Ok guys here is another problem you will face well maybe its just me. I looked to make sure my belt was tight today and noticed the intake pipe is rubbing my hood and I have a nice knick out of the pipe now. also the top of the supercharger main housing is rubbing the hood also.

 

I have no issues with the SC unit, but the upper intake pipe issue is one that is pointed out in the installation manual. Just loosen the clamps between the upper intake pipe and the pipe from the intercooler, and push down a little on the upper intake pipe and you should have no problems.

 

I had the same issue. I grinded the top of the bracket down a bit and I think this has solved my problem. Wish I new about this before it made its mark.

 

Okay....so here's a list of all the problems that people have encountered so far......

No oil in SC unit as shipped....result.......complete SC failure. Luckily, no engine damage

Problem fitting upper intake pipe

Problem with SC mounting bracket hitting hood

Leak from SC oil reservoir

Possibility of system running rich enough to set off MIL, when it is supposedly perfectly tuned.

Have I missed anything?

By far the most concerning one to me is the last one.

 

That about covers it. and man am I running rich

 

yea real nice mark to. I will take some pics tomorrow

 

The other issue I had which may be isolated to me is that the water hose that runs between the 2 belts was touching the main crank pulley belt. I resolved this issue before the car was even started so it did not cause me any issues. My problem is that HKS *assumes* that the pipe is straight and not twisted but my factory pipe was off centre. I made an additional bracket that resolved this for me.

The other thing to make sure is that if you lossen the SC belt tensioner and don't wind the pulley back down, when you close the bonnet it hits one of the frames in the bonnet. Unfortunatly I found this out the hard way.

 

by the way I am running a AT trans and today I dicided to try and see how hard I could get this thing to pull so I came to a dead stop on broad street put it in auto shift (need to keep it there anyway) and not holding the brake just stomped the gas and rosted the rubbers to 6k then I let off. This is with BFG G-force tires that hook up pretty good.

should have shifted to 2nd but it suprized the hell out of me.

 

if you guys are running that rich, I should be ok with a plenum then right?

 

What's the current status on all this?

 

SES light comes on on ULEV2 eqipped vehicles. A/F reading rich on both pre-cat sensors. Don't know if this is an inherent problem with the HKS programming and the change in the car late in the '04 model year, or whether I have some other issue going on. Car drives fine....just rich and with SES light.

 

Thanks speed.

keep us informed with what goes on with your rich/ses light status.

 

Just got my car back after 6 weeks waiting on a replacement
supercharger. Most of the problems have been corrected
except:

Check engine light still on

Fuel Guage does not read accurately-When it reads empty still
has about 1/4 tank. Any suggestions?

I'm very satisfied with the overall usable power in the lower
RPM range but not with the high end. It was Dyno tested on
a DYNO DYNAMICS DYNAMOMETER with Max HP of 347.3 and
288WHP with full A/C.

I'll be interested to know what others are going to do to correct
the "rich" fuel conditions.

TIA,
Greg

 

thanks Greg for the update. keep it c'min.

 

Have all you with problems contacted HKS with your concerns? HKS is a very well respected company with a very good reputation and the supercharger they are using (Rotrex) is a very sound design.
I am sure there are issues that even the engineers didnot count on but as an industry friend to HKS I am confident they will make all good.

 

I have directly contacted HKS, but their phone tech line is answered by someone who really doesn't *seem* like an engineer, but rather someone who just "reads the manual". I have also been in direct contact with HKS corporate who said that "they are a little sick of hearing from me", saying that I am "the only one" who is having problems. To their credit, however, when I had my initial SC failure, they were very prompt, professional, and courteous in dealing with the problem. I only wish there was a way to speak directly with someone who had some real technical knowledge. They said that they have become aware of the changes in the late model ECU's and will be looking into it, but could not give me a definite timeline on when the issue would be resolved.

 

Man bro I feel for you every time I read this post. I am still running a tad rich myself but how rich I dont know. no lights for me but I have a 03 so guess thats why.

 

When I called HKS for advice, I spoke to James. He was very helpful and the guy who really know a lot about this kit was John, I think he is one of their engineer.

Good luck Speedracer, I hope you find a solution soon.

 

I really think you have done a good service to any and all of us who have bought or are considering buying this kit, Speedracrer. By holding the feet of HKS to the fire on these issues. I know Nissan has made several changes to the engine management system since this car came out. It seems to me that HKS is going to have to take that into consideration if they expect us to buy this kit. It is not unreasonable of us to expect that the tuning of their kit to be compatible with the specific tuning of our car according to production date. My Z has an early '04 production date and I don't want to run any kit unless any and all aspects of my factory computer and tuning are accounted for correctly in the HKS kit. In the past, HKS prided themselves on going the extra mile to fine tune their products very precisely for the Japanese cars. I hope HKS responds positively to these issues and ensures that all 350Z's computer variations are accounted for correctly in their kit by production date. What does this require? HKS to provide a reflash or a different chip for each of Nissan's changes? HKS should do whatever they have to do to make this happen correctly if they want to provide a quality product that we can trust. Good luck Speedracer, but I don't think you should have had to work this hard! HKS should have had all this worked out and been aware of these issues without you, the customer, having to infom them about inconsistencies in their product. Isn't that supposed to be the other way around. That's the reason I spent extra to go with HKS products in the past. Because I was confident they would get it right and back up their products all the way.

 

pumpedVA,

i recently bought an HKS SC (i think from the same cat as you (350zonlinestore.com?....i got the last of the special deals). anyway, what is the status of tuning the F-CON S. is this thing tunable or not? im getting my SC installed by a HKS authorized dealer and they are under the impression this is a pure plug and play system no tuning necessary. they have not installed one of these SC on a Z yet, but have done quite a few Greddy and Vortech set-ups and are giving me a decent price on the install just to get their hands on one. i told them i am running headers, hi-flow cats, and a true dual exhaust, and that with these mods the F-CON should need to be tweaked. is this a true statement? is it even possible? i need to get smart on this before i give up my z (which i havent let anyone else touch) for a week.