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

[ArrrBussiere]

Hey ya'll, so quick backstory: I bought a 2013 BRZ off a friend and 3 weeks later another friend totaled it. I am now in the market for another one and found one in Reno, NV that I am going to be picking up next weekend. Never bought a car sight unseen before but the dude has been super helpful and answered all my questions and sent videos too.

It has the Edelbrock supercharger kit on it, so I had him check the bypass valve by pinching the hose - no change so we know it is still good. He says the car runs and drives flawlessly with zero issues, I do have some (terrible quality) videos to support that claim. The one thing that is kinda throwing me is in the video where he shows pinching the hose, there seems to be a lot of engine tick? Idk if it's just me or if that's the way these sound with the supercharger or if I'm just being a nervous nelly..

Anyways - super excited to be back into a BRZ and even one that has the supercharger! I have spent hours on this thread already reading through everything and preparing myself for ownership

[MaxTurbo]

Originally Posted by ArrrBussiere

Hey ya'll, so quick backstory: I bought a 2013 BRZ off a friend and 3 weeks later another friend totaled it. I am now in the market for another one and found one in Reno, NV that I am going to be picking up next weekend. Never bought a car sight unseen before but the dude has been super helpful and answered all my questions and sent videos too.

It has the Edelbrock supercharger kit on it, so I had him check the bypass valve by pinching the hose - no change so we know it is still good. He says the car runs and drives flawlessly with zero issues, I do have some (terrible quality) videos to support that claim. The one thing that is kinda throwing me is in the video where he shows pinching the hose, there seems to be a lot of engine tick? Idk if it's just me or if that's the way these sound with the supercharger or if I'm just being a nervous nelly..

Anyways - super excited to be back into a BRZ and even one that has the supercharger! I have spent hours on this thread already reading through everything and preparing myself for ownership

I could be wrong, but sounds pretty normal to me. The ticking is probably the DI pump.

[AKITA]

Originally Posted by ArrrBussiere

The one thing that is kinda throwing me is in the video where he shows pinching the hose, there seems to be a lot of engine tick? Idk if it's just me or if that's the way these sound with the supercharger or if I'm just being a nervous nelly..

Anyways - super excited to be back into a BRZ and even one that has the supercharger! I have spent hours on this thread already reading through everything and preparing myself for ownership

Sounds like the HPFP crickets.. high press fuel pump.. pretty normal if so. My 2016 doesn't seem to suffer from it as bad although it's there subtley.. don't know why that is. If I were buying a used EB SC FT 86 hmm... total miles on/off SC, clutch installed (miles), cruise and WOT logs not older than a couple months, like the BV check ya'll did.. ( I did a 69 corvette unseen once, won't ever buy unseen again cause it's just tough to make an educated choice but you seem to have good comm with seller and it's not a 1969 vehicle either.. 2013 did have some of the most issues so might want to research those and ask seller about em. )

[Z06ZN6]

Originally Posted by BR-ZED

Heh! I wish. E85 is hard to come by here... I used to live in the SW / midwest where it was prevalent... here, in MD, not so much. There is one station, I think, that has it, but it is way out of my way. So I'm sort of on the fence. I was thinking of writing a letter to the owner of the local gas station to request them to carry it lol....

Are you on the stock engine, and if so, what mods/power do you have with E85? Not sure I want to build the motor. Plan to do auto-x and hopefully some track days, but I don't think an engine build will be in my budget for this car any time soon...


EDIT: this post prompted me to search for E85 near me, it seems the station I was thinking about no longer has it :-( A bunch of stations that seem to be state owned seem to have it, but doubt us "regular" people can buy from there. Wish it was more prevalent...

That makes me thankful to have a few E85 stations reasonably close. I do have to go a little out of my way to get to one but no more than 10-15 minutes. Since more e85 is required and the refuelling intervals shrink, I mitigate the need for going back and forth by filling up four extra 5 gallon containers while I am at the pump. I basically get three fill ups every time I go. Its a little bit of extra work once but I go only once a month now instead of almost once a week. I dont think I would want the e85 sitting longer than that otherwise I would get more.

My 86 is my daily driver. I road raced another platform for 15 years (I dont race anymore) but if I were going to put my 86 on the track, it would only be for fun and I would likely reduce power by lowering the ethanol content as a precaution to preserve the engine and transmission. That's one of the beauties of flex fuel. There's no sense in pushing a daily at the assumed limits for one or two track days whereas otherwise it may live a long life on the street at the higher power level. I would just take it somewhere that suited its inherent abilities rather than a big power track where the reduction in power would be frustrating.

Anyhow, my engine and trans are otherwise stock. On the DT dyno on E65 the stock SC made up to 350rw through the automatic using their FF kit, DW700cc injectors, DW300c pump, an FT86SF catted UEL, an HKS spec L cat back, trans cooler and 4.30 gears. E85 was responsible for 60-70 of that hp as measured on the dyno. I am very happy with the power at this level. With a modified suspension and good tires, the platform is extremely capable and could definitely make use more power, but for my use, and for the ease in which it got here, its not worth anymore effort or cost. If something does let go, that's ok with me. Then I will use the effort to rebuild with more power.

[BR-ZED]

Originally Posted by Z06ZN6

That makes me thankful to have a few E85 stations reasonably close. I do have to go a little out of my way to get to one but no more than 10-15 minutes. Since more e85 is required and the refuelling intervals shrink, I mitigate the need for going back and forth by filling up four extra 5 gallon containers while I am at the pump. I basically get three fill ups every time I go. Its a little bit of extra work once but I go only once a month now instead of almost once a week. I dont think I would want the e85 sitting longer than that otherwise I would get more.

My 86 is my daily driver. I road raced another platform for 15 years (I dont race anymore) but if I were going to put my 86 on the track, it would only be for fun and I would likely reduce power by lowering the ethanol content as a precaution to preserve the engine and transmission. That's one of the beauties of flex fuel. There's no sense in pushing a daily at the assumed limits for one or two track days whereas otherwise it may live a long life on the street at the higher power level. I would just take it somewhere that suited its inherent abilities rather than a big power track where the reduction in power would be frustrating.

Anyhow, my engine and trans are otherwise stock. On the DT dyno on E65 the stock SC made up to 350rw through the automatic using their FF kit, DW700cc injectors, DW300c pump, an FT86SF catted UEL, an HKS spec L cat back, trans cooler and 4.30 gears. E85 was responsible for 60-70 of that hp as measured on the dyno. I am very happy with the power at this level. With a modified suspension and good tires, the platform is extremely capable and could definitely make use more power, but for my use, and for the ease in which it got here, its not worth anymore effort or cost. If something does let go, that's ok with me. Then I will use the effort to rebuild with more power.

Those are all really good ideas. Especially with filling up extra containers + running a fuel mixture to "detune" the car for track events.

I looked again, and maybe I was wrong. Tried a different site and see a few options now that may work. However, this site pops up addresses, but doesn't seem to show prices... I searched one of the addresses and it was a house... hmm ok. Another one was indeed a gas station that appears to have e85, and is reasonably close, so I may be in luck! Will need to scope it out.

https://e85prices.com/e85map

I will probably wait a year or two to make the next jump though. Going to enjoy the basekit for a while. And with so many of our autocrosses cancelled (covid) it may take a while till I actually get to try this kit out behind the wheel at an autox as it is.

[Z06ZN6]

Lol... we had a supplier for my work that ran out of a house in the middle of the desert. They used to leave the product in a post box in the middle of nowhere.

Out here in California I use this site. They have an app too but I've never used it.
https://pearsonfuels.com/e85-gas-stations/

[BR-ZED]

Originally Posted by Z06ZN6

Lol... we had a supplier for my work that ran out of a house in the middle of the desert. They used to leave the product in a post box in the middle of nowhere.

Out here in California I use this site. They have an app too but I've never used it.
https://pearsonfuels.com/e85-gas-stations/

Taking like that makes you sound like Walter White...lol

[MaxTurbo]

Is this something common? I bought it early this year (although it has the old bypass valve). This is 2017+ compatible. The runners on one side are considerable more offset that the others. I've installed it and it works fine. I'd shoot an email to Edelbrock, but first want to check if they are just made like this.

[rixon]

Originally Posted by BR-ZED

Those are all really good ideas. Especially with filling up extra containers + running a fuel mixture to "detune" the car for track events.

I looked again, and maybe I was wrong. Tried a different site and see a few options now that may work. However, this site pops up addresses, but doesn't seem to show prices... I searched one of the addresses and it was a house... hmm ok. Another one was indeed a gas station that appears to have e85, and is reasonably close, so I may be in luck! Will need to scope it out.

https://e85prices.com/e85map

I will probably wait a year or two to make the next jump though. Going to enjoy the basekit for a while. And with so many of our autocrosses cancelled (covid) it may take a while till I actually get to try this kit out behind the wheel at an autox as it is.

I'm from Maryland and there was a lot more E85 stations around before but E85 got a bad rep. and most stations dropped it.


People were putting E85 in non E85 cars because it was cheaper. The nozzles fit both and people ignored the Yellow pump handles and the notices on the pumps. Word was the E85 would destroy your motor which it could if you put it in non E85 motors.


Also MPG's were abysmal on E85. I had a friend who tried it and he said he got 40% lower MPG. I think in reality it's closer to 30% but the price differential didn't make up for the low MPG's. He also said the vehicle ran poorly in the Winter when cold. I think there was an issue with converting from E85 to something like E65 in Winter with some of the local fuel suppliers.


I once talked to a guy servicing one of the pumps at a station near me and he only bad things to say about it. He said that converting a pump to E85 entailed the same amount of work when the conversion to E10/15 occurred. He said the pumps can't handle E85 and would need to be converted and delivery of E85 was a pain due to the need for special tankers with the mid grade(89) gasoline tanks being replace with E85.


So I don't think the availability of E85 in Maryland going increase anytime soon.

[ArrrBussiere]

Originally Posted by MaxTurbo

I could be wrong, but sounds pretty normal to me. The ticking is probably the DI pump.

You could be right. I don't remember my 2013 having this much ticking but it was N/A and it could just be the mic from the camera picking it up waaaay more than normal too?

Originally Posted by AKITA

Sounds like the HPFP crickets.. high press fuel pump.. pretty normal if so. My 2016 doesn't seem to suffer from it as bad although it's there subtley.. don't know why that is. If I were buying a used EB SC FT 86 hmm... total miles on/off SC, clutch installed (miles), cruise and WOT logs not older than a couple months, like the BV check ya'll did.. ( I did a 69 corvette unseen once, won't ever buy unseen again cause it's just tough to make an educated choice but you seem to have good comm with seller and it's not a 1969 vehicle either.. 2013 did have some of the most issues so might want to research those and ask seller about em. )

It does have stock fuel pump and injectors - nothing has been changed in the fuel delivery department so I have been debating throwing in a DW300 w/ 700cc injectors. it is a 2014 so it doesn't have the issues that 2013's did in the tail-happy department and the J02 recall department either, making me much more confident in the car. The seller has been awesome, constant communication and lots of videos, pictures, everything. 88,500 miles, SC was installed @ 70k miles so almost 20k on the SC. Stock clutch but holds strong, he says it runs and drives amazingly, and I guess me being me I have no reason NOT to trust him, even though with today's world I should probably be the opposite I just like to assume everyone is as honest as I am

[toast]

If it is stock except for the kit you definitely do not need bigger injectors. I had headers on mine and still have plenty of fueling left.

The edelbrock units also add their own mechanical symphony. Mine made a ticking like that at idle that seemed to come from the air getting chopped up and then amplified by intake. The noise was loudest in front of the air filter. Nothing sounds unusual to me.

[Decep]

Sounds as rickety and clattery as any run of the mill fa20.

[ArrrBussiere]

Originally Posted by toast

If it is stock except for the kit you definitely do not need bigger injectors. I had headers on mine and still have plenty of fueling left.

The edelbrock units also add their own mechanical symphony. Mine made a ticking like that at idle that seemed to come from the air getting chopped up and then amplified by intake. The noise was loudest in front of the air filter. Nothing sounds unusual to me.

Originally Posted by Decep

Sounds as rickety and clattery as any run of the mill fa20.

Ballersauce - thanks, everyone! I go pick up the car this weekend and I am SOOO stoked

Side note - does anyone run the JR rad/oil cooler combo? If the car is going to be mainly a DD and spirited weekend driver but little to no track, is it worth the high price or is stock going to be just fine?

[MaxTurbo]

Originally Posted by ArrrBussiere

Ballersauce - thanks, everyone! I go pick up the car this weekend and I am SOOO stoked

Side note - does anyone run the JR rad/oil cooler combo? If the car is going to be mainly a DD and spirited weekend driver but little to no track, is it worth the high price or is stock going to be just fine?

Highly recommend. The oil in these engines runs hot driving on the highway even stock. Add FI and it'll be hotter. I use the dual rad and I'm happy with it. Many other people do as well with this Supercharger. I wish I could still use the standalone A2O cooler from JR without a lot of customization for track driving. I still have it around and will make it work. Then I'll sell the dual rad. But until then I'm loving it.