I'm going this evening to look at a used Whipple supercharger tonight. The guy says it has 15k-20k miles on it and is just taking it off because he's selling his truck. What sort of things should I look at to see if it is still a good supercharger?

 

I would imagine some things to check for are any signs of oil leaking around seals, turn it and make sure it feels smooth, no play in any shafts, does it look used and abused cosmetically, check the Rotors for any signs of damage as well if you can.

I'm not a whipple guy so these are things to check that popped in my head at the moment. Even if it is leaking or something minor is wrong, depending on the price your getting it for it may be worthwhile to still purchase it and have the unit rebuilt. But at 15-20k miles I can't see there being much wrong with it if it was properly taken care of.

I'm sure a whipple expert will chime in for you shortly!

 

The front seal leaking is a normal issue. I would check the size of the pulley too before strapping it on to make sure its 3.125 or bigger. You will need a custom tune as the handheld that came with it is locked to his truck

 

Well, its mine now. Been wanting one of these since I bought my truck 2.5 years ago and found this site!

 

Congrats man you will love it!

 

I know. Can't wait to get it on and see what it can do!!! Do you know of where I can get a digital copy of the installation manual? The guy I bought it from had lost it. Also, where should I be looking for for a tune? I got the ford re-flash tool, but based on what IR0NS1N said, that won't work.

 

Congratz man. Let us know how everything goes for ya!

 

Looks like you already have a tuner from PHP. Call them and just get a tune from them for the Whipple, I e-mailed them and am waiting for a responce on a tune for my whipple. I called troyer but they have really long lead times, I also talked to Mike at 5star and he has to have the truck and put it on the dyno to tune for the whipple.

 

is that all that came with it or is the rest not pictured? For tuning twinscrewed has had great luck with mike troyer. If you make an appointment you can go get her dyno tuned. you will love the added power congrats!

 

There's more. It came with everything that I need to install it, just not in this picture. From what I've heard, I'd love to get it dyno tuned at Troyer, but thats a bit of a drive from Texas. I'll give PHP a call tomorrow to see what they say, but I looked on their order form yesterday and said they only do dyno tunes for forced induction, so not sure if that means I'm out of luck...

 

I have my truck tuned from Justin at VMP tuning. Troyer wait times are stupid long (3-6 months), JDM is good too but I cannot quote a wait time on them. I know alot of people like 5 star tuning too but I've never used them. I think PHP should also be able to give you a tune although off the top of my head I dunno of any blown guys who have their tune.

I also have a Troyer tune but the street ability is terrible while WOT feels slightly stronger with his tune over VMP. VMP feels awesome driving everyday but the Troyer "power surge" is almost legendary in a bad way. I know most all the Saleen S331 guys that used Troyer to tune their blown trucks ended up going JDM. I ended up paying for a VMP tune because he is very quick to make adjustments and I've had zero issues getting ahold of him. I have nothing bad to say about Mike Troyer himself or their service other then wait time.

Personally I would go JDM or VMP if I was you..

VMP link: http://www.vmptuning.com/store/index...=218&parent=96

JDM link: http://www.teamjdm.com/sct-flash-dev...m-custom-tune/

 

JDM turn around time is generally a few days tops. I like my JDM tune a lot due to the drivability. Shift points, firmness, and throttle were all perfect for me the first time, I didn't ask them to change anything. If you mail order a tune they will send you a base tune to load, you will go out and datalog a few runs on that tune, email to the them, and they will further tweak and perfect it. Just make sure you have a list of EVERYTHING specific you want incorporated into the tune the first time around. This is just a little personal input regarding JDM since Irons1n touched on it.

On a side note I would relocate the IAT sensor to a runner during the install and before you have a tune written, otherwise if you do it later down the road most places will charge you to modify that in the tune. That and if you choose JDM, you have to relocate it because their tuning is based on runner air temps.

 

Awesome. Thanks for all the information! I'll start looking into those. I'm also asking some of the Lightning guys I know around here to see who did their dyno tunes.

what exactly is the IAT sensor and where should I be putting it? Completely new to the supercharger game.

Also, still needing a copy of the installation manual. Know where I can get that?

 

Can't help you on the manual but I know several of these guys will have it for you.

The IAT(inlet air temperature) sensor on our trucks is built into the MAF, Ford designed it to read the temperature of the air entering the engine, it basically reads ambient temperature. This sensor plays a vital role because the PCM uses the air temperature to control certain parameters, such as engine timing. When you add a supercharger, your MAF will still be located before the supercharger, so the sensor is still reading ambient temperature and tells your PCM hey the engine is getting air that is 80'f when that is not the case and the true temperature is actually much higher. The air is heated up quite a bit as is being compressed by the supercharger, but because the IAT is located before the supercharger your truck has no idea it's actually getting air way hotter that what the sensor is relaying to the PCM.

By relocating your sensor to a runner on the intake manifold, your engine will know the true temperature of the air entering it. Now the PCM can properly adjust engine parameters as needed, based on the fact it now knows the ACTUAL temperature of the air entering the engine, and not the ambient temperature reading your MAF will have.

Hope I didn't mess any of that up, I keep losing my train of thought today.

 

Shoot me your email via a pm and I'll shoot you the install instructions. Troyer for tuning! I have no issues with his tunes on the street or strip.