Completed Project My 98 super charged EX

1998 Explorer 4.0 SOHC
Bought it with a melted alternator/wiring harness from a junkyard for $1,000
Fixed it, drove it for two weeks, then I boosted it.
Started with an M90 supercharger kit from www.Bansheesuperchargerkit.com
Upgraded to an M112 Lightning supercharger that was a prototype kit.
Next was the M122 off a 2012 GT500
I have reached 20 lbs of boost (with ARP head studs) and a 12.83 in a quarter mile.

Pictures
1. How it looked when I brought it home.
2.The M90 supercharger installed
3.The GT500 supercharger installed
4.How it looks now
5.Wheelie

 

[jd4242]

What iat are you seeing?? I forgot you are IC also ontop of w/m

Also you monitor tranny Temps or pressure ?? Id guess that thing is slipping or the convertor is being over powered by now

 

[4pointslow]

My IAT's are about 134F
Thanks for the spark plug "tip". lol Pun intended.

I don't monitor transmission temps on a regular basis.
I have not had problems with the transmission blowing up since I stopped doing 4WD burnouts.
I never rebuilt this transmission, had 104,000 when I brought the truck home from a junkyard.
Broke the two sprag (one way) clutches doing that burnout years ago, replaced the sprags with used ones off eBay and some new gaskets.
No seals or clutches were replaced.

Keep in mind 4.88 gears make it easier to move the truck, that may be what is keeping the trans hanging on for dear life.

The shifting problems I am having are purely tune related.
Installing the 4.88 threw out my entire shift schedule and the rate of acceleration this thing has adds to the problems.
Then there is the rev limiter, spark blow out, wheel spin, and torque reduction on shifts that have added to my confusion.
I know just enough to make small adjustments to try to compensate and get it to shift right but during racing I cant always think straight to see what needs to be done. Too much adrenaline after a WOT run.

Raising the rev limiter to 6500 was something I wanted to do for years but would not change due to how old those valve springs were in my old heads.
New heads and cams have many benefits, springs shouldn't break and the valves are much higher quality than the old stock ones.
I didn't change the shift points yet to shift closer to 6500, but now when I have wheel spin I don't bounce off the rev limiter.
I did lower shift points before and when the temperature changes I have to change them again so I was always chasing them to stop from hitting the rev limiter.
So much better now.

Today I will test out these spark plugs, and if time permits I want to raise the shift points and see what that does.
Wish me luck!
I will be happy if I can drive it home afterwards, Cecil County Drag Way is about 55 miles away.
Well, it is time to get ready....

 

[delexploder]

wish i wasnt so busy today or id shoot up there and watch

 

[4pointslow]

So close to hitting 12.7's but just can't make it.

 

[4pointslow]

12.806 run in 1/4 mile

 

[Dono]

So, correct me if I'm wrong.
You went from 13.5 to 12.8 with the head and cam swap?

12.8 is F'n fast by almost any standard.

 

[4pointslow]

So, correct me if I'm wrong.
You went from 13.5 to 12.8 with the head and cam swap?

12.8 is F'n fast by almost any standard.

Before heads and cams I was able to pull 13.10's on my best day, 13.5's on warmer days.
Since 2015 when I hit 12.827 I have been chasing the 12's but not getting back to them.
That 12.827 was with a 2.5 inch pulley on stock GT500 supercharger and lots of belt slip/other problems.

The overdriven GT500 supercharger cured my belt slip issues since I get the same or more boost with 3.3 inch pulley.
The heads and cams seemed to relieve some restriction which lowers temps some in the combustion chamber.
I got approximately 4 more degrees of advance but may have to remove that during warmer weather anyway.
I was expecting a lot more from just installing heads and cams, so I have to say I am slightly surprised the truck is not faster.

Today I could not get the truck to exceed aprox 6,000 rpms. Stuff in the tune just doesn't seem to work like you would think it would.
I wish I could meet a 5R55E transmission tuning guru and have him show me the ropes.
Still having issues with transmission shifting, that I thought I had all worked out. lol.

I am not done playing with it, tomorrow is Atco Raceway for test and tune!
And my goal is low 12's so I plan to spend more money on this truck until I get there or go broke. lol.

One thing I will say is that the thing held up today.
I drove it about 55 miles to Cecil County Maryland to race, got 11 runs in and drove it about 55 miles home.
This truck owes me nothing.

 

[jd4242]

That trans is what id think is holding you back,but i have no clue honestly. .at the power your making id think a aftermarket convertor,clutches and valve body would be expected. .to me after a certain power level i feel things are just slipping to a certain extent and matter of time till it starts giving all the time..the 4.88s only help sooo much...not to jinx you or anything..lol

I have the 5r55s in the aviator and have done alot of research on it..after all my mods to the trans it turned into a different truck till i blew the motor..lol

 

[4pointslow]

Went to Atco Dragway today, only got three runs in.
At least two cars bounced off the walls, one did a 360.
Then there were at least two cars that dirtied up the track with fluids.
Spent so much time in line waiting for track clean up I called it quits at 2:00pm.
Almost forgot it was Sunday and I have to work tomorrow, the morning shift too which means get up at 3:30am.

Anyway I pulled some timing out while I was screwing around with some transmission settings.
First two runs I had wheel spin which caused the shifts to happen later and some of the strange data in the log.
See the first two pictures below. Look at the bogus RPM readings.
The third run I changed a transmission fill time setting for the 2-3 shift.
Unfortunately there was no wheel spin off the line so I don't know if I really fixed it or not.
I was going to run the same tune again but never got to.
Might have one or two more weekends to go testing if the tracks open and the weather holds up.

 

[Dono]

do you think you are hitting the limits of the factory pcm (sampling frequency, etc.), or just very strange anomalies that happen from time to time as we screw with things?

The track sounds like it was super slick today. too bad. ****ty about the guys loosing it in to the rails, bad day for them for sure. Not fun for the guy that looses his bodily fluids all over the track, and not fun for everyone else that gets to wait for cleanup. I think I'd rather be the guy waiting for the cleanup than the offender. Either way, it sucks.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I think I'd rather be the guy waiting for the cleanup than the offender. Either way, it sucks.

we speak with experience when he says this to!

 

[boominXplorer]

I'm sure you launch in 4wd auto but do you do any burnout in staging? Like doing the brown wire mod to heat up the rear tires?

 

[4pointslow]

Not hitting the factory limits of the PCM but that is a good question.
There is definitely something in the tune doing it. Check out this screenshot picture, look at the rpm at the top of the table and compare it to the middle data logger picture above.
This is what clued me in to it being something the PCM is doing on purpose.
The problem is I have that limiter shut off by having all 1's in the right column.

 

[4pointslow]

I'm sure you launch in 4wd auto but do you do any burnout in staging? Like doing the brown wire mod to heat up the rear tires?

No burnouts, I broke both sprag clutches in 2014(if I recall correctly) doing a 4 wheel burn out.
I lost Drive and D1 but was able to drive it home by starting out in D2 which is third gear in the 5R55E.
I got a used gut pack (pump to rear drum) off eBay and some new gaskets and it has been holding up to my beatings ever since.
But no burn outs anymore. lol.
Also while I am thinking about it the front wheels were the ones breaking loose at Atco, I knew right away because the front of the truck went to the right a little on the launch. I had to steer a little to the left.
The track was cold and slippery that day and I may have misadjusted my traction bars by a half turn on one side too.

 

[4pointslow]

So in that middle picture I think the PCM is pissed because the shift did not occur yet and it was set to 50 MPH in the shift schedule.
The MPH is reading 61-62 mph in both screenshots that have that "fake" rpm reading in them.
That is 10 mph past where it should have completed the shift by(50mph).

I am assuming that the shift schedule numbers are when the shift has to happen by, if anyone has any other idea's on that let me know.
When I look at desired gear and commanded gear they are nowhere near what is in my shift schedule but I thought I used to see the transmission shift to the next gear by the time it hit what was in the shift schedule way back when before it got this fast.

 

[4pointslow]

No brown wire mod either, it causes high speed shearing of the clutch in the transfercase if you do high speed burnouts(with rear wheels only).

 

[4pointslow]

Here is the run for that middle data log screen shot.
Check out the pull to the right off the line.
It felt rough between the 2-3 shift.

 

[CDW6212R]

No brown wire mod either, it causes high speed shearing of the clutch in the transfercase if you do high speed burnouts(with rear wheels only).

I've wondered what the best practice is to use the A4WD transfer cases. The V8 guys almost all have the manual TC, and I'm going with the TOD version. That should be very similar to how your BW4405 functions.

 

[delexploder]

it is exactly the same and thats probably what killed mine and why after being the only V8 two door with a 4406 e shift i swapped in a manual 4406

 

[boominXplorer]

Do you launch in 4x4 high or 4x4 auto? I would think if you keep it in auto it might act funny on hard takeoff. The bcm has to use pcm and abs inputs to control the tod clutch. Now that your to the highly modified / incredibly fast point for the 20 year old system it might start causing glitches. I'd definitely try running it both ways and compare 60fts.