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      08-22-2013, 04:26 PM   #1
xyvyx
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VF480 Install

Hey all..

figured I should start a build thread for my VF480 kit. I've had it sitting in boxes for almost 8 months... I wanted to get my exhaust taken care of first & have a clean, CEL-free start. The first shop that attempted to bolt on my SS headers, mufflers & euro cats failed pretty badly. Second shop cleaned that up, got my valve timing adjusted and it's purring smoothly now.

I'll be taking my Z4MC down to the shop in the next day or so to begin the install, but I did a "baseline" dyno run today. It was pretty warm this morning & this is a Mustang dyno (that I was told tends to read very low), so take it for whatever it's worth. Most others I've looked at were from a Dynojet with some form of smoothing, so ya'll think this run is unusual with the dip around 6350 RPM?



I wander around a bit too much at the start, but here's the video for 3rd pull... it hit 292hp, slightly more than from the scanned report above:



Hope I have better luck than mfanatic325 And I'm in Dallas (@ 430' elevation), so hopefully none of RatedM's altitude issues.
/me crosses his fingers!
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      08-23-2013, 09:34 PM   #2
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Sounds fun. Keep us updated and take lots of pics.
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      08-23-2013, 10:11 PM   #3
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Just curious. What were the issues with the headers and exhaust?
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      08-26-2013, 01:07 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by itdnwiwbp View Post
Just curious. What were the issues with the headers and exhaust?
The engine was running rich, power was down (kinda made my first dyno run pointless)... and according to Torque, the CEL was caused by P114B and P0041 fault codes. The exhaust was a bit too loud, although all the sputtering when I'd let off the gas was kinda neat

Original sound/vid here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLu-BTAXOSI

All the individual components were good, but the 1st shop wired the post-cat o2 sensors in backwards, left the wires laying across the cats/pipes & dangling low enough to be caught by road debris. There are some holes in the OEM heat shield for routing those cables too.

They also attempted to use some unknown gasket/sealant between the headers & the engine block... which was leaking. The 2nd shop (Ultimate Bimmer Service here in Addison, TX... great guys!) cleaned up the wiring, re-attached the headers and it's running much better now. Luckily, I was able to get some $$ back from the first shop to compensate for their half-assed work!
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      09-17-2013, 06:18 PM   #5
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Minor status update...
  • VF sent the wrong injectors with the kit. Shop received the updated injectors last week.
  • Shop went to attach the intake manifold & blower... discovered that the Vortech was mis-aligned & needed to be "turned". See photos below. So I guess that might need to be rotated to fit by VF also... we could probably do it on this end, but I don't want to get into finger-pointing...



vs.


(I believe this is RatedM's Z)

Notice position of blower outlet relative to Vortech model/serial tag.
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      09-17-2013, 07:59 PM   #6
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good thing clocking the blower isn't a big deal, otherwise that would be a pain in the ass...292 is solid on a mustang dyno
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      09-18-2013, 01:38 PM   #7
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Yeah, I think I may clock it myself... it sounds pretty painless. I'm anticipating issues w/ the ECU next, so I just want to keep this project moving. Weee!
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      09-18-2013, 03:35 PM   #8
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in these cases, should VF or any other company reimburse for all the time you have to waste waiting on shipping parts back and forth and having your car out of commision? the fact they bolted up the blower upsidedown makes me hit my head...
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      09-18-2013, 04:54 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dubsesd View Post
the fact they bolted up the blower upsidedown makes me hit my head...
I don't think that's what the OP is saying.

Look at the first picture of the blower he got, notice that the outlet is lower than the label on the blower. Then look at the installation picture and notice that the label is below the outlet.

So it looks like the outlet needs to be turned out about 30-45 degrees, since it's a solid piece it sounds like the whole assembly needs to be turned.
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      09-18-2013, 05:16 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dubsesd
in these cases, should VF or any other company reimburse for all the time you have to waste waiting on shipping parts back and forth and having your car out of commision? the fact they bolted up the blower upsidedown makes me hit my head...
I ended up getting some reimbursement for issues with my coilovers...my car essentially turned into an r and d car haha
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      09-20-2013, 09:55 AM   #11
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yeah, if "clocking" the blower is as easy as it sounds, then hopefully it's one less thing that we have to ship back. The Z's been in the shop for 4 weeks now, mostly sitting on a lift out of the way.... If I was paying for a rental this whole time, I think my attitude would be slightly different
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      10-04-2013, 12:08 AM   #12
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Talking

ok, sorry about the shakey-cam & lack of focus.. had my macro lens on for doing some close-ups...



So the bumper is going back on tomorrow & I can finally bring her home! woot!
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      10-04-2013, 07:21 AM   #13
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Very nice. Really running nice in that video. Give us some feedback once u get some miles on it
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      10-04-2013, 07:35 AM   #14
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Congrats! Sounds good. Now time to have some fun with it!
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      01-13-2014, 06:03 PM   #15
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Unhappy

ok, car was fun for a while..

but now I can't pass the state emissions (OBD-based) test.
I read up on the standard drive-cycle and tried to follow it as closely as possible (ie: driving on backroads @ 2am, trying to maintain a constant ~15mph for 3 minutes or whatever, 60mph for 15 minutes, etc..). No change. Might need to make a few more attempts.

The exhaust at idle smells pretty toxic to me, and with all the burbling/pops when I left off the throttle, my initial assumption is that it's running rich. It's been this way since the kit was installed in early October.

I've been logging data with TorquePro before/after and comparing AFRs at idle, they're definitely lower now... avg is 14.1 - 14.4 with the VF kit, was 14.4 - 14.7 beforehand. Lots of noise/garbage in the logs, but I've been filtering/graphing them to compare.

Now the post-cat O2 sensors appear "stuck" at 0.4v, so I think they've been fouled as a result of the exhaust mix. *shrug*

Any thoughts / similar experience?

Anybody else w/ a VF kit installed have problems w/ the OBD "emissions readiness" tests?

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      01-14-2014, 02:35 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xyvyx View Post
...Hope I have better luck than mfanatic325
Up to 9psi of boost, I got like just under 400rwhp and right at 300rwtq peaks with supposedly an older style supercharger core unit (they say it has to do with the impeller or something ). So they think that until I swap the core unit out, I won't see the 470rwhp and 330rwtq that I should be at. They informed me there are zero changes to the VF570 tune, and so there are no improvements in drivability.

How's your drivability? Part-throttle? Any idle hunt? Do you have an AFR gauge? How do they look during driving?

Mine stutters during driving and has erratic idle hunt every now and then. I've just lived with it for the past few months, as I've been too busy with work to do anything about it anyhow. Looking to get everything ironed out this springtime.

Last edited by mfanatic325; 01-14-2014 at 02:43 PM..
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      01-14-2014, 03:00 PM   #17
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VF use the sci unit which has a cfm of 1050, ess use the SI trim unit with has 1150cfm (only 50cfm of T trim units), you can spec your unit with the si trim impellar for relatively minimal cost mfanatic.... look into it....

http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/page.php?id=31026
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      01-15-2014, 11:07 AM   #18
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VF says they're willing to do a core swap for me, but I need to find time to get it done. I'll have to hook up back up to the dyno sometime thereafter to see if it actually helps. Aside from that, I still want drivability improvement via the tune. VF also mentioned helping me with that once I have the new core unit swapped in.
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      01-16-2014, 07:13 PM   #19
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They may have "turned off" the rear O2 sensors.
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      01-17-2014, 09:06 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pokeybritches View Post
They may have "turned off" the rear O2 sensors.
it seems alot of tuners do this.... i recently discovered the post cat sensors are narrow band and are only check cat efficiency anyway.... confirmed by evolve..... so if those codes are for POST cat sensors..... i personally wouldnt worry about it....

Pre cat is a different story, they are used for fuel trims etc and are actively feeding back data for engine control.....
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      01-17-2014, 09:58 AM   #21
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By the way, there's probably a reason Vortech trims the impeller blades on the Si to make the SCi. I'd assume it makes it more efficient for smaller applications. Unless you're approaching the limits of the SCi (or losing efficiency), why go for the Si?

My non-M has the SCi unit.
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      01-17-2014, 10:05 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pokeybritches View Post
By the way, there's probably a reason Vortech trims the impeller blades on the Si to make the SCi. I'd assume it makes it more efficient for smaller applications. Unless you're approaching the limits of the SCi (or losing efficiency), why go for the Si?

My non-M has the SCi unit.
im guessing your right.
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