Well, I’ve finally finished the install of a Kenne Bell TS5001 on my 2000 Lincoln Navigator. Boy am I pleased. I started about 6:00 last night and had it all apart by 1:00 this morning. I started again at about 8:30 and finished about 9:30 tonight (with a couple of breaks to put the bird in the oven and then in my tummy).

I really didn’t think it would take as long as it did given that I had previously installed the FMU, Boost-A-Pump, and did the required wiring modifications. On the Intech motor there are a couple of upper manifold bolts that are a true SOB to get off but I managed. The kit and the instructions were about damn near perfect. I can’t speak to any of the other manufacturers, but I would certainly recommend Kenne Bell products to anyone that asked. About the only gripe I had was that the power steering bracket (just an L bracket that ties the main mounting to the TBI tube) didn’t line up and the instructions don’t tell you to reconnect the power brake booster line. But like I said, other than that it was a great kit with great instructions.

So I turn the key to the On position to check for fuel leaks and the ‘Theft’ light is flashing; oh great, the chip didn’t hook up. So I turn it off again and back on. No theft light. (I wonder what caused that?) No observable fuel leaks so I turn her over. Starts up just fine, 22 inches of vacuum. I let it warm up and learn the idles and then go for a little ride. Everything is sweet so I get on it a little bit. Ok that’s fine, let’s move the needle into the positive pressure side. Sweet! Now its time to get on it. One word – WOW. The fuel pressure jumped right to 80 and you can now finally hear that compressor pump. After about four one gear runups I can say I’m duly impressed. It’s a tad flat in the 4,000 – 4,250 range but I’ve got 80 psi fuel and 7 psi boost at WOT (43 degrees ambient) and no pinging, so its off to the tuners next. Can anyone make a recommendation for the Indianapolis area? In the mean time I’m going to connect the AutoTap and gather some data.

All told it’s the best money I’ve ever spent. I used to say that about Nitrous but I think the S/C is even a better deal yet.

 

Ah, the joys of supercharging… Now I didn’t think I was just going to bolt the pieces on and have nothing more to do, so I suppose this begins my learning experience. It’s running perfect for the first day and a half so I decide to head down to the farm for some hunting. Its about a 80 minute trip and I’ll get to see what its like on the open highway.

Kenne bell advertises that their chip alters the factory shift points so I’m assuming its moves them a little higher in the RPM band or causes the shift to occur a little quicker. Nope, that’s not it. Instead, it likes to stay in the current gear until you cross 2500 RPM. This is highly inefficient when your speed is 50-60 MPH. It simply doesn’t like to go into overdrive or does it? It seems that when running around town it likes to get into high gear rather quickly but no matter how light the load it will not go into OD until you pass the 2500 RPM threshold. Once I get on the Interstate and up to 70, it does decide to go into OD and the converter locks up. I think I’ll have to have the chip re-burned to go back to the factory shift points unless you can tell me why I shouldn’t.

So I’m on the Interstate going along just fine and then it all shuts down. *****. Remember that flashing ‘Theft’ light, well it’s flashing again. So I guess the chip has disconnected. I manage to get up under the dash and pry the chip out and it starts right up. I screw in the ‘bypass’ screw and I’m going again, in less than five minutes.

This morning I remove the PCM again, clean the contacts and reinstall the chip. This time though I file the case to remove a high point that *seemed* to be keeping the chip from sitting flush against the case. Also, Kenne Bell suggests placing a piece of foam under the chip to keep it from rocking, so I do. My guess is that it did not fit snugly and it simply disconnected.

So I’m back to running again and then the new fuel pressure gauge I just installed starts to go erratic; its pegged at 100 psi. I think I’m going to return it (I haven’t even sent the first one back yet) and the vacuum/boost gauge and purchase some quality aftermarket gauges (have any suggestions as to brand?). Needles to say I’m not too impressed with the KB gauge offerings.

I head out for dinner tonight and the SES light comes on. I make it home and hook up the trusty AutoTap. Heated O2 Sensors indicate rich condition and Cylinder 4 is misfiring. The light came on before the engine had even reached operating temperature so I just cleared the codes and we’ll see if they repeat. But than again, that fuel gauge may be right and I may be at 80-100 psi under no boost conditions and may be running rich (although the STFT’s and LTFT’s wouldn’t indicate such, the are 1% and 0 % respectively).

I can say its kind of neat to be able to bypass the supercharger and have the chip out in less that 3 minutes. Kind of a ‘safety’ should their be a failure. I also took the opportunity to remove the belt from the SC when the chip was out. The thing runs fine, just a little short on power. Of course this lead me to one of my long sought after goals, a clutch driven SC. (AKA Mad Max) So, if I can get a switch chip, a nice clutch built, and be able to open the bypass valve at will I’ll have something really neat (or at least I think so).

But before I go tinkering with that I’d like to get the bugs worked out from the basic setup and do a dyno run or two. So that’s all the information I have thus far.

 

Please reference my other post, "I'm finished"

I could use a little encouragement, advice, direction, and instruction from the learned. Today marks the fifth day that I have had the supercharger on the truck and I think I will be removing it this weekend.

Before you can advise me you must understand what my objectives are. Its not outright performance, it is the ‘perfection of the install’, ‘the completeness of the project’.

So not surprisingly my issues are with drivability. I’ll begin by saying that the first day and a half was just fine (minus the transmission issues that I will get to later). I decided to go on a longer trip and while I was on the Interstate the truck just plain shut off. No big deal, the chip somehow disconnected, so I pulled it out, bypassed the supercharger and went on my way. I got home, pulled the PCM, and reinstalled the chip, again, no big deal.

In that first day and a half I did several run ups. Dandy fuel pressure at 80 psi, great power, a little flat spot at about 4000-4250 RMP on a couple of runs. Since that time my *second* Kenne Bell fuel gauge took a dump. Instead of fluctuating intermittently like the first one, this one pegged itself at 100 psi. It dropped off to normal again, then stuck again, and is now back to normal. I have two points here: 1. I cannot determine my accurate fuel pressure so I can’t really tell if my problems are fuel related or not and 2. I really could not recommend paying the prices that Kenne Bell charges for their instrumentation.

My run ups since them have been a mixed bag. I’ve noticed a serious flat spot at the top (5000-5250) of the RPM band that has got progressively worse. On the last run I had only 60 psi *indicated* pressure and if this was accurate, would probably explain the flat spot. It was so bad the engine just didn’t want to go any more.

So I’m still saying to myself its a fuel issue, no big deal but what am I supposed to do? You can’t tune a moving target. I swear the thing has not behaved the same in more than two of a dozen or so run ups. And if it is a fuel problem what am I to do? **** can a new Boost-A-Pump and FMU? I expect more from a kit than that. If I don’t know what is causing the shortage (yes the fuel filter is new) then I can’t fix the problem. To add to this I’m now setting codes. I didn’t in the first day and a half mind you, but now I get a ‘HSO21 and HSO22 switching error: Rich condition detected’. This might be because the engine was well warmed up before I started out in those cases it didn’t happen and now I seem to set a code within 1-2 minutes of starting up and taking off. Any ideas what might be causing this and if it can be resolved?

Finally, there is the transmission programming. I am cross-eyed pissed at this programming. I drive on three types of roads, in town, highway, and interstate. In town the SOB can’t wait to get into overdrive and when it does I get the infamous ‘rumble strip’ effect from the transmission at 35-40 MPH. On the country road highways, the SOB won’t go into overdrive. I can be pulling 20 inches of vacuum and it will stay in third until I cross the 2500 RMP threshold, which keeps me out of overdrive at 55-60 MPH; just great for efficiency. On the interstate it does get into OD, once I hit 70, so there really is no complaint there. What in the flue buck is going on? I guess this can be programmed out as well.

So what do you all think I should do? I don’t mind staying the course provided I can get this thing running like I want it to: No codes, stock transmission shift behavior, and whatever performance I get; if its only 80 HP, that’s fine, if its 120, that’s fine too. I don’t want to go through a list of folks who claim they can get it right only to go to another and another, and another. I also don’t want to pay my dear friends at Kenne Bell 150 bucks to reburn the chip each time my ‘next’ tuner gets a whim. Can I get a ‘programmer’ that will allow me to eliminate that chip and let me download the programming into my PCM? That way even I (I suspect) would be able to modify parameters to my liking). And what about the fuel pressure problem? Can the Boost-A-Pump and FMU and go with an in-tank pump and larger injectors? If so, I understand my idle and part-throttle drivability will be negatively affected.

If I can get it right, I’ll pay the price, provided it is not going to take months to do it and provided the drivability remains stable. Otherwise, I’ll just take the whole thing back off and pass it along to one of you who is more tolerant and have more time to tinker.

Thank you for any advice you may offer.

 

Could be a number of things going on. The boost-a-pump has never sounded like a great idea....sending extra voltage to the fuel pump is asking it to burn out in time. I'll be getting a s/c for my truck in the very near future and I'm gonna get it tuned up on a dyno right after the install. Could have gotten a bad burn on that chip is all I can think of....or the wrong unit entirely.

 

Funny as hell day. I called KB tech support and after 15 minutes of establishing my competency we finally get to serious discussion. They are sending me a switch chip to give me the choice between the stock shift points and their programming; they insist I'll like theirs better but we didn't really figure out the flat spot.

Last night, in a moment when it appeared that the fuel pressure gauge was working I did another run up. I thought I only saw 60 psi as opposed to the 80 psi I saw on the first day (when it was running well). I repeated the test tonight (while the gauge was working again) and here is what I found: if I take it gradually into the boost to about 5 psi I see 80 psi and solid power. As the RMP's grow beyond 4K the pressure drops off to 60 and simultaneously the engine begins to starve. So, I'm convinced that I have a fuel problem (unless 60 psi is sufficient and I'm blowing out the spark or something else). So now what? I suppose I seek instructions to check the output of the Boost-A-Pump, I know I saw 80 psi when it was running right and now I'm only seeing 60 psi at WOT/5K. Even if this is the problem and the BAP is not totally shot, I don't know what I can change to increase its output. So hopefully it’s wiring, the pressure switch, or the BAP itself (can I get to 80 psi with just the FMU restriction and no BAP increase to the pump?)

So after 30 minutes of conversation the guy (who is hilarious to talk to) he asks if there is anything more he can do for me. No, but can I call you directly if I have any more questions? Sure, any time, he says, and your name is, I ask... Get this, Jim Bell. No ****. I talked to the man.

My next chore was to find a set of high quality SW gauges. I find them on the net, call a local distributor, line up the order and he asks me for the address. I say 30 Sugar Maple Court. He says is that in Lafayette? I say yes. He says: I grew up in that house. Too weird. Needless to say I got a nice price break there...

 

You need a bigger fuel pump....easy as that. Figuring the pressure across the injector rail in about 40 psi for instance. You are pushing 5-8 psi boost...add that to the fuel rail pressure drop and your fuel pump is pumping into 45 to 48 psi instead of 40. Hence your fuel pump's flowrate is gonna drop. Even with the Boost a pump you might only be getting back to stock fuel trims if that chip is burned right. Why Lightnings and new Cobras have dual fuel pumps that flow more than 300 lph. What size fuel injectors came with the kit?

 

2000BLK: The kit came with BAP and FMU, I use the stock injectors. I'm not ready to rengineer the kit just yet, at least not until I have verified that all of the components are working correctly.

 

It sounds like you're having fuel delivery issues to me too. The stock fuel pump and to a certain degree the stock injectors are whats holding you back from the sound of what you've described. I'd throw a 255lph pump in the tank and add an in-line pump as well. A T-Rex would work fine. Put an adjustable fuel pressure regulator on, if you didn't already, so you can dial in the FP. There is almost no such thing as overkill with the fuel system when it comes to superchargers.

Do you know what size injectors you have stock? I'm GUESSING they're 24 lb. With the FMU they are probably adequate up to about 4500 RPM. To give yourself real peace of mind get some 36lb injectors. Granted, that would mean some more fooling around with the chip. I know you said you don't want to re-engineer the system, but you're not REALLY re-engineering anything. If you give your fuel pump situation some attention I think you'll see a big improvement but injectors are something to think about down the road.

If you want a nice fuel pressure gauge, go with an Auto Meter electric unit. I've used the same gauge in 3 different blower cars for the last 5 years. It hasn't missed a beat.

 

Well, I disassembled the FMU tonight. Interesting little device. I found a few large grains of sand/matter in the fuel side diaphragm. (So maybe the KB pressure gauge wasn't bad after all.) I cleaned and reassembled but the foil piece that sits on the rubber diaphragm was damaged. In fact it had a little hole in it. Apparently the sand had dented the foild so much it actually penetrated in one place. I flattened it as much as I could but will be ordering a new one Monday.

I drove off after the assembly and the SOB pegged the fuel gauge before I even though of getting it into the boost. After I got home I tapped the gauge and it dropped to zero (this was after shutting it off). I haven even checked the output of the BAP yet. I'll leave it to tomorrow. The thing did run like a raped ape, right to the shift point tonight. No flat spots whatsoever.

I also put in the 'switch chip' KB sent me, it seems the 'stock shift' mode has lower shift points than stock and now in the 'power' mode the thing won't shift into the next gear until 3K. Jesus, that engine makes enough torque, just what are they thinking? With the other (single) chip it did at least shift at 2500.

 

I built a mechanical fuel gauge and sure enough I do have 100 psi.

I took apart FMU to try to determine where the (assumed) blockage was. Compressed air would pass through FMU (at atmospheric pressure) and from return to tank but not backward (from line leading from fuel rail to FMU). Nor would it pass from fuel rail to FMU inlet (via fuel gauge port connection). So I assumed it was the stock pressure regulator. I took this out and cleaned it and even when vacuum was applied to it, it wouldn’t pass air. I tried to find one but it seems it’s a dealer only item. I resembled the stock regulator to the fuel rail and applied vacuum to it. After a couple of tries I was able to pass air from the gauge port through stock regulator to FMU inlet. So, I assumed the regulator mechanism was ‘freed’ and reassembled FMU and remaining components.

Key on engine off I had 40 psi. As soon as engine is started pressure goes to 100 psi and stays. The only way the pressure drops is if I wind it up under boost. (Runs like a raped ape but I notice that timing falls back to only 3 degrees advanced under boost.) I presume that my previous flat spots, when I had 60 psi at WOT/5K, were due to insufficient fuel. I notice in high gear when engine is lugging timing goes negative, and a light ping can be heard. O2 sensors are running 1015mv or so, not switching back and forth (probably because I’m stuck in closed loop or vice versa, with 100 psi on the rail I can’t imaging running anything but rich)

The 100 psi happens whether the BAP is in circuit or out of circuit (I have wired a switch to the BAP output so I can take it out of the circuit as desired).

Duty cycle for fuel pump control output goes to 100% after starting engine.

AutoTap indicated Open Loop operation so I installed 192 degree stat, I thought maybe because engine operating temperature (173 with a 180 stat) was too low to go into closed loop)

Removed switch chip, and bypassed SC and took off belt.

Took a ride and engine went into closed loop for a few seconds then back to open loop.

Engine is lugging in high gear and the vehicle shudders under light throttle, runs fine off throttle or into throttle a little bit. (this is new)

This is the ‘education’ I really didn’t want to get. I’ll wait until Monday to get a new stock regulator and then see how things shake out. If the pressure doesn’t drop back to ‘normal’, I’m not sure what to do next. I can eliminate the FMU (but it will be a bitch getting to those fittings now that the SC is there) and if that doesn’t do it I can’t imagine what’s up. Is the fuel pump ‘clamped’ (stuck wide *** open)? I’m going to read the Ford manuals some more tonight and see what I can learn.

I don’t think its too much to ask for stable part throttle operation and ‘whatever’ power increase at WOT. Something tells me that folks that get into ‘positive pressure’ are 1) not doing it on their daily drivers, 2) Going for as much (reasonable) HP as they can, and 3) are willing to live with whatever drivability issues may exist.

 

There really is no substitute for experience. So I called the KB folks today to see if they had any insight on my excessive fuel pressure problem. If you remember, a couple of posts ago, that I had mentioned that I disassembled the FMU to diagnose a low fuel pressure issue. I did find some sand in the FMU and noticed that the little metal disk sustained some damage. Besides denting from the sand, it had a tiny pinhole in it. The KB guys suggested that fuel may be passing through this pinhole and actually sealing off the return. So, they are sending me a new disk and gasket.

For the time being he suggested placing a piece of foil over the disk to cover the pinhole. SOB if I’m not back at a rock solid 40 psi at idle. Now of course I’ve got to put the chip back in, the belt back on, and back the bypass screw back out. But that will wait until I have the new items in hand and in the FMU. Let’s see what type of mileage/drivability I get with a bypassed supercharger and no belt. It will be good data for my ultimate desire, making the supercharger a switchable unit. And if this works, I'll move up the boost a bit.

 

Sounds like your havin fun. I'm enjoying and learning...

 

Well, I’ll close this chapter. Everything is in place and operating normally. It’s just my luck that the FMU got contaminated and punctured the foil and that the resistor in the BAP was not soldered. All is well and I am more than satisfied with the outcome. It just goes to show that no matter how much you may plan a given project, there will always be one or two issues to work out.

I can’t speak to other manufacturers kits but this one is damn near perfect. The BAP issue was in fact theirs but the FMU was mine (why you should leave the caps on things until you are ready to install them). Assembly and disassembly were a dream and the performance is worth every penny. How fast is it? I’ll tell you when I have official stats but there is nothing and I mean nothing that I have done that can compare to this. Not even nitrous. I did have a bona-fide 550 HP in a 1969 cougar but that was the result of a $15K motor so I’m familiar with having adequate power.

I get this perverse pleasure driving around in a six thousand pound pig knowing that I can toast just about anything that pulls up along side.

 

Thanks for this thread! What an education for me through you. I have been considering a SC for my 150 4WD 4.6L and spending a lot of time at got-pressure.com where they bad mouth KB and worship the Procharger. I had read that screw types and rootes types are the ticket for low end whereas the centrifigals are for high rpms yet all the recommendations from got-pressure was thet I should go with a Procharger. I am NOT going racing (well maybe a little stoplight to stoplight stuff) but I want more low end grunt and the ability to burn some of the ricers. Then I come across your post and think maybe the KB is not what I wanted after all. Luckily for me i continued reading all the way to the end of your post. Now I feel better about KB though I don't know that I would know what to do if I were to run into problems. Maybe I can find an installer close instead of trying to do it myself.

 

You'll see some posts from me over there at got-pressure as well. They haven't given me a hard time about having a KB and I really think they like the Procharger becuase its the one they sell. I can't compare since I've never had one but I can tell you this: the KB has boost 'right the hell now' off the line. If i had to guess, people may like the Procharger better because you can plumb an intercooler to it. Doesn't seem like the KB needs it but I'll tell you more when its 90 degrees outside.

You may find it funny but it was just two nights ago that I had my first 'race' and it was the first time I have ever come off the line wide-a$$ open. It was against a Mustang GT and I had him in the rearview/sideview from off the line to the finish. Never had a chance. I clicked in 4HI (didn't want the A4WD kicking in and out) and literally toasted his ***.