I finished installing the Powerdyne Supercharger on my 97 F-150 Saturday morning and just thought I'd give a quick report on the installation and the outcome. Keep in mind that when you order the Powerdyne SVO Supercharger kit is the same kit for both the 4.6 liter engine and the 5.4 liter engine. Unfortunately, that means that there are quite a few things that need to be changed to get the kit installed on a 5.4 liter engine. I will try and list them for any of you 5.4 owners that are thinking about the Powerdyne:


Tools:

The only specialty tools that were required for the kit were a Ford Fuel line separator, a Fan Clutch Wrench, and a Harmonic Balancer puller. I purchased the fuel line separator for $10 from Autozone, and borrowed the other tools (no charge).


Installation:

There were a LOT of things that I had to change to get this kit installed on the 5.4 liter engine. Unfortunately I'm trying to remember all these details without looking at the installation manual, but I'll do my best to remember what I had to do.

1) The first section of the manual tells you to remove your air intake system from the throttle body. This was easy enough (I'd already done this when I removed the silencer from the intake when I did the airbox mod). The second thing you are told to do in this section is remove the brackets for the EVR & other sensors, and the bracket for the coil. Ignore this! The coils on the 5.4 aren't in the front of the engine like they are on the 4.6, so you don't have to move any of this stuff.

2) The second section of the installation has you installing the new FRU. This went perfectly once I found the schraeder(sp?) value on the fuel rail, and found the fuel lines that needed to be tapped into. Just FYI, you can easily see the fuel lines on the 4.6, but on the 5.4, they are several inches behind the firewall and it took me a while to find them. Of course, I'm a total amateur...

3) The third section tells you how to move the power steering reservoir. This section is straightforward enough, except they didn't include the mounting hardware for their new bracket. Fortunately I found the new hardware in my garage and was able to contine on (good thing because it was about 11:00 at night at this point).

4) Installing the blower. This is where it really got ugly. The installation manual talked about mounting the supercharger bracket to the old coil bracket using the supplied mounting hardware, including 3 .6 inch spacers. Well, on the 5.4 there is no old coil bracket, and they also only included 2 .6 inch spacers in the kit, and if I tried to put the bracket in the correct place on the front of the engine using the 2 spacers, they pushed the bracket too far forward.

A lot of time was wasted here trying to figure out exactly what the manual was trying to tell me and why I couldn't understand any of it. Finally a friend with a 4.6 F-150 brought his truck over so I could look under the hood and get a clue. In any case, I ended up having to go buy 8mm nuts and washers to use as spacers to mount the new bracket. I added 4 washers behind the bracket and used the nuts to tighten the bracket to the existing bolts that come out of the front of the engine. For such an easy step this took forever to figure out...

5) I might be getting out of order here because this is about when I was thinking of throwing the manual away. The next problem I ran into was trying to remove the harmonic balancer to install the new balancer / pulley combo. First I couldn't get the center bolt removed from the balancer (no matter what I tried...). This thing was ON THERE. Unfortunately, I didn't have an impact wrench, so I had to run down to a shop and borrow one. Once I got the wrench I was able to remove the center bolt.

I then hooked on the harmonic balancer puller and couldn't get the balancer off. I cranked on it for about an hour, loosening, re-tightening, spraying with WD40, etc. Maybe it was the crappy Autozone puller, I don't know, but in any case, I couldn't get it off. I finally gave up, called the Ford shop just down the road from me and asked how much they would charge to put the new balancer / pulley combo on for me. $102.00. I was out of options, so I put the fan back on, re-installed the old air intake, and limped my truck down to the dealership. Fortunately they were able to sneak it in quick, so two hours later I had the truck back in the garage with the new balancer / pulley installed.

6) Installing the new air intake. The only problem I ran into here was that I had to cut the wires to the O2 sensor and add about 3 inches to it so that it would reach the new location on the front of the air intake.

7) Installing the new supercharger belt and tensioner pulley. So, now I'm stoked because all I have to do to finish up is put the belt on, and install the tensioner pulley. Good thing too because it's the second day of the install, and all stores are now closed again. I reach down, slip the belt onto the new balancer / pulley, bring it up to the supercharger, and... of course... it's 2-1/2" short. No way to proceed so I'm done for the night.

The next morning, I run down to the parts store, get a new belt that is 2-1/2" longer than the supplied belt (fortunately they HAD one). I run home and put it on... perfect fit. Now all I need to do is install the tension pulley. I bolt it onto the supercharger mounting bracket using the supplied mounting hardware, and, what do you know. It's sits back too far, but that's ok because I still have a bunch of washers that I used to shim out the mounting bracket. I add the washers to shim out the tension pulley (it needed 5) and of course, now the bolts are too short. ONE MORE TRIP TO THE HARDWARE STORE.

I get the new bolts, install the pulley, reconnect the battery terminal and... FINALLY, I fire up the engine... What a sweet sound... I ALMOST CRIED. Ok, I'll be honest, I DID CRY.


Results:

I took the truck out for a test drive (the supercharger is louder than I thought it would be, but it sounds good). I was just taking it easy till it was good and warm. Once the engine warmed up, a little Cavalier pulled up next to me at a light (can you see where this is going). The two lanes merged into one and I KNEW what he was thinking. He started creeping up past the crosswalk when he saw the light about to change. I just sat there. When the light turned green, he really got on it and jumped a car length in front of me. I didn't punch it, but just accelerated normally until I got to about 2500 RPM, then I gunned it. By then he was a couple car lengths in front of me. My truck exploded with the sound of the supercharger whine, and the exhaust as I was pressed back into my seat (yea!). I FLEW past the guy just as my non-superchipped truck shifted (too early) into second... I ran it through second and watched the guy disappear in my rear-view mirror. Granted, he was a Cavalier, but... what can I say... HE STARTED IT...

Wow. Feels pretty good.

Sorry for the HUGE post, but I know that I would have appreciated this info before I got started on the install. Have a good one.

------------------
97 F150 Lariat, Supercab, Shortbed, 4x4, Black w/Gray Leather, 5.4 liter, 3:55 ls, 4 speed auto.

Mods: Powerdyne SVO Supercharger. Dynomax Catback Exhaust. Rancho RSX 5000 shocks. (Coming soon, no, really, it's in the mail: Custom-burned Superchip)

 

Sounds great. What till the big blow out with mr chev. Smoke him good

 

I hope you don't have any of the reliability problems that Mustang owners are experiencing with the Powerdyne SC unit. These units tend to have a very poor failure rate, even the 6lb units too. I hope it works out for you.

 

your installation story is common to any brand blower on any brand truck.

------------------
99 black lightning w/3 options, superchip, sal's filter,wyldman's fog covers,bedrug,roll-n-lock.
98 lexus GS400 stock
98 Valk Tourer
94 Ram V-10 520ci, 625hp, 12.88@108 not stock

 

YamaHauler,

I WANT ONE! Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Might I suggest that you go back in a week and check all your bolts and fabricated parts for signs of failure / bending / loosness. I would use lock tight or a like product on the nuts. Did you use the same grade of nuts & bolts as those that were shipped by the supplier?

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

------------------
00 F-150 XLT SC Flairside 4x4 4.6 w/5spd
Warn XD9000i, skid plates, Draw tite class III,
Rancho RSX Reflex shocks,
SmittyBilt Nerfs, Borla Cat Back
Modified Air Cleaner Outlet Tube
To Be installed;
Superchips

 

Dear YamaHauler,

Wow, what a great post! Sounds like this kit was obviously designed for the 4.6 truck, withno consideration given for the COP (coil-on-plug) configuration of the 5.4 engine. It also sounds like you did a lot of great work, persevered, and now it's up and running! Congratulations on getting this all worked out, and I'm sure you'll be having a discussion or two with the blower manufacturer about their kit.

Great job! Have fun shocking your co-workers!

------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com

 

Yamahauler,
No, Powerdyne has not fixed any problems with their Superchargers even though they say they have. They still fail on a regular basis regardless of what "upgrade" you have on it, being it the BD-11, BD-11a, of the BD-12. Several of my friends have had problems with them. I hate to say it, but it's not a question of if, it's a matter of when it fails. I wish you all the luck, but I sure wish I could have warned you about the still very high failure rate of these junk superchargers.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tony Santanni
Vortech Mondo Blown 5.8L Mustang

 

yama,

You dont have Piston Slap do ya? I hope you dont get it because you already have the SC on!

 

Mike:

Hopefully my Superchip will be here any day (I'm the guy that ordered from you thinking the Powerdyne didn't have the FRU when it actually did). I'm looking forward to seeing how the truck performs with the new chip in it!

Tony S:

Thanks for the heads-up. I though long and hard about which blower to get, and basically what it came down to was the Powerdyne, or nothing, because I couldn't justify the cost (nearly double) of the other blowers for my daily driver application (especially to my wife...). In any case, I guess I'll just have to push it hard during the first year so that the failure will be covered under warranty!

 

fast46triton:

You know... I've been wondering the same thing. I started up the car this morning (below freezing out) and I thought I heard the slapping... <doh>. I just didn't know, where I bought the truck used from the dealer if there was anything I could do about the piston slap even if I heard it. I guess I should ask them because I did buy the extended warranty when I bought the truck...

 

Well YamaHauler, I sure hope it works out for you. A buddy of mine has gone 12.10 @ 120 MPH in the 1/4 mile on radial street tires with his 94 Stang with a Powerdyne. He has had 2 failures though in 2 years and has since sold it after this past racing season. They do make good power, it's just their reliability stinks. Good Luck!!

 

Thanks Tony. Have a good one.

------------------
97 F150 Lariat, Supercab, Shortbed, 4x4, Black w/Gray Leather, 5.4 liter, 3:55 ls, 4 speed auto.

Mods: Powerdyne SVO Supercharger. Dynomax Catback Exhaust. Rancho RSX 5000 shocks. (Coming soon, no, really, it's in the mail: Custom-burned Superchip)

 

Thanks for the replies everyone.

MRBBQMAN:
Like I said, this was the first project of this type that I'd done and I was just surprised at how much tweaking I had to do to get this thing installed, but I guess that's pretty standard then...

Tony S:
I thought I'd heard that there was a high failure rate with the internal pulley belt on the earlier Powerdynes, but that they had ironed those out with the newer units (I HOPE). If I run into any reliability issues I'll be sure and post again to let everyone know.

JMC:
Yea, I'll take another look in a couple days to make sure that everything is holding up ok. I tried to get hardware that was at least a step above what they shipped with the unit, so hopefully it will all hold up.

Anyway, I'm thrilled that it's done. I've taken it out several times this morning to give co-workers rides. They always smile at about 3000 RPM! I'm really starting to enjoy the exhaust too. Nice and quiet when I'm just putting around, but really roars when I get on it.

Have a good one.

------------------
97 F150 Lariat, Supercab, Shortbed, 4x4, Black w/Gray Leather, 5.4 liter, 3:55 ls, 4 speed auto.

Mods: Powerdyne SVO Supercharger. Dynomax Catback Exhaust. Rancho RSX 5000 shocks. (Coming soon, no, really, it's in the mail: Custom-burned Superchip)

 

YamaHauler

Well my supercharger arrived today. I was just wondering why did you need the fan clutch wrench? Do you have to add a new water pump pulley or what? Because when I tried to install aftermarket pulleys , I could never get the &$*% thing off.

98 Nascar Edition

homepage http://www.freeyellow.com/members8/jackhel/index.html

BED LINER, K&N FILTER, CUSTOM AIR BOX W/SILENCER TUBE REMOVED, SHIFT KIT, SUPERCHIP, DYNOMAX EXHAUST, GUTTED MAF, 4.10 REAR END GEARS, XTRA BRITE HALOGEN LITES. Supercharger waiting at the house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



[This message has been edited by jackhel (edited 12-08-1999).]

 

jackhel:

You need the fan clutch tools to remove and replace the fan. I don't know if the 4.6 kit came with a replacement fan, but the 5.4 kit did (it's a fan that is more narrow than the stock fan to give you enough clearance for the new supercharger belt).

The only 'pulley' you need to replace is the harmonic balancer. You need to pull that one to put a new one on that you can attach a pulley to for the supercharger. Unfortunately, I ran into the same problem with the harmonic balancer and just couldn't get the thing off. I ended up having to take it to Ford to have them remove the old harmonic balancer and replace it with the new one with the pulley on it ($102)...

I just installed the custom superchip during lunch and it made a BIG difference in the performance with the supercharger!

------------------
Truck
1997 F150 Lariat, Supercab, Shortbed, 4x4, Black w/Gray Leather, 5.4 liter, 3:55 ls, 4 speed auto.

Mods:
Powerdyne SVO Supercharger. Dynomax Catback Exhaust. Rancho RSX 5000 shocks. Custom Superchip.

[This message has been edited by YamaHauler (edited 12-08-1999).]