Well, I have been beating my head against the wall trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with this Powerdyne kit I got for my 04 F150. Well, after doing some diggin around, fabricating things and messing with the timing I got it as close as I can on my own. BTW, the fixes came as a result of parts going bad and me having to fix them on a 2 month old supercharger.

First off, I went to the track a few weeks back and ran the same times I did NA..maybe a few hundredths quicker. Discouraged, I came home and decided to look into the kit. First off, I noticed the tensioner was out of line, causing the belt to rub against the pulley spewing belt dust everywhere (no doubt decreasing boost ALOT). So, I fixed that, got it lined up and..more power (a little). Then I had my buddy who custom tunes cars come over and mess around with the tune to add some timing/fuel/air in the Diablo for 93 octane instead of the 91 octane installed in the tuner. Again, a little more power. Now, here comes the kicker.

Yesterday I installed my gauge pod, new tach, tranny temp gauge AND boost gauge. Well, when I went to pull off the tubing for the by-pass valve to hook up my boost gauge, I barely touched the damn vaccuum tee and it broke off with the slightest touch. You could clearly see it was already cracked. I "assume" I was losing lots of boost from this.

Well, I bought some new tees, hooked up the boost gauge, sealed everything up, threw in some Lucas Octane booster, re-installed the tune, and upped my shift points to 5450 RPM (up from 5200rpm).

First run out the I kick down at 20mph and walk the truck sideways, bark into 2nd and hit 8 psi boost at the top of 2nd (5450). Has this happened before? Hitting higher boost levels than you are supposed to? I have a 6 psi kit hitting 7.5-8psi consistently.

Anyway, my problems were. 1.) The pulley was rubbing against the belt 2.) I was tuned for 91 octane with 93 octane in the tank. 3.) The by-pass valve was leaking causing low boost.

Anyway, the difference is WOW !! Truck actually pulls hard in 1st. 2nd gear still has some TQ management issues, but the top of the gear is slammin.

 

By adjusting the shift points to a higher rpm allows the blower to spin faster causing more boost. Glad to see that you worked out some of your bugs, I went through the same you did with my powerdyne. Sounds like we need to become engineers for Powerdyne. I had to send mine back after 2 months and have it rebuilt because the bearings went out. Once you get all the bugs out it is not a bad supercharger.

 

Oh, I see. Well, I could still use a custom tune though. Some more bugs need worked out...otherwise it is running stronger than it ever has (even in the heat).

 

Glad to see your getting your problems worked out with that PowerDyne.. Kinda bummed me out seeing your gains from the blower... and it aint even my truck!

I'm still deciding on what blower I want... I thought I knew.. but now after seeing a few more dyno graphs and digging some more.. Im lost again..

 

Well, I had decent gains I guess considering the problems I encountered. Despite the problems I had, I still ran quicker times.

Now that all of the mechanical bugs are worked out I am pleased. However, the tune is still JUNK IMO !!!

The gauge pods look great though.

 

I too am glad. There are a lot of nay sayers about the Powerdyne and they have their problems but with a little clean-up of the kit, you can get 10 lbs and that is just fun compaired to NA.
I second what was said about your higher boost. The only difference between the 4.6 truck 6 lb kit and the 4.6 Mustang 9 lb kit is the shift points are higher in the 4.6 Mustang with their cams and tune. They get the same size crank and blower pulley.
I plan to reduce my pulley size to up my boost and drop my shift points. I want to hit 10 lbs at 4900 with a 5000 RPM shift. That will give me more boost in the lower RPM range. My engine feels flat above 5000 RPM with the stock cams.

Have fun.

 

Glad to hear, too.
I thought that we needed higher shift points to keep rpms up when going into the next gear?

Yes, the Powerdyne is a do-it-your self kinda thing, but I'm having a blast with mine.

 

Normally that’s true. I converted to an 8 rib system and have a lightning +2 lower pulley. If I run a 3 inch upper then I will be where I want to be. The Powerdyne impeller is like no other cent that I see. It really grabs the air and builds boost nicely.

 

Powerdyne really makes a nice head unit. The biggest plus I like about them is that thet don't have hot engine oil running through them heating up the air any more than it has to. FYI for all of you Powerdyne owners, 928 Motorsports is company that sells kits for Porsche theyalso have a very nice rebuild service. It is called a racing rebuild they install better bearings with higer rpm and temperture ratings, install cooling vents, gates kevlar belt, and shim the impeller so there is boost blow by, they claim you run high boost with this rebuild up to 15-18 lbs.

 

WLF,
Im looking to upgrade my ati to an 8 rib setup.Ive seen some pulleys for the "L"'s and they seem to bolt right up to the balancer w/ the 3 bolts.Got any pics of it?And how did it compare to the stock p/dyne crank pulley as far as dimensions.For example, Is the rib closest to the engine in the same place.I figure I can just shim the ati bracket if not.

tia,
Frank

 

I have been looking at the 928motorsport racing rebuild too......good info on their site. The way I see it, if they deliver on what they promise (60,000 rpm's), it would be pricey, but worth it. As I recall, I am running at 20% over max rpms now with a 2.5" pulley, and expect to be rebuilding in the future.....

 

928 Motorsports have the new STOCK Powerdyne SKF bearings. They tout it as something else (race) but that is what they have. You can see in this post that they have pissed me off but that’s me, don’t let it affect you guys. Read this post all the way through to understand
http://www.superchargersonline.com/f...?TOPIC_ID=3582
I am pretty close to a source for the stock SKF bearings and Chucks bp posted the SKF numbers in that forum so anyone else who may have an inside please let us know. It looks like the stock impeller (small) bearings are available for about $75 each. That’s much better then what Powerdyne or 928 Motorsports wants.

ganiman,
The lightning lower is nice and of better quality. I got it from Mike Madden at Madden enterprises. If you have a 4.6 then you will have to install a 5.4 balancer since the Lightning pulleys do not bolt to the 4.6. The balancers are readily available on eBay.
I just got the spring loaded tensioner installed today and it is working just like planned. I’m using a 3.2 Vortech Renegade pulley for the Powerdyne. They have the same center diameter but you have to cut back the outside center for the shorter Powerdyne shaft length.
I’ll try to get some pictures up soon. I’m glad there is some centrifugal posting activity in this forum. It has been dominated by the roots guys for the last few weeks.

 

WLF,
Ive got the 5.4 .I was thinking you did too if you put on an "L" lower pulley.I can get an 8rib charger pulley from ati...just not the lower.Which is what made me interested in your lower setup..As far as balancers go,If it didtn come w/ the motor,it wasnt balanced w/ the motor.

 

ganiman,
Actually our motors are internally balanced. The balancer from the 5.4 engine is just a little heavier so they interchange without problem.
I forgot to answer your first question; the Lightning +2 pulley is a little more the two inches larger then the stock Powerdyne. It measures about 8 1/2 inches in diameter I think. I will measure when I get home today. It sits about 1/8 inches off the stock balancer.

 

WLF - Are there adjustments to the water pump and alternator to compensate for their faster speed? I will need to upgrade my 95 amp oem alternator before a/c season...or just turn it faster?