Well, the Vortech is installed beautifully, but I'm only making 300 rwhp without tuning. The tuner did not do a baseline dyno. In addition to the SS box, I'm running the J&S Safeguard timing for knock retard. A NA run with the supercharger pulley removed, but piping still in place resulted in 217 rwhp. I know for a fact that the car didn't come in there with 217 rwhp, because I just ran a 14.1 at 99 mph two weeks before. The only common factor between the Vortech and NA run is that the J&S was hooked up for both runs. I will have them bypass or disconnect the J&S to see if it is pulling timing even though we're telling it not too. My EGTs are around 1400 and A/F is in the 12s with no tuning (stock R4 map), so timing is not out of the question. Also, I had him do a compression and leak down with the following results:

cylinder 1: 200 22%
cylinder 2: 195 22% (intake valve)
cylinder 3: 195 22%
cylinder 4: 189 18% (intake valve)
cylinder 5: 204 9%
cylinder 6: 195 28% (intake valve)

The car has 74k miles. I may want to address the valve problem first anyway, but I need to know if the J&S is bad out the box. The loss in Vortech power could be from the leaking valves, but doesn't explain 217 rwhp in stock form. I'll keep you guys informed. Their version of R4 software is 1.5.x. Is this the latest version?

 

Well if you make a pull with the belt off the car should make less hp then the original NA pull because the air is having to move through the supercharger with out the supercharger pulling the air. What kind of dyno are you running this on what are the a/fs from the vortech run and how much timing is in the car if you can shoot me a dyno graph I might be able to help you out a little.

 

It is a dynojet and I don't have the graphs. A/F on the Vortech runs is in the 12s with no tuning. OBD port timing check resulted in 16-17 at idle and 26-27 at redline. I'll have to get the dynos from my tuner.

 

How much boost does it have at or near redline ? And is the A/F still at 12 to 1 at redline ? The R4 tune is normally really rich up top

 

Booger,

I'm make 7.5 psi at redline with a crawford plenum and Gruppe S y-pipe. I go really rich at around 6000 rpm down to low 11s. All dynos were done in 4th gear. Does that make a difference?

 

Low 11's above 6000rpm is good . I would send the dyno sheet to CPraceZ he'll be able to see whats going on . This isnt a USED kit is it ? with some one elses tune on it ?

 

This was sold to me as a new kit.

 

Corrections: The 217rwhp was with the intake pipes disconnected, and setup in a short ram fashion, with the blower belt off. AF with the out of the box tune from Vortech is giving a 11.5-12.0 A/F, very flat, until around 6400rpm where it goes 10:1 rich.

A couple test runs were done before begining the tuning process. I noted that the A/F was already pretty much tuned as it was very flat, and if the tuning process was not aborted then I would have tuned it to a slightly richer A/F, and retuned the vortech timing curve. But after seeing the pretty low power output, and knowing that the car was already in a state of tune to make a lot more, and the boost was all there... tuning was aborted and the car was set to run NA to investigate the low power results.

This is essentially my first time with the J&S unit... but I talked to John at J&S(awesome and helpful guy) about it for a while and he caught me up to speed and I am very confident that it is currently setup not to pull any timing, and the light is not coming on at all during pulls to verify that it is not. The J&S unit shows no signs of being defective, so I have no reason to believe it is pulling timing even when its set not to for the moment.

If the leaking intake valves are causing the power loss in boost, then they would certainly cause the power loss in NA form as well. The question is, how much power loss should be expected from an engine with high leakage... As I have never knowingly dyno tested a vehicle with high leakage before and I have no way to really estimate how much power loss to expect from it.

The dead battery working the alternator harder probably isnt helping much, but that doesnt account for 30hp shy of where the car should be NA.

 

Monday, we'll bypass or disconnect the J&S and do at least one run. If I'm still down on power, then we'll have to go the plan B.

 

where are you reading boost from?

 

The vacuum port on the front of the crawford plenum. It is run only to 3 map sensors, the J&S, SS, and Zeitronix. The BOV and Vortech FPR are off the rear manifold port.

 

Phunk...Did you figure out the problem today ?

 

All aftermarket electronics were bypassed today and a dyno pull was executed. Ignition timing from stock ECU was logged and absolutely everything is dead on normal except for unacceptably low power output. Unfortunatly, It is now clear that the cylinder leakage around the intake valves and piston rings is great enough to cause this 15% or so power loss.

 

So what needs to be done now?

 

engine replacement or rebuilding is what should be done. boosting the engine like this will only compound the wear and that is not worth it.

 

I'm taking the car to the dealer to see if they will warranty the motor. The car never hit the streets with the Vortech on. As a matter of fact, the 6 new quarts of Mobile One I had Phunk add should be crystal clear. I'm just not sure how much leakage is considered normal for an engine with +70k miles.

 

Once charles pulls off the SC and all the evidence, I am 99% sure your dealer will replace your motor. That is the good news....I know its a big hassle, but there have been several reported cases of high oil consumption motors, and motors that have high leakdowns. Nissan replaces them.

 

I also had Charles install my Vortech kit. It made 376RWHP with no other mods. About 6mo later I had a few problems with the kit and had it removed. I was going to go with a turbo kit but I noticed some oil consumption. I have a great Nissan dealer near my home and after a few months of recording oil usage I got a new short block. Now I have my new turbo kit installed. Good Luck.

 

Thanks guys. Keep your fingers crossed for me.