New Vortech Maxflow Blow-Off Valve Upgrade for FT86 Supercharging Systems

[v1ru5]

Originally Posted by Sniper2606

Thats one hefty price tag considering we put out $4k on the system....

It's butt dyno proven to add 500whp and makes you grow a beard on your beard

[utekineir]

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by F1point4

It mostly bothers me that it whistles all the time around 2.5-3k RPM.

Dats only in the morning. You should be up cookin breakfast by then. The Vortech Maxflow goes woooooooo woooooooo.

[ft86me]

i am no way shape or form liable for any damage you do from trying this stuff! this is my trial and error process and don't guarantee that the same results will be replicated

alright everybody, if you follow me on instagram, you saw that I installed the blow off valve today. Took about an hour due to the perrin oil cooler and my jdm/edm headlights. I have no under panel due to extensive cusco bracing for my chasis so that made things easier. so i have some insight for you guys in regards to the whistle.

With talking to @Rick@Vortech for about two or three days about the blow off and the whistle, it seems adjusting the stud is not a bad idea. I adjusted it before installing and while waiting for my car to come back to me over the course of two weeks. what did i do? gave the adjustment stud two and a half rotations with a ratchet wrench and installed it today. If you saw my post on IG, it sounds awesome. driving, another story.

was driving home and GODDAMN THIS THING IS LOUD! it sounds great, BUT not my taste. Why? from 3k or so it's a pretty damn good whistle and very loud "pshh" noise. the 2.5-3k whistle isn't as bad but still there. Anytime you let off the gas even slightly, it'll make a loud whistle/"pshh" . this is most likely because I tightened it. Taking it up high, it made a very loud whistle followed by a pshh. Saw a cop and COULD NOT make this thing quiet down unless I pushed the clutch in LOL!

Got home and got underneath the piping hot car and due to having no under panels i was able to adjust the blow off valve without taking it off with a ratchet wrench and sockets and universal extensions. I became curious as to what @F1point4 was experiencing and decided loosen the blow off again to what it was before. Took her for a drive and now i understand how loud it can be and the whistle at 2k to 3k. It's VERY loud. Sounds freakin awesome, but not me.

Got home again, did another adjustment. Tightened two rotations and left the half out, took her for a drive. Still the same as the first. Very loud whistle when about to let off the gas lightly with a pshh. audible whistle from 3k and very loud discharge noise all the time.

Got home, did another adjustment. Tighetened down another turn and a half. This would equal 3 and a half turns. so three full 360 turns and a 180 turn. took her for a drive. The thing REALLY quieted down and NO WHISTLE but a constant "pshh". let off and it's a nice pshh. it's a louder version of the bypass valve, very loud. Nice clean "pshh" BUUUUUUT!!! when going up to 4 or 5k and letting off, there is a loud initial whistle followed by a "pshh" that doesn't drag out. when taking it up higher to red, it's just a solid whistle like the ssqv but louder but it doesn't drag out like pshhhhhh. it's a whistle then quiets down real quick. and this is due to the spring being tight.

Got home and decided this is where I want to be with the valve since the other settings, the discharge was too loud and the loud whistle from 2.5 to 3k was not me. 3 full 360 degree rotations along with a 180 degree. The valve is probably pretty tight, but the whistle isn't there and from anywhere up to 3.5k is a initial whistle and a "pshh". anything above 4k is a whistle then pshh. up closer to red is a solid whistle like the ssqv but different of course. Love it! Why the whistle when blowing off? Answer is the spring is tight. If it was loose, it would make the whoosh and pshh that everyone is having up high. But when in lower rpm, around like 2 to 3.5 ish, it's a nice whoosh. Wish it would do this up high too. Due to the trade off I'm sticking with this setting.

So there it is. trial and error and this is what I discovered. I only hope that I am not hurting the blower. I don't hear surge and at 6hg the valve was designed to open so I should be good. It's just fine tuning now.

so recap:
2 and a half turns = 2-3.5 whistle is not really there but discharge is super loud and anytime you barely get on the gas the whistle emerges. crusiing at 55 is loud as hell. letting off and blowing off = whistle then pshhh.

stock = same as f1point4 and other vids you have seen. very loud discharge but pshh noise with minimal whistle while blowing off.

3 and a half turns - 4 turns = characteristics of louder bypass valve. MUCH LOUDER and tasteful. let off around 2 to 3.5 and the blowoff makes a nice whoosh. a louder version of the bypass, but different and sexy. take it up to 4 or higher the whistle becomes louder as does the pshh. take it up to red = straight whistle that doesn't drag out and quiets down very quickly. I imagine this is due to the resistance in the spring. I'm not fond of the pure whistle and would wish that it still would make the whoosh noise at red, but i had to sacrifice that in order to keep the regular discharge and cruising whistle to a minimum and bearable.

again I would hope I'm not hurting the blower, but i don't hear compressor surge and the valve is set to open at 6hg so I should be good! i think vortech may be looking at a solution for a new spring perhaps to keep the volumes down while cruising but giving the nice whoosh when blowing off. eyes peeled and hope this comes out in the near future. I'd be very interested in minimal cruising noise with the loud whoosh under load and up high.

Hope this helps!

[F1point4]

Thanks for the info mate, I had a quick question. You said you were able to adjust it on the car. Great!

I didn't read that you held down the bolt using an Allen Key tool while you tightened the nut. did you?

Thanks again, I may give this a shot after I do some more research.

[ft86me]

Originally Posted by F1point4

Thanks for the info mate, I had a quick question. You said you were able to adjust it on the car. Great!

I didn't read that you held down the bolt using an Allen Key tool while you tightened the nut. did you?

Thanks again, I may give this a shot after I do some more research.

Ya man! just jack up the car on the left, and IF you don't have any under panels like me the blow off will be in your face when under the car of course farther up.

I did not hold the bolt down. Merely loosened the nut, then put a 3/16 allen key in the hole for the adjustment stud, then did the rotations then re-tightened the nut! then drive and see how you like it.

not a problem dude! hope this helps and from what rick said, this i safe to do until they come out with a solution which would be a new spring.

[jcat5150]

I'm just going to leave this here:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqBB5BBFubA"]The whistles go WOOO WOOO! (Original) - YouTube[/ame]

[ft_sjo]

Best in mind that whistle also means unfiltered air is being drawn into the engine.

[DJCarbine]

Originally Posted by ft_sjo

Best in mind that whistle also means unfiltered air is being drawn into the engine.

With the supercharger, air is never drawn into the bpv... it vents constantly at idle/cruise/anything except WOT when it is closed

As I understand it, a supercharger by design always flows more air than the engine needs at any given point in operation, which means "boost" when the BPV is closed and the engine is the air restriction

[ft_sjo]

Put a plastic bag over the valve to prove or disprove your theory.

[DJCarbine]

Originally Posted by ft_sjo

Put a plastic bag over the valve to prove or disprove your theory.

Its not my theory, but I was curious anyways when I swapped my plastic BPV for a turbosmart unit.... latex glove with a finger cut out and a ziptie proves it.

You don't even need the latex glove/plastic bag, because you can feel the air being expelled (a rather decent amount) if you just put your hand over the unit.

At any given RPM you will have boost if you close the valve, which tells me that there is always an excess of air that will be vented unless you are WOT and the valve closes, producing boost in the charge pipes

[ft86me]

So after going on the freeway the adjustment is no bueno. When you apply some gas at 4k it makes a Verrryyy loud whistle like a "come here " whistle.

Got home and tried to adjust it down some more by tightening it and it makes a whistle sound at blowing off similar to an ssqv and extremely loud whistle at 4k but very quiet normal cruising. Im going back to the bypass valve that came w the kit in the next few days. I'm not feeling the blow off.

[DJCarbine]

Originally Posted by ft86me

So after going on the freeway the adjustment is no bueno. When you apply some gas at 4k it makes a Verrryyy loud whistle like a "come here " whistle.

Got home and tried to adjust it down some more by tightening it and it makes a whistle sound at blowing off similar to an ssqv and extremely loud whistle at 4k but very quiet normal cruising. Im going back to the bypass valve that came w the kit in the next few days. I'm not feeling the blow off.

Although I did just drop some more cash on fuel pump/injectors and a new pulley, if you decide to sell it just shoot me a PM with your asking price + shipping and I will seriously consider it (much to the dismay of my bank account)

[F1point4]

Fun times?

Studying

I propped up the GoPro to get a picture of what the car is doing with respect to vacuum at different throttle positions. Wanted to learn when the BOV opens and closes at the current setting and figure out what I can set it to, to help with the whistling.

I have the AEM Failsafe which shows boost on the outer LED ring, and AFR as a digital number. With respect to boost the AEM Failsafe boost gauge has hash marks at 0" Hg, 10" Hg, 20" Hg, and 30" Hg. The actual precision marked by the LED display isn't very precise. I may have to convert the digital display to show boost to get a finer measurement. The LED light that shows you how much boost really just shows.

0" Hg
between 0" and 10" Hg
Between 10" and 20" Hg
Between 20" and 30" Hg
30" Hg


Vortech says the valve opens at 6" Hg. I'm not sure if this means fully open or starts to open. I notice the valve is closed (or almost closed) when the gauge shows between 0-10" Hg. I think its not fully closed, but the whistling/loud whoosing is all gone. I also notice to achieve <10" Hg you'll be accelerating; it is definitely more than just maintaining speed.

When the gauge reads 10-20" Hg, that's more like maintaining speed and the valve is pretty much open.

I don't really hear a big difference between 10-20" Hg and 20-30" Hg. I think the valve is fully open before 20" Hg.

I think the goal for many is to eliminate the whistling when cruising. So the valve needs to be adjusted to be in between 10 and 20" Hg. I'll probably have to get my computer and change the digital AFR readout to show boost instead and hope I can get some better precision.

Yeah adjusting it that tight may increase the risk of compressor surge. Most likely @Rick@Vortech will have the data to tell us which values are safe. I don't want the valve to stay closed except for full vacuum (letting off the gas altogether), just to keep it closed(?) longer so it doesn't whistle.

Skip to 8:40 to see some 3rd gear pulls. I think i'm making about 8lb of boost at 7000RPM when I shift.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8pMRA-lDDs"]Boost/AFR readout in different situations: GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition - YouTube[/ame]