Hi, under a new member name since I forgot all passwords and emails, etc.

But anyways, I just bought a 97 WS6 (LT1) with 50k on it, beautiful car. Has 3 in exhaust, no cats, O2 sims, stock headers, stock motor (top & bottom), bigger injectors, PCM4Less tune, 4.11's, 160 thermostat, and a Powerdyne supercharger. i think it's a BD-10 or 11, I'll have to double check. It supposedly has the 6 psi kit on it. But, it feels sort of weak, and I never once hit 6 psi on the gauge. In first gear if I jump on it, it will shoot up to a touch over 5 psi on the gauge, and then in 2nd, it's a touch less, 3rd less, etc. I have never seen 4 psi in third, 4th is worse, and 5th is less and less. The boost seems to fall off with gear, regardless of RPM. Weird. I checked all the clamps, fittings, belt tension, etc. I know some gauges are not 100% accurate, but why the drop in each gear?

Just the other night, it was about 38-43 degrees out, I warmed it up for only about a minute and a half, and went up the road to the store about 2 miles away. I nursed it up there. Then when i got back in, i jumped on it a bit, went through the 3 gears and it felt a lot better. I then dropped it down to 2nd and mashed on it, and it pulled over 5 psi, put it in 3rd gear and same thing, over 5 psi. I was going too fast for conditions to try in 4th, but what the heck is going on? Does it have to do with the cold, dense air? Or was my motor and s/c cold enough to where it wasn't heating up and expanding, which causes it to leak?

I have no idea what's going on here, but this is the first time it pulled like I thought it should. I haven't been impressed with it until the other night.

The Powerdyne was put on in roughly 2000, but the car has really low miles. I know i should rebuild with new bearings and belt and improved impeller, but why the variation in boost? The car does not pull the way it should in higher gears, even when the rpm's are up. I have no slop or any visible damage to the unit...

Also, where is a good quality place to buy the GOOD bearings? I don't want some cheap Chinese crap that's "assembled in the USA." What else should I do to maintain it? I'm a newbie when it comes to s/c....


Thanks for the help!
Mike

 

I would look at the belt being loose or maybe the ribs on the belt are worn. With the night being colder I would think the belt would be as elastic as it would be on a warm day. Start with the small things first.

Get a gator belt and see if that fixes anything.