Edelbrock E-force Owner's thread and FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

[B T]

Originally Posted by toast

Any Arduino programming experts out there?

It's not too difficult to learn, just have to have time to tinker with it. I like your idea though, a pressure transducer and servo should work well to control it.

[B T]

Originally Posted by StraightOuttaCanadaEh

That's basically what's pushing me towards the turbo. I hear fuel consumption tends to run higher with an SC. I drive a lot so the difference would definitely be felt

Fuel consumption isn't the issue so much as a heavier foot enjoying the fun. I can still get close to 30mpg on a flat interstate, I've seen almost 40 cruising at 55 mph.

[toast]

Originally Posted by Kodename47

It's not VTA. It's still under vacuum. It's also the same way it's done on the OEM intake setup.

Ok, I incorrectly phrased my question. I get that both will get sucked into the engine.

The PCV side gets sucked in after the air is metered, the driver side gets sucked in before the air is metered. In the PCV side the ECU is taking credit for already having measured that air, on the other side it is treating that air as normal intake. I don't understand why.

[toast]

Originally Posted by B T

Fuel consumption isn't the issue so much as a heavier foot enjoying the fun. I can still get close to 30mpg on a flat interstate, I've seen almost 40 cruising at 55 mph.

I just reset my average when I got on the highway today heading in to work. At 73 mph my average is 32 mpg.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

Originally Posted by B T

Fuel consumption isn't the issue so much as a heavier foot enjoying the fun. I can still get close to 30mpg on a flat interstate, I've seen almost 40 cruising at 55 mph.

that's good. I keep bouncing between turbo and the edelbrock cause of s/c people *in general* saying they see higher fuel consumption cause of the parasitic nature of the s/c. Then there's the "I make more power at a lower psi with a turbo" shpeel. Sigh.. I don't know anymore. If the turbo was thrashy, that would have sealed the s/c for me, but people say the power is linear and some are hard-pressed to tell the difference. I was dead set on the Edelbrock but slowly shifted onto JDL turbo. Now you're making me re-think for the 35th time. Because it's such a huge expense (in canadian dollars anyway), it's a choice I'd rather make once.

[B T]

I'd say your much less likely to blow your stock engine with boost being linear and low at low RPM, that's why I went with the edelbrock setup. A turbo would be quicker, but you've got to balance your budget with your hp needs. I do several track days every year and the only issue I've ever had was it blew the seam welds on my stock header. Stop and go traffic does see a an increase in fuel consumption, but I would think a turbo will as well. I've gone as low as 23MPG average in cities.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

Originally Posted by B T

I'd say your much less likely to blow your stock engine with boost being linear and low at low RPM, that's why I went with the edelbrock setup. A turbo would be quicker, but you've got to balance your budget with your hp needs. I do several track days every year and the only issue I've ever had was it blew the seam welds on my stock header. Stop and go traffic does see a an increase in fuel consumption, but I would think a turbo will as well. I've gone as low as 23MPG average in cities.

I'm not really concerned with speed. I think even on the stock tune the Edelbrock will give me more power than I need. I just don't want the fuel consumption to bankrupt me haha

[toast]

Edelbrock sent me a new vacuum actuator. Tested it on the bench, holds well up to idle vacuum (whereas he original unit holds vacuum until 5 in Hg and the starts to drop at anything higher). Installed it on the car, and then checked it again at the back of the connected line and had a slow leak.

So for everyone out there, I would recommend removing the Edelbrock hose from the manifold to the actuator and replacing it with 5mm silicone line (the included line is 6.35mm rubber). I'm not sure why the directions to tell you to hose clamp everything under the hood and then they include a line that is not clamped on either end AND is so large that it easily slides on and off the nipples.

After I did all this I did a log cruising on the highway. My LTFT were pegged at 21% from driving around with a vacuum leak and now my STFT were -21% to compensate. I did a reset to start over and everything runs much better.

I should point out all of this occurred at a level that I couldn't hear a leak and I didn't throw a code. It doesn't take much of a leak to screw things up.

[Mr_Eyo]

Originally Posted by toast

Edelbrock sent me a new vacuum actuator. Tested it on the bench, holds well up to idle vacuum (whereas he original unit holds vacuum until 5 in Hg and the starts to drop at anything higher). Installed it on the car, and then checked it again at the back of the connected line and had a slow leak.

So for everyone out there, I would recommend removing the Edelbrock hose from the manifold to the actuator and replacing it with 5mm silicone line (the included line is 6.35mm rubber). I'm not sure why the directions to tell you to hose clamp everything under the hood and then they include a line that is not clamped on either end AND is so large that it easily slides on and off the nipples.

After I did all this I did a log cruising on the highway. My LTFT were pegged at 21% from driving around with a vacuum leak and now my STFT were -21% to compensate. I did a reset to start over and everything runs much better.

I should point out all of this occurred at a level that I couldn't hear a leak and I didn't throw a code. It doesn't take much of a leak to screw things up.

Did the car idle high while in gear and 0 accelerator pedal? I just got my kit installed and I think my bypass valve is faulty too. I got to 11 mph and 1800 RPM idling in first gear.

[toast]

My leak was small enough that my idle was not much higher than normal. The car would very slightly stumble when accelerating under very light throttle.

[Demolitionist]

Originally Posted by toast

Put me down as a record for fastest bypass valve failure. On my third tank of gas and the car is very unhappy when cold. Been flashing map updates from Zach so it is hard to separate a new flash deadband vs a real problem. Put my mityvac on the line that goes to the bypass valve - less than 5 in of Hg the vacuum holds. But as soon as it goes above six and the valve starts to move it drops like a rock.

Hey toast, do you know how much that bypass valve can hold without risking rupturing the diaphragm? Being that the manifold should be under 8 to 9 PSI of vacuum at idle, I'd think the bypass valve could hold 9 PSI/~18 inHg of vacuum. I'd like to fully test the valve, but I'm afraid of pushing it before verifying my line of thinking.

[toast]

Originally Posted by Demolitionist

Hey toast, do you know how much that bypass valve can hold without risking rupturing the diaphragm? Being that the manifold should be under 8 to 9 PSI of vacuum at idle, I'd think the bypass valve could hold 9 PSI/~18 inHg of vacuum. I'd like to fully test the valve, but I'm afraid of pushing it before verifying my line of thinking.

Letting off the throttle fully while at high revs will hit high 20's of in Hg so it has to be able to handle that. Why do you want to go very high? If it isn't leaking at idle vacuum that is all that matters.

[Demolitionist]

Originally Posted by toast

Letting off the throttle fully while at high revs will hit high 20's of in Hg so it has to be able to handle that. Why do you want to go very high? If it isn't leaking at idle vacuum that is all that matters.

Perfect. Thanks for the response! I haven't even tested it to idle vacuum levels yet because I was afraid of going too high. The system is brand new and I'm not very experienced with FI system troubleshooting. I'm just going to test it to around 18 inHg since that's where it would be sitting at idle and that's where I'm having trouble.

[toast]

What kind of 'trouble'? Are you using the Edelbrock tune or did you go with Delicious?

I found that after each Delicious update the car still ran like garbage for a few days when trying to smoothly leave a stop. I felt like I was learning to drive all over again because the dead pedal that occurs after a reset gets compounded by the fact that the instant you go a little too far with the throttle the bypass valve starts to open and the power ramps up very fast. In my case it takes about 4-5 days of daily driving before all the learning fills in the various trouble spots from 1500-3000 rpm. Zach said that the 13-14 manual cars were the worst for the dead pedal as well.