Chonda

Strange issue is happening. I have a vortech v3 kit and im only outputting around 240whp max. When I get on the the throttle it only feels slightly better than stock. The car screams all the way to vtec and judging by the boost gauge its holding around 7 1/2 pounds of boost. I checked all couplers for leaks and I couldn't find any, I even build the homemade boost leak detector and I found a slight fizz of a leak from the blowoff valve gasket which I fixed. However the issue still persists...


This is the list of mods that I have for boost.

Vortech v3
vortech fmu
vortech blackbox
new colder plugs
new larger heat exchanger

On the dyno AFR's looked great through redline and the chart looked smooth but I am missing 80whp? I bought the kit second hand and the previous owner made 319whp. EDIT: This is a kit that was originally for a ap2 with the 5th injector on the aftercooler and I am not using the 5th injector so I just left the injector in the aftercooler with nothing atached to it.

Things to note. Belt tension is fine, I am not slipping as I also stated that boost is holding fine via a boost gauge and is where it should be. I am really at a loss... Could I have a leak still? Anything else I should look into? Its a bit upsetting but I have faith someone here knows the answer!

Thanks for looking

starrman

What size pulley, or how much boost is it supposed to be making? Also, did you do a compression test/leak down test prior?

Chonda

Its the stock pulley size that comes with the kit which is supposed to make around 8lbs at redline. Also I did not perform a leak down test prior to installing the unit. I guess I didn't deem it necessary with my car being under 60k miles and ran flawless otherwise?

s2000Junky

Holding at 7.5psi? It shouldn’t hold, it should be a steady increase to redline. Is your gauge reading correctly? Belt slip is a common issue, and not easy to first get dialed in.

What is the afr you are seeing after vtec to redline?

What dyno are you using to measure the whp?

Chonda

Maybe I worded that wrong. Its not holding but I should say rather it holds at 7.5psi at redline. It steadily increases like you mentioned and doesn't bounce around, its a clean climb.

AFR was around 11.5-12 from vtec to redline. This was on a dynojet.

Would belt slip still show correct psi on a boost gauge? I am not hearing a squealing noise as I have been reading for belt slip. Could my motor be somehow detonating and pulling timing? Can timing affect horsepower by that much? I am not getting any CEL's either.

s2000Junky

No belt slip issue then and AFR looks good.

You shouldn’t be detonating at such minimal boost. The VT black box is meant to pull some timing, it’s possible this device is miscalibrated or malfunctioning in some way. The comptech/CT and SOS kits at base level don’t have any provisions to retard timing, so it’s really not something that’s proven to be needed at this level with a SC kit. You might consider pulling the block box from the equation and try running it without, see how the motor/output responds then. Keep an eye on your afr though, you may likely need to recalibrate this with your rrfpr as well.

Chonda

Took the black box off and it felt mildly better. I noticed from a obd scanner tool that it was pulling a lot of timing up top, could this be a issue?

Another question... When installing the supercharger pulley is there any way possible that I could knock timing off after replacing the pin? I noticed that the key was slightly off by a small fraction but I was still able to wiggle the key in place.

Either way its upsetting that I am not getting the power output as advertised

s2000Junky

You see it pulling timing before or after you pulled the black box? What is the max timing number you are seeing near redline? Yes timing has a sizable impact on power.

No

s2000Junky

Is your aftercooler performing properly? What are your average IAT temps? If high, you are more prone to detonate the engine and the stock ECU will want to pull timing, low power will result from low timing as well as heat soaked/high IAT.