Supercharging a 3.slow

[jlucas2]

I have a 3.0L and I was wanting to bump my HP and Torque up to beat out these little Honda 4 bangers buzzing around here where I live! I give them a run for there money now with the 4.10 in the rear, and I am working on an exhaust and roller rocker now! I have found a supercharger that works, and even an intake manifold for it!

http://www.moranav6racing.com/i.php?f=/img/Products/pictures/3L supercharged intake.JPG&d=

But I was wondering if anyone else has done this before? I know to keep the boost low, and the engine can handle it. But I am not sure if the throttle body sensors will work with the throttle body that comes with the super, or if the throttle cable itself will need to be replaced? I have also heard that I might need new injectors! What is the GPM on the stock injectors, I can not find that either!?

I have been trying to gather info for sometime now but not much is out there about this project! I did find one other person do this on a 93, but no info was given, and I am not sure how helpful it would be mine is an 03 anyways.

Thanks in advance for any help guys!

 

[stmitch]

I'm not sure about that kit, but I know the whipple superchargers required 24lbs injectors for an otherwise stock engine. If you have other mods planned, then you may need an even higher rating. I'd guess that the eaton setup is pretty similar. Stock injectors on most newer rangers are 19lbs, flex fuel trucks have 24lbs stock. You will also need a flash tuner like an sct xcal3.

 

[88gt]

uhhh...if you are gonna shell out the dough for a supercharger and intake...why dont you just go for it and put forged internals in there and do it right?

 

[jlucas2]

Internals

Well I found the intake for $450 and the Super from $450 to $600, I have had a ton of problems finding parts for the 3.0L.

Also I have heard the engine can handle a small amount of boost all day stock. I do not plan on jacking the boost up! Plus replacing the internals is a lot more work. But if I do end up needing them where can you get them!?!?!

The super is an M112 supercharger off an 06ish Mustang SVT.

 

[stmitch]

Forged internals and much more can be found @ moranav6racing.com, but none of it is cheap ( I assume thats where you found the manifold anyway). I'd do a compression test on your engine before you throw that supercharger on there. As long as everything checks out, then do it!

 

[lifted4.0]

umm, i hope you are looking at putting the m90 on? not the m112..the m112 is way to much charger for a 3.0

im sure you could run mild boost daily, like 5psi...but

 

[JP02XLT]

You can run more than 5 psi on a good condition 3.0, Mine is a daily driver with a Whipple & I run 16+ psi, with a 2 stage H20/Meth kit. You will need a very good tune & premium fuel (91) or better all the time or it will knock like crazy. I was running close to 20 psi earlier and stretched a rod bolt on an engine that had 110K miles on it, other than not having forged internals, the pistons in the motor that blew was perfect, when the bolt stretched @ 5600 rpm it took out 3 more rods and blew lots of neat holes in the pan, Crank was good, block had some nicks in the cylinders where the rods hit it, but not too bad of shape for what happened. I know the M90 & M112's produce more heat on higher boost so that may limit you on what you run, but I can see no problems at all on 8-10 psi for a well maintained DD.

JP02XLT

 

[Davis]

...with a 2 stage H20/Meth kit.
JP02XLT

DING DING DING! WE HAVE A WINNER!

That right there is the key. You want to make a non-built engine live under high boost condtions, or make a built engine take insane amounts of boost, there are a couple ways to do it. Meth injection is pretty simple and can work miracles for you. Just don't run out of meth in the middle of a WOT run. The other way is running E85, but many parts of the country don't have many E85 pumps.

 

[feellnfroggy]

The meth kit is a definite plus, but your gonna need an intake adapter to mount the m112 or the m90 both. CHeck out 3.8mustang.com and v6power.net Those guys have cnc'ed a few intake adapter to mount the m112 and m90 to the 3.8's. They should be able to whip you up one for the 3.0 You can safely run about 6-8lbs ont he 3.0 But I would stick with the high grade fuel, and the Tune is a def requirement. SCT xcal 3 is a great option. I would also consider porting polishing all the intake runners and the heads, the exhaust ports (matched to the headers just like the intake) and get a valve job at least 3 angle. This will increase airflow prior to adding the supercharger and you wont have to run as much boost for the power. (however, a 3.0 with greater airflow efficiency will run less boost to reach the same horsepower as an unmodifyed 3.0 withthe same supercharger.)

 

[stmitch]

your gonna need an intake adapter to mount the m112 or the m90 both. CHeck out 3.8mustang.com and v6power.net Those guys have cnc'ed a few intake adapter to mount the m112 and m90 to the 3.8's. They should be able to whip you up one for the 3.0.)

Tom Morana offers an intake that allows an m90 or m112 to be bolted to the 3.0. The op posted a link to it in the first post. It's going to be way cheaper to do that, than have one custom cnc'd.

 

[BowTech99]

You dont have to do an all out build. I would do some basics to prolong the life of your motor.

Get some dished forged pistons. Idk how strong the rods are, but if you want to leave them just put some arp rod bolts in to keep from stretching. And while your in there, go ahead and slap some clevite's everywhere. I'd recomend some gapless rings as well to help prevent blow-by. That setup should hold-up great with mild boost.(still unsure on 3.0L rods)

Once thats done, Put that charger on there, as well as some decent injectors, and a bigger maf. I run 60lbs seimens delka, but that might be overkill for you. Get you a sct tuner and get her tuned and hit the road!

Davis is def right, If you dont go in the motor, your gonna need some help keeping detonation to a min. If you have E85 in town, i'd suggest that route. If not, Your gonna need some meth or alcohol. Good Luck

 

[JP02XLT]

They do not make after market rod bolts for the 3.0 rods, I checked with ARP when building this motor I am running now, 2 sets of custom made rod bolts from ARP was $800 - 900, as they are true one off specials, and there was nothing they already built close enough to allow machining of stock rods to accept a stronger bolt. Rods seem decent as for strength, nothing bent in the other motor & it let go at 5500-5600 rpm, by the time I got it shut off it had broke 3 more rods from the shrapnel but they broke near the big end. As for porting, The set of heads I have on here now are huge for a 3.0 & highly polished, I did loose some low end torque, but thats not a big deal when you can set it sideways at 25mph anyway, and what I gained on mid & top end more than make up for the torque loss. So just be careful on your porting, especially if your not going to run 10 psi or more. Porting to exactly match the headers is a bad idea, you need your exhaust ports approximately .035 - .060 smaller diameter in the head than in the header to avoid reversion pulse. We always have that little step, it helps to increase velocity at the exit & it tends to center the flow path towards the center of the header tube, same goes for the upper intake to lower & lower into the heads. As far as the pistons, the stock ford 3.0 slugs seem to have a good thick top section, and a fairly low top ring position, that's what you want for boost or nitrous, They could be al little lighter, just be careful to control the cylinder temps & you should be fine, even with them being cast. I would not put dished pistons in on a street motor, the lower compression will make it a dog anytime your not into boost, I like to run high compression & then control the detonation. An all out race motor is different animal all together. Mine saw 22 psi for a while on the motor that blew, all the pistons looked brand new even after it let go.

As for running out of meth during a wide open run thats not a problem either as the Explorer has a really nice warning light setup on the windshield washer fluid, even with the light on you still have enough for 2 full passes on my nozzles.

If I was going to go the M90 or M112 I would choose the 112 as you could easily adjust the pulley size to lower the boost or run a BOV / bypass & this would help lower your intake temps after the SC, if you go the other way with the 90 & have to spin it harder than stock (smaller pulley) its going to make a ton of heat as you increase the boost. These chargers are well know for that, the Cobra / Lightning crowd likes to dump them for the Whipple, which is a more efficient compressor style. And as was mentioned, as far as porting, valve jobs etc the better job you have the less pressure (boost) will be on the motor & your still making more power due to the increased airflow. As for the MAF, a 4.0 works very well, although I did not have a lot of room left in mine at the 22 psi mark. & if you plan on running E85 plan on tuning for injectors that are approx. 30% larger than if you were running gasoline as that is about the ball park difference in the gas - alcohol, sometimes large injectors can be difficult to tune to idle smoothly.

I personally would like to have one of Tom's stroker motors and add 22-24 psi to it, I bet that thing would just be a little monster.

JP02XLT

 

[BowTech99]

I would not put dished pistons in on a street motor, the lower compression will make it a dog anytime your not into boost

Not a true statement. I run Dished 8-1comp .030 over Wiseco's in my 2.5L @22lbs of boost and Its daily driven with a HX35 Turbo, 60lb injectors, and a 90mm maf. Tuned by SCT On 93oct.

It has plenty of power. 90% of the time I dont even boost it at all. Dont need too. Also I get 25mpg around town. Just my 2cents

 

[JP02XLT]

Sorry BowTech99 I am not knocking your setup at all, but I have seen many low compression motors built for boost and hardly none of them run decent until you add the boost, then they will fly. The only exception I have personally seen is a v-8 that was built on 8.5-1 CR with small valved heads, it was restrictive & never made big HP numbers but the torque out of it with a turbo was pretty good & it spooled & filled in a hurry. Its just been my experience that your better off to use 9.5 to 10.5 CR then deal with the detonation through inter-cooling & timing control, maybe not as good a setup for an all out race motor, but I just think you give up too much torque dropping the CR that much on a street motor. Your running 22 psi, I ran just over 20 on 9.5-1 stock 3.0, so why kill some of the torque, I bet our tunes are really similar as far as timing, are you pulling a little over 1 degree / lb of boost on WOT? Is your setup a manual & do you keep it revved in the power band most of the time, if you lug it do you still have torque to really accelerate, or is it just acceptable & you downshift again to improve it. I was really torn between the V-6 and building a nasty little 4 cyl, but chose the 3.0 in interest of time.

JP02XLT

 

[BowTech99]

Idk About the tuning. JCWracing tuned it. All I did was email him my datalog file and he tuned it from there. Its pretty spot on, but Later on, once my 4wd conversion is done I will have it dyno-tuned.

Its a manual, But I usually shift around 3k. Anymore than that The turbo spools. Don't really need anymore rpms than that. Its gotta plenty of power/torque for driving thru town. Heck, I pass cars all the time and never spool her up. If I'm cruisin and some punk gets beside me and try's to race, I just drop a gear and go.

If It doesn't spin, I'm golden, but if it ever starts to spin you can kiss it goodbye. Rain? Hell it spins at 60mph. That'll pucker your asshole up.

I like the idea of a 3.0 with boost, Especially because its different, just sucks the aftermarket is so small for it. If the 2.5T does good with 38.5" bogger's and one ton, I'll leave her in, if not a 5.0 will get put in.