OK I spent the majority of the day finding and fixing fuel leaks. I finally got them all and was able to dial in the FPR at 60 PSI (without boost referencing). Then I hook up the boost reference line to the FPR and it stays between 52-54 PSI fuel pressure.

I SAW NO BOOST! Grrrrr My boost gauge read between (-10)-(-12) Vacuum. The only time I ever saw above that was when I was in 6th gear under a slight load(hill), then it would build up to maybe (-8) Vacuum. Other than that the engine felt stock and the gauges never showed any boost.

For the first couple of hours I wouldn't tak it above 3500 RPMs. But since I wasn't being blown I thought why not rev it a little and see if that builds any. I got her up to around 5000-5500 in 1st to see if any boost would build and I got nothing. Again the engine felt stock. But when I brought her back down I noticed the S/C whine was gone. Pull over to find out the belt broke and the Idler is sitting all cockeyed. What the hell?!?!?! Did I over torque the belt? I followed the instructions, but when it came to belt tightening they weren't very specific.

The ironic thing is the fuel system, which I was most worried about when starting this whole thing, worked pretty much flawlessly. Other than I'm only getting about 9-10 mpg. But considering that the FPR isn't boost referencing, it is completely untuned at the moment, and I'm not getting any boost to help in the power, it's actually working really well.

The wierd thing is after the belt broke I drove her home and the boost gauge was working the same exact way. (-10)-(-12) vac unless in 6th under load then it would build to (-8) vac. So even with the belt missing it worked the same way.

I know the S/C was spinning. I couldn't get the surge valve to close when the engine was running. You could audibly hear the S/C spitting out a ton of air through the surge valve when the car was running at above 2000 RPMs.

I'm not sure if the surge valve wasn't working and wouldn't allow the system to build up any boost, or the vacuum line was not workoing, therefore the FPR, Boost gauge, and Surge valve always showed vacuum.

I don't want to over load you guys all at once. What do you all think of my problems thus far? I'll be checking back, so feel free to ask me any questions or mae any suggestions.

Thanks guys,
BH

 

I am an amateur, but check yur vacuum line to the surge valve. Also check all the the intercooler connections, and when you find the vacuum prob(likely) listen for the surge to close when you put some foot in it. Good luck

 

Did you have the pedal to the floor(100% tps) while increasing rpms? You will not show boost until the throttle is all the way open. Consequently, you will hear air out the surge valve while there is manifold vacuum. The idler was probably sitting funny cause it slid down once the belt broke. Did you check the alignment of the pullies and belt at idle once you started it up?

 

I have a single Vacuum line that feeds the FPR, Boost gauge and Surge Valve. I have it running into a T-line that goes off of the check valve(back by the A/C line between the motor and computer). I did it just like ATI suggested in their instructions. The Check valve had three tubes coming off the same valve. Perhaps I tied into the wrong one?

As for the belt, do you guys think I over tightened? Can I pick this belt up at any local automotive store? How do you guys tighten to know you got it just right?

I'll yank the Procharger today and get some pictures. I hope the idler pully wasn't damamged.

BH

 

if you set your fp to 60 with the vacum line off then when you put the line on the guage will show lower but trust me the fp is still 60 at the rails.

the whole point of the boost/vacum referenced regulator is to maintain your FP at the rails, not your guage, the rails.

so hook the vacum line back up to the regulator, you did it right.

 

blackbird not sure what you are talking about.. his gauge is mounted to the rail so it reads rail pressure.. thats the whole point.

blown: go ahead and do an edit and put the flowrate flat at 5.51 and hook the vaccum line up so that its aroud 50 at idle and you are right where mine is.

set your pe table to around 1.25 flat across the board as well, that will put you safely in the low 12:1 afr range. at less than 10psi boost for sure.

your belt may have warmed up and stretched/fell or broke off. or your idler just came loose and then the above.

 

Why doesn't your vacuum drop to zero when you open the throttle. With the belt off it should read like a natural asperation

 

because he never opened the throttle all the way.. just 'cruised' up to 5k...right? also ther is a bunch of supercharger/intercooler parts in the way now, which is far more restrictive than a n/a lid.

 

mighty what I was refering to is what he sees on his guage doesn't reflect the true pressure at the rails. Im sure you set your fp with the vacum line off then hooked up the line.

you will notice that under vacum the fp guage will read lower than what you set the fp to with the line off and conversely when your under boost it reads higher.

so if you set your base fp to 60 with the line off then under 10psi your guage reads 70 but it's still only 60psi at the rails because of the 10psi it's fighting against.

that was my point, that if he thought his FP was dropping when he put the vacum line on then he was mistaken.

 

I am not sure what line you are talking about that is between the engine and PCM that would give you a good vacuum signal, there is one very small line that feeds the HVAC system. The other lines back in there are PCV lines. I have good readings from the port on the driver side of the TB. I think you are not reading intake vacuum/pressure, so your bypass valve is not closing, incorrect readings on the gage and the FPR is not working correctly.

Why are you using a FPR vice tuning? How much boost were you expecting out the kit? Did you go with larger injectors? Sorry about all the questions, just trying to figure out your setup.

 

I totally underdstand what you are saying. Yeah I wasn't mentioning my FP because I was really concerned about it, moreso because I wanted to show that every component that is boost referencing off that vacuum line I installed is showing similar problems. Therefore I assumed that the source I tapped into was the incorrect one. It seems like most of you agree.

After speaking to ATI, they agreed and suggested I tie into the brake booster. Now I just need to find a tidey way to tie into it without having a bunch of fittings on that brake booster line.

BH

 

I agree the line that ATI says to use in their instructions doesn't seem to be the best.

As for my setup, I went with a Boost referenced FPR for several reasons. One it gives me more fuel when I need it most. Also it allows me to run my FPR up front at the rails, where I need it's responsiveness the most. Plus a lot of the guys that have much bigger setups than i am running have said that boost referencing your FPR is a much safer way to ensure proper flow rate and makes tuning easier.

I have the 8# tuner kit. I went with 42# SVO injecters. Don't worry about the questions. I appreciate any and all help you guys can give me.

BH

 

How are you changing timing and still have COT enabled? LS1Edit?

I ran mine from the port on the driver side of the TB, smaller lines to mate up to the gage and bypass valve. Used a "T" inline with the purge valve on that side of the engine.

 

I took a few pictures of what happened. Why did the idler come loose? You'll notice in picture 8 and 9 that there doesn't seem to be even wear on the idler. Is that because the idler was never on tight to begin with? How about the plate that holds the Idler and S/C. Is that scar going to be a problem? I'm gonna send these to proicharger and see what they think.






















Let me know what you guys think.

 

Also on a side note, while I was under the car I noticed that the passenger side intercooler->ATI Intake plenum tube was off the intercooler. Hopefully this was the vacuum problem all along. I'm crossing my fingers.

BH

 

that mark wont hurt anything.. looks like it came loose on you.. does the idler's bearing still feel fine when you spin it?

blackbird, i get what you are trying to say now, your terminology 'at the rail' was throwing me.

the fuel pressure at the rail in reality is exactly what the fuel pressure gauge (also connected to the rail) reads.

what you mean is that the relative pressure as the fuel exits the tip of the injector into the manifold is always the same.. which is totally true with a pressure referenced regulator.

 

Bearing spins fine

 

In the second pic, is that how the belt was run initially? It looks like the belt is going over the idler, it needs to be under. Yeah the gash looks fine. after you tightened the screw on top of the bracket, did you tighten the one going through the idler? That needs to be tightened. Pic 6 looks like it is not tightened, thats why it's leaning, definitely why it would through the belt and tear some crap up. You can get a replacement belt at any autozone or advance. The paper belt housing that the kit came with will have a part number on it, look for a 38 or 37 or something like that in the number. Go to the store and tell them you need a 6 rib belt in that length (inches).