have any of you guys have any issues with a slight ping while blipping the throttle with your supercharger? When I say "blipping", a fast punch of the throttle(2500rpm to 3500rpm). You can only hear it if your radio is off and windows shut. The ping only last for a second or two. The Stillen guys say it is normal for these high compression FI cars, but to me, any kind of detonation is not good, no matter how small it might be. So out of curiosity, has anyone else experience this?

(Stillen Stg2)

 

I have never noticed anything like that but with my exhaust and everything else it could get past me.

 

I have a borla exhaust, which i think at times is actually quieter than stock!! But if you listen at the lower rpm range and give it a quick punch, i would imagine you could hear a slight ping, unless it is a personal problem.

 

ive got the borla also and i have never heard anything remotely like detonation.

 

Interesting!! I had Sam(Stillen guy) drive my car, and we can hear the ping when we blip the throttle. He told me that was normal for this type of SC and for our high compression engines. So if you guys cruise at around 2500rpm and blip throttle to get up to around 4000rpm, you cannot hear a ping? Hmmm!! Wonder if they are giving me a run around then (excuse!!!) I would never expect this from a StageII. Anyone think a larger fuel pump would help?? Any ideas from anyone??

 

forgot to ask an obvious question...

People with Vortech? can the car be driven with the belt messed up?... i'm guessing - no...

 

I changed mine out for a Walbro 255 just to be safe but I doubt you would need it with a stage 2.

 

I already saw one in Red and Black and it look much better in person

 

Ok well I officially had my first problem already with the supercharger. I will explain in detail for those interested and then add cliffs notes for the people who don't like to read ...

So a few days ago, I started to hear this clicking sound coming from the engine bay. It wasn't a constant ticking, and when it was only occuring at idle and at low rpms until boost came in, then it would either go away, or get drowned out by the whine of the blower, I don't know for sure. All of my gauges were fine and the supercharger was working as good as new. I initially thought that the new belts had heated up and expanded causing them to be a little loose. I didn't know why it was a clicking instead of belt squeak, but it was my first guess. I tightened the belts a little more, but that didn't fix the problem. So the next day, I put in a call to Scott at VRT to see what he had to say about the situation. He said that it was probably the keyway or thru-shaft that was loose or broken. That night, I was driving home from work and the CEL came on. The car was still running fine, however, so I was confused. The next day on the way to work, the clicking was a lot louder, but again, the car was running fine. I made a quick stop at a gas station, and checked under the hood where everything seemed to be ok. As soon as I left the gas station I realized that I had no boost. I know that all of the belts were still on, I just saw them at the gas station. So I drove it very carefully to work and popped the hood once I got there to make sure that the belts were still there. They were, so I put in another call to Scott, and we discussed the issue even more. We know that there is no way for a supercharger not to make boost unless the belt is gone or something is slipping and the pulley on the blower is not spinning. So we narrowed it down to two things since all belts were present and accounted for, it was either a broken pulley or a broken keyway. So I went back outside, turned the car on and watched the pulleys. I spotted the problem pulley right off the bat. It was the black Stage 1 pulley that was making the noise and I could see it "wiggling" back and forth like it was loose. To my suprise though, all of the pulleys and belts were moving at the same speed, which confused the crap out of Scott and I. If the pulleys were moving and the belts were all attached, how can it possibly not make boost? If it was a broken thru-shaft or keyway, the pulleys and belt that drive the blower would not be moving. So I thought to myself, it must just be a loose pulley that spins freely at higher rpms, but is still tight enough to work at idle. So I set off to my house to try tightening it. It was loose and I tightened it, but the nose was still there and I still had no boost. So the only thing left to do was remove that pulley and inspect the thru-shaft and keyway. So tonight, I did just that and when I pulled off that pulley, I could see the problem and it wasn't pretty. The keyway broke and it chewed up the thru-shaft and the pulley in the process. The clicking sound came from the thru-shaft being chipped away by the broken keyway and the no boost came from the broken keyway. So half of the keyway is broken off and still insde the pulley, the other half is blowing in the wind somewhere. The good news is that I have taken all of the belts off that control the supercharger and my car runs fine. The bad news is, I miss my supercharger and now I need a new keyway, thru-shaft, and pulley. The old parts will be shipped to Scott's fabricator for a custom setup that is basically the same as the original, but we are going to add a second keyway to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

Cliffs Notes: My keyway broke and it ruined my pulley and thru-shaft in the process. I will fix the problem with a custom double-keyway assembly for added strenght.

So this just goes to show that aftermarket parts have their problems, but thats a risk you take when you decide that you want your car to be faster. It was a stuipid problem with a relatively easy fix. The biggest downside is that I will have to be without my supercharger for a little while.

 

wow... well, at least you could still drive the car, even with no boost, and pulley messed up.

^^^ anyone cares to address that one?...

 

How many miles have you had on the Stillen supercharger, and have you driven it hard?
How many miles do you have on the JWT TT, and have you driven it hard?

 

I don't know how many miles I have on the JWT TT, but I can tell you that 98% of those miles were on a race track, and I am definately not one to baby my car. My theory is, if its going to break, I want to break it, find a better way to fix it, and make it so it doesn't break again. Hense the custom double keyway idea for the Stillen.

As for the Stillen, I only have maybe 1000 miles on it, but I got it used so who knows how many miles are on the kit itself. I did drive the Stillen hard trying to find the weakest link, which I figured would be a belt. I tried breaking my belt as best I could, but this keyway thing cut me short . Now, don't get me wrong, I drive the Z 10x harder, but the G was definately not babied at all.

 

Mike (350ZNV), We will get this problem fixed for you soon, and then we can see what else we can break on these SC'ers. LOL! J/K.

 

Hey 350ZNV, glad to hear it wasn't anything major. I recently went through with a similar (but completely different ) problem with my Vortech. Stupid problem and relatively easy to fix (also cheap ).


To your question codeflux, the answer is yes and no. If something is messed up on the main drive belt side and your crank pulley isn't spinning the water pump then I wouldn't suggest driving it. You can always replace the factory belt which will bypass the pulleys specifically there for the supercharger and run fine with no boost.

If there is something wrong on the cog belt side you can remove the cog belt and continue to drive the car without boost as the blower won't be spinning.

 

yes you can put on a normal NA belt on a vortech setup and the car will run just fine - one guy did that for a month while he sent his blower in for repair (long story with that)