put on. They never got it working. The instructions are crap. Once they finaly did got it on...well...there was little or no PSI because they did not do the improved belt routing, when the psi did kick in a bit...he was blowing the dipstick. on and on. They did not regap his plugs...because the stock spark plug gap is .065(?) as per the GM service manuals, but the higher compression requires a shorter plug gap so that the 'boost' compression does not blow out the spark. These are all simple things...but important. If you do go with a mechanic...maybe get your printer warmed up and print out the additional info for your mechanic. Deffinatly don't drive in there with just the stock instructions from rksport.

Dont get me wrong. I hope you get a powerdyne and have that much more fun with your cool car. It can be a tremendous 'bolt on' power adder.

I would help somebody with this stuff if they lived nearby because again it is simple things but VERY important. it is just a bit of 'rigamaro' for a shop to undertake.

Maybe keep us posted on your progress so that we can all make sure you are as ready as possible for the day you take the car in.

[ April 05, 2005, 02:33 PM: Message edited by: grayman ]

[NCState98]

^all perfect advice. I researched for atleast 6 months before I actually got the blower and bolted it on. I'm an average car guy, and spent an afternoon with a friend bolting the blower on. Just as grayman said, I looked over what I could ahead of time so I'd be ready and know what all needed to be done when I actually started the project. Good luck, and seriously, let one of us help out with the install before you pay a mechanic. I'd hate to think of how many hours labor they'd charge at a shop (mostly because they probably wouldn't look over everything ahead of time and have a gameplan if they haven't done this before) Keep us updated.

Brandon

[99pewtercamaro99]

to those who have installed it, what kind of numbers you guys running?

[John_D.]

13.6 in need of more tuning.

[grayman]

Um, maybe forget what I said about 'not installing the boost timing retard module' in earlier post. I just noticed that you are in florida. You may need a few degrees of timing retard due to the hotter air going in to the engine as compared to my seattle air.

But if you do not install it your car will not explode. It will just not be quite as fast at high RPM's as the engines on-board computer will kick in and decrease engine power if it senses 'knock' (fuel mixture in cylinder igniting too early). The timing module we are talking about comes with the rksport kit. Basically it is better to use that little gadget to control the ignition system (spark plugs, etc.) when under 'boost' than it is to let the stock engine computer do it. (stock computer will over react and reduce power too much...better safe than sorry, like)

There are two major things that you need to be aware of when changing your motor to forced induction by adding a super charger. I will mention these because I have read a couple of times now that you are concerned with the engine "blowing up." That is a viable concern. You are right in asking about it.

Pretend that you have a working supercharger on your car as you read these next two points.

1) If your engine does not get enough fuel as compared to air in the cylinders it is called
'running lean.' A supercharger adds a LOT MORE AIR to the engines intake system. The faster you go the more 'boost' you give the engine = more air. This makes the engine more powerful...especialy at higher RPMS. An engine that is running 'lean' (especialy at high RPMS) will burn HOTTER than the engine parts are designed for. Just think of how oxygen makes everything burn faster/stronger. All that extra air in the combustion chamber CAN burn a hole in the piston under severe LEAN conditions. You don't want that to happen. So, the kit comes with a Fuel Management Unit that helps the engine get enough fuel. It works when the car is under 'boost' from the supercharger. Therefore it is highly recommended that anyone adding a supercharger or turbo also install a fuel pressure gauge. With a fuel pressure gauge you can see the fuel pressure rise along with the boost from the supercharger. Example: My engine cruising at 2000 rpm with no noticeable boost from supercharger = fuel pressure of 51 PSI. Now, say I punch it. The engine rpms rapidly increase (near to 6000 rpms before transmission shifts). The supercharger is putting out positive boost to the engine and so the FMU kicks in. At 5000 and up RPMS myfuel presure gauge now reads 85 psi. because of the fuel pressure gauge I know that the FMU is working correctly. If you don't have a fuel pressure gauge you will never know if things are all working the way they should. Sure, your mechanic may have installed the powerdyne correctly...but maybe he did not install the vacumm lines to the FMU the right way, etc. In that case...you could have your car go BOOM.

2) Your particular year of vehicle has a 'drive by wire' throttle control system. When you use the gas pedal the throttle is electronicaly controlled rather than if you had a cable that connected from the gas pedal to the engine. Some people who have installed superchargers on these types of engines (drive by wire) have had a problem. Because the throttle is electronicaly controlled it might get confused when you force air into the engine with a supercharger. If this happens the cars computer will put the engine in 'reduced power mode.' This is not fun. This does not happen to everyone and it seems to be more 'rare' than 'frequent.' It does not happen to my 2001. If it happens, though, the solution costs about $500 in the form of engine computer re programing software that you use with a PC to over
ride and adjust the engine computer.
(actually, I think some of the '99 cars are drive by wire and some have a throttle cable? You can visually inspect the engine and look for a throttle cable that moves when the engine is off and you have a friend push down on the gas pedal)

ugh, that was a lot of typing. Now my fingers are as tired as my feet. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ April 06, 2005, 03:13 AM: Message edited by: grayman ]

[jessica2112]

Greyman, thank you so much for the information. I owe you a pizza, and some beer. And you others too. I will do all the research I can. If you can send me some links or something, I would appriciate it. I'll check on my throttle cable or no today. I'm at work right now. Was bummed out to find no w87 on my door sticker this morning. :( so I have a crappy rear end. Not me, the car [img]smile.gif[/img] Thanks, you answered alot of my questions. Peace Jessica [img]smile.gif[/img]

[NCState98]

We're all glad to help. Crappy rear end, huh? Thats too bad :cool: I never got the timing retard module with my blower, although I bought it used. My car has been running fine without it, but I still need to get to the track and log some more runs to check everything out. Feel free to email or IM Compfraud1 once you get deeper into the research and install.

Brandon

[jessica2112]

Hey Brandon, thanks, i'm not sure where to start my research. An electronic fuel guage, hmmm, must have to tap a wire somewhere. Figure out what they did not to blow the dipstick tube, find some vacuum diagrams for something...File the oil filter something...UUGGHH. I'm gonna get myself in a mess, I just know it. I only can do it Sat. and Sunday. I have to be done to get to work on Monday or by by. I'm not meaning this weekend. Just whenever I do it.
I have to rent a puller too, right? Then hook up all this stuff. If my com,puter freaks out ill die. I don't know anyone who can reprogram it. And the dealership does NOT need to know what I am doing. Thanks again [img]smile.gif[/img] jessica