I have done a search but found nothing hopefully good news though. Has anyone to date had engine failure due to a vortech Sc system, I have only read of fuel line failure, squeeling belts, and boost and pullley problems, but never of a thrown rod ,melted piston or of any internal damge , before I pull the trigger on this system I want to be positive it doesnt have Prochargerish characteristics I.E............Broken down engine with less then 15k. feel free to share your experience with your vortech or someone you know thanks-Ernie

 

Ernie,

I have only about 1500 miles on my vortech and so far things have been ok. I would recommend a few things for peace of mind if you are planning on adding the s/c. Get gauges, you need at a minimum boost and a:f, you should consider having fuel pressure and oil/exhaust temp. Get it dyno'd and tuned, this should cost you around $400 or so. Your tuner should have the car for a day to be able to allow cooling before runs. Also change your plugs to a colder plug, and consider adding some type of cooling aid as your engine will get HOT. You may not think too much of this until you actually have f/i, but when your mild manner car begins to scare you with acceleration, your gut will tell you that you need to watch what your engine is doing. As long as you really pay attention to gauges and what your call is doing you should be fine. Good luck in your adventure!

 

You cant really fault Procharger in all the Engine failures. There are several people (Dr.Bonz) that havent had any problems. They havent had issues because there car was properly tuned and they have good fuel management.
The Vortech is much safer out of the box than Procharger but can be just as deadly if improperly tuned.

Find a good tuner/installer and you shouldnt have any problems. FI aint cheap but it sure makes these cars a blast to drive.

 

is he vortech street legal in california; and will it fit on an auto tranny

 

Not sure on Calif.. but the Vortech works fine on an Auto (mine is). Reflashing the ECU is recommended for WOT shifting in Drive.

 

big,

Yes, there have been some documented cases of Vortech engine failure. Two members recently blew their rings and lost compression on one or more cylinders. Dustin in OR, and the Houston guy. Maybe there are others..not really sure. But at least two confirmed. They are both a part of my GB on forged internals.

Just keep this in mind...without a doubt...even a perfectly tuned F/I setup is going to decrease the useful life of your motor. There is always going to be a real element of risk involved with all of these kits, and I dont think any of them are 100% totally safe..especially out of the box.

But dont let that stop you...it's a lot of fun! And sometimes...you have to sacrafice a bit of longevity and reliability to get POWER!

 

Ernie,

I was also interested in the Vortech kit until it failed smog. There is only one SC kit on the market right now that is Cali legal. Hopeully, JWT's turbo kit will pass. I am holding out for the turbo kit.

 

Who told you it failed smog?

 

The kits should all pass the sniffer test, and essentially pass in 49 states. CA is a whole different ball game....it likely wont pass visual inspection.

 

We never tested it, so it never failed.

 

My Quote from an early post regarding Vortech's Carb EO problems: "From what I have gathered there is some type of emission coding issue ending in the letter A versus the letter C code (4NSXV03.5G7C). Can we (forum members) help locate a vehicle with this code to solve this problem? I appreciate your help."

Forced Quote: "If you can find one that we can use for a while to get the ARB testing done, I'll give you $2K off a system."

Visual inspection will not be a problem is there is an EO #.

I guess I am confused. How do you (Forced) know your recieving a failing emission code if it was never tested? Please explain. Maybe theres hope yet.

 

Ernie,

Your mailbox is full.

I have disclosed everything I know about this kit. Interestingly, I have also spoke with Vortech reps and posted additional My350z threads about this topic with no luck. I have indicated to Vortech that I want to purchase their kit only if it passes smog and they basically brushed me off stating they are loosely looking for a 350z with a specific code. In my opinion they know the cars with this specific code might not pass smog. If I were in their shoes I would be informative and up front with whatever is going on.

I think there are a number of guys running around with this kit in Cali, but I can't remember their names. I am not affiliated with any specific company, just an enthusiast like you.

Let me know if you find anything else out. I recently heard the JWT turbo kit is now goint to be close to 7K which is out of my price range. Basically, if Vortech can't pass smog I will be stuck saving for at least another year.

Thanks,
Joe

 

Yeah , JWT will not be coming out til december now or maybe even early next year , I spoke to ben at JWT and that was the latest as of last week? I was just trying to see what vortech guys were getting, My son now has the car( hes working on his drivers license) So I will be driving my other car for right now, Im reconsidering because hes so young and if anything goes wrong, I would HATE for him to be broke down with a unreliable car.

 

We were doing more than "loosely looking" for the car. But know, so close to 2005, we are going to wait for a 2005 that we can take to CARB. It will happen, all of our other systems pass.

 

So forced, if one were to target ~20psi on a built low CR VQ35, which Vortech head unit would be recommended?
Would it fit the base tuner kit brackets, plumbing and pulley alignment?
Would it be available in an SQ trim?

Thanx

 

Nobody has done this yet with our supercharger, so I can't recommend anything but the SC-Trim. The next step up would be the S-Trim, but it wasn't a good match for the VQ35. We are all waiting for someone to jump in and give it a try with a built motor, start with an SC-Trim and go to an S if needed.