[jmess]

Some questions about SuperCharger Kits and the PowerDyne version:

1. If the SC belt breaks would you be able to drive the car for a short distance?

Note: I realize that the belt that spins your water pump and alternator could break also.

2. I think somebody said Powerdyne SC has an internal belt along with the external belt. If the internal belt breaks would you be able to drive the car for a short distance?

3. A piggy back ECU is wired into the IS fuel injection system to provide, among other things, fuel enrichment.

a. If the piggy back ECU fails would you still be able to drive the car for a short distance

b. If the piggy back ECU fails would the driver see a CEL? My concern here is the unit fails and you get a lean condition and don't know it; which could lead to engine damage.

4. There have been reports of driveability issues with SC units in the past that don't have intercoolers. The problems occur on very hot days in stop and go traffic. The symptom has been reported to the engine stumbling when applying a lot of throttle from a dead stop or very low speed. The cause was reported to be the SC unit becoming heat soaked and transfering more heat to the intake air which is already pretty hot based upon the outside air temp.

a. Will this be a problem with the PowerDyne unit and why not?

5. It has been reported the SuperCharger drive belts increase the load on main bearings. In some cases engine designers have had to increase the strength of main bearing caps and/or add more bearing surface to deal with the additional load.

a. Has anyone done a tear down of an IS300 engine after extended use of SC to see if there is any abnormal main bearing wear. In most cases I think the bearing closest to the pulley shows the most wear? It could take 50-100K miles for this to show up but when it does it could be very expensive to fix if you still own the car.

I sent an email to Mike at PLP with questions 1-3; questions 4 & 5 are new. I am sure he is too busy wiith the new shop and dealing with paying customers at the moment, so I thought I would serve up some similar questions to the experts

 

[HyperMKIV]

Some questions about SuperCharger Kits and the PowerDyne version:

1. If the SC belt breaks would you be able to drive the car for a short distance?

Note: I realize that the belt that spins your water pump and alternator could break also.

2. I think somebody said Powerdyne SC has an internal belt along with the external belt. If the internal belt breaks would you be able to drive the car for a short distance?

3. A piggy back ECU is wired into the IS fuel injection system to provide, among other things, fuel enrichment.

a. If the piggy back ECU fails would you still be able to drive the car for a short distance

b. If the piggy back ECU fails would the driver see a CEL? My concern here is the unit fails and you get a lean condition and don't know it; which could lead to engine damage.

4. There have been reports of driveability issues with SC units in the past that don't have intercoolers. The problems occur on very hot days in stop and go traffic. The symptom has been reported to the engine stumbling when applying a lot of throttle from a dead stop or very low speed. The cause was reported to be the SC unit becoming heat soaked and transfering more heat to the intake air which is already pretty hot based upon the outside air temp.

a. Will this be a problem with the PowerDyne unit and why not?

5. It has been reported the SuperCharger drive belts increase the load on main bearings. In some cases engine designers have had to increase the strength of main bearing caps and/or add more bearing surface to deal with the additional load.

a. Has anyone done a tear down of an IS300 engine after extended use of SC to see if there is any abnormal main bearing wear. In most cases I think the bearing closest to the pulley shows the most wear? It could take 50-100K miles for this to show up but when it does it could be very expensive to fix if you still own the car.

I sent an email to Mike at PLP with questions 1-3; questions 4 & 5 are new. I am sure he is too busy wiith the new shop and dealing with paying customers at the moment, so I thought I would serve up some similar questions to the experts

i'm sure it's like you said...mike is prob busy...

i'm not sure about the powerdyne unit...but i did own several vortec units...so i can answer some questions as if you went with the vortec unit...if that helps...

if the belt breaks...for the SC unit...you can still drive the car. it will pretty much feel normal. air can still flow through the SC unit...althought it will be a restriction...i've had a belt break on right after the semi-final round of a race...we towed the car back into the pits and made like nothing was wrong...the final round: i had an awesome launch and the car i was racing had a red light...so i won...after he found out my car wouldn't have even run the #...he was SOO pissed...but hey, that's racing right???

anyway...for #4...this never happened with the vortec unit...we lived in an area that got fairly hot...and we drove these cars around a lot. not only did we drag race some of them, we also road raced a few of them and i even used to cruise around town with mine on a fairly regular basis.

#5 if you can get a cog belt, then this would help out...you don't have to tighten the belt as much with a cog...that way this would help to not put so much added stress...

#5 a - i don't think anyone has had any type of SC setup for a long enough period of time...

no idea about #3...i would think that if the unit did fail...you'd have no problems driving the car...BUT...you'd have problems if you try to floor it...

dunno if this really helps or not...just trying to help out...

 

[deftones]

As far as the external S/C belt goes when I get my PLP Powerdyne kit installed I'm going to purchase an extra belt and keep it in the trunk w/ the spare. That way incase the belt ever breaks while I'm out cruising, or on a trip, I can just pull over bust out the wrenches, and throw the new belt on. Reason being is I doubt that belt will be something you can just walk into Kragen and buy. I'm sure it will be a special order belt.
I would suggest the same to anyone who puts a S/C kit on their car. That way if and when the belt goes, you don't have to go crazy trying to get a new one. just my $.02

 

[IS Pilot]

Some questions about SuperCharger Kits and the PowerDyne version:

1. If the SC belt breaks would you be able to drive the car for a short distance?

Yes, you just will not have any boost. The car would drive stock.

Note: I realize that the belt that spins your water pump and alternator could break also.

We have had cars SC for over 2 years with no belt issues. The kits are supplied with a readily available Dayco Poly Cog belt.

2. I think somebody said Powerdyne SC has an internal belt along with the external belt. If the internal belt breaks would you be able to drive the car for a short distance?

See #1

3. A piggy back ECU is wired into the IS fuel injection system to provide, among other things, fuel enrichment.

a. If the piggy back ECU fails would you still be able to drive the car for a short distance

Yes, the car would drive with the oem ecu

b. If the piggy back ECU fails would the driver see a CEL? My concern here is the unit fails and you get a lean condition and don't know it; which could lead to engine damage.

This is unlikely but yes you would have a cel. The piggyback intercepts and alters various oem signals under boost conditions. If it did fail the piggyback would not send a emulated signal back to the oem ecu under boost causing a cel.

4. There have been reports of driveability issues with SC units in the past that don't have intercoolers. The problems occur on very hot days in stop and go traffic. The symptom has been reported to the engine stumbling when applying a lot of throttle from a dead stop or very low speed. The cause was reported to be the SC unit becoming heat soaked and transfering more heat to the intake air which is already pretty hot based upon the outside air temp.

a. Will this be a problem with the PowerDyne unit and why not?

NO, we have never encountered such problems. The trouble you are reffering is a tuning issue and does not have anything to do with the sc in general.

5. It has been reported the SuperCharger drive belts increase the load on main bearings. In some cases engine designers have had to increase the strength of main bearing caps and/or add more bearing surface to deal with the additional load.

a. Has anyone done a tear down of an IS300 engine after extended use of SC to see if there is any abnormal main bearing wear. In most cases I think the bearing closest to the pulley shows the most wear? It could take 50-100K miles for this to show up but when it does it could be very expensive to fix if you still own the car.

Again, I believe you are speaking of domestic motors. No, we have not done a tear down to see the effects. We have accumulated 20K plus miles on various is300's with no ill effects. The factory crank pulley with harmonic dampener is retained unlike some kits for domestic vehicles.

I sent an email to Mike at PLP with questions 1-3; questions 4 & 5 are new. I am sure he is too busy wiith the new shop and dealing with paying customers at the moment, so I thought I would serve up some similar questions to the experts

I have not received it. We are trying to cope with this email worm virus and it is very annoying 200-300 bogus emails per day.
Mike

 

[jmess]

Thanks Mike. I think that makes a lot of folks more comfortable.

Your are right about the talk of main bearing wear being on a domestic. I read that Ford had to beefed up the main bearing caps for the Ford SVT truck motor to deal with the super charger belt load.