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

[Pgh_Area]

Originally Posted by BirdTRD

You wouldn't happen to have a part # would you?

Sorry, it was a custom 1 off previous owner had made

[Hurricane Nate]

Relatively new poster here, been lurking for quite a while. I read this entire thread before pulling the trigger and getting the Edlebrock SC kit for my 20 BRZ through CSG. I'm very happy with how things went. Install was completed about a month ago, and driving bliss has ensued.

It took me about two days to do the install, but that also included the Jackson Racing DROC. I did the Etune option with Zach, and I have to say, that process worked out quite nicely.

My observations: The install manual is quite detailed, and I only had one hiccup during the whole process, which was completely my fault. When reconnecting the alternator, the install manual talks about clocking the top connector on the alternator so it fits under the intake, but doesn't mention the voltage lead, which fits directly under the SC. I didn't connect it in a timely manner, so I had to partially undo some of my work, right when I was ready to button things up. Mocking from coworkers ensued for being a bonehead.
Observations continued: The bracket for the intercooler reservoir needed a slight trim to fit correctly. Overall the install process was pretty smooth. I did everything in rented garage space so that if I needed help, certified mechanics were on hand to get things on track. The certified mechanics weren't needed.

Doing the Etune with Zach took about a week and half, but the car runs great, and without actually putting the car on a Dyno, he thought I was getting at least 280whp (not a direct quote from Zach, but my interpretation of his words). So glad I got this through CSG cause they have been great throughout the whole process.

The SC kit is my first mod on the BRZ, now I gotta get some stickier tires.

[BrahmaBull1990]

Originally Posted by Hurricane Nate

Relatively new poster here, been lurking for quite a while. I read this entire thread before pulling the trigger and getting the Edlebrock SC kit for my 20 BRZ through CSG. I'm very happy with how things went. Install was completed about a month ago, and driving bliss has ensued.

It took me about two days to do the install, but that also included the Jackson Racing DROC. I did the Etune option with Zach, and I have to say, that process worked out quite nicely.

My observations: The install manual is quite detailed, and I only had one hiccup during the whole process, which was completely my fault. When reconnecting the alternator, the install manual talks about clocking the top connector on the alternator so it fits under the intake, but doesn't mention the voltage lead, which fits directly under the SC. I didn't connect it in a timely manner, so I had to partially undo some of my work, right when I was ready to button things up. Mocking from coworkers ensued for being a bonehead.
Observations continued: The bracket for the intercooler reservoir needed a slight trim to fit correctly. Overall the install process was pretty smooth. I did everything in rented garage space so that if I needed help, certified mechanics were on hand to get things on track. The certified mechanics weren't needed.

Doing the Etune with Zach took about a week and half, but the car runs great, and without actually putting the car on a Dyno, he thought I was getting at least 280whp (not a direct quote from Zach, but my interpretation of his words). So glad I got this through CSG cause they have been great throughout the whole process.

The SC kit is my first mod on the BRZ, now I gotta get some stickier tires.

Congrats! This seems to be a very straightforward kit - I am very excited to get my car back after the install this week. CSG seems to be the place for parts, so I will be placing my order for the JR DROC soon.

Did you have any exhaust mods or FF prior to the install? 280 whp is impressive!

[Hurricane Nate]

Originally Posted by BrahmaBull1990

Congrats! This seems to be a very straightforward kit - I am very excited to get my car back after the install this week. CSG seems to be the place for parts, so I will be placing my order for the JR DROC soon.

Did you have any exhaust mods or FF prior to the install? 280 whp is impressive!

Install was completed on stock BRZ, though I'm planning for FF to be in my future. It'll probably be a while till I can do that, as the wife is unlikely to agree on further mods any time soon.

[BrahmaBull1990]

Originally Posted by Hurricane Nate

Install was completed on stock BRZ, though I'm planning for FF to be in my future. It'll probably be a while till I can do that, as the wife is unlikely to agree on further mods any time soon.

Going FI isn't cheap, so I fully respect the timeline. My car is a 2020, too, so longevity is (or the pursuit of) is very important.

Keep us updated!

[Hurricane Nate]

So I had an interesting failure mode on the Edelbrock kit today. I heard a rhythmic ticking that was related engine speed, but much slower than engine speed. I kept driving, home was only 15 ish miles away, and it got worse as I went. So I pulled checked under the hood, and saw that a rib on the serpentine belt, closest to the engine, had broken and was separating from the rest of the belt, and was essentially flogging anything close by the belt with 6 inches of ribbing. I was able to cut away the flogging rib and drive home without further incident. Fortunately I won’t be driving the BRZ for a couple weeks (vacay!!!) so I have plenty of time to get a replacement.

Should I see if Edelbrock will replace the serpentine belt?

I was doing some spirited driving earlier today, and I’m wondering if that may have contributed, but I’ve only had the supercharger in for about 1000 miles, and that seems pretty early for serpentine belt failure. Could their be some misalignment in the pulleys that is causing abnormal wear? To be fair as well, I didn’t conduct a careful examination of the belt before I put it on the car.

If there is misalignment, how would I detect it?

Obviously I won’t be driving the BRZ again until I get a new belt, but wasn’t planning driving it again for the next two weeks anyway, so plenty of time to get a new belt ordered and shipped before I get back

Is there a belt that anyone recommends? Thinking about just getting the Continental one since it’s available at the local Autozone

[Z06ZN6]

Sounds like pulley misalignment. A few have had this issue so I was careful to line everything up and have had no issues so far in >10kmiles. I just used some straight edges across the pulley faces to make sure the blower pulley wasn't cocked and a caliper to check the position relative to the other pulleys before final torqueing down the blower. That said, I still carry a spare belt in the trunk as well the tool to replace it from day one of the supercharger install. At this point though I am beyond the point of expecting an issue other than normal wear and tear. I just got the continental one also.

[Hurricane Nate]

Hmmm, I guess I’ll take a look at the sc pulley, alternator, and additional idler as those are the only ones I messed with during the install.

[Swolzee]

After much waffling and debating I have joined the eForce community. My kit just arrived last week my induction box was scratched up which I'm trying to figure out if I should go through the manufacturer or the retailer to exchange/replace. Elsewise everything seems good and I'll be ready to install shortly.

I have browsed through much of the content on here but being that there's so much I'm sure I've missed a great deal.

Thanks to BR-ZED's video that illustrated the two-bolt versus three-bolt design of the BPV I determined mine did come with the replacement.

I'm installing on a 2013 MT. Just through my cursory reading it seems there's a lot of adjustments and DIY going on. My question is what are the things that I should be looking to do or avoid?

[aKaGorganZola]

Originally Posted by Swolzee

I'm installing on a 2013 MT. Just through my cursory reading it seems there's a lot of adjustments and DIY going on. My question is what are the things that I should be looking to do or avoid?

Welcome to the club!
Imo the hardest part of the install was getting my giant mitts in a spot to get the rear hoses clamped at the back of the charger. Biggest thing i think I saw on here was too watch out for the intake gaskets when setting the unit down. I used some nice tacky gasket lube/sealant and didn't have any issues even having to remove the unit once to track down a broken wire.
Other than that just take your time have a couple cold snacks and get ready to have a blast when it's tuned up! Good luck man!

[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by Hurricane Nate

So I had an interesting failure mode on the Edelbrock kit today. I heard a rhythmic ticking that was related engine speed, but much slower than engine speed. I kept driving, home was only 15 ish miles away, and it got worse as I went. So I pulled checked under the hood, and saw that a rib on the serpentine belt, closest to the engine, had broken and was separating from the rest of the belt, and was essentially flogging anything close by the belt with 6 inches of ribbing. I was able to cut away the flogging rib and drive home without further incident. Fortunately I won’t be driving the BRZ for a couple weeks (vacay!!!) so I have plenty of time to get a replacement.

Should I see if Edelbrock will replace the serpentine belt?

I was doing some spirited driving earlier today, and I’m wondering if that may have contributed, but I’ve only had the supercharger in for about 1000 miles, and that seems pretty early for serpentine belt failure. Could their be some misalignment in the pulleys that is causing abnormal wear? To be fair as well, I didn’t conduct a careful examination of the belt before I put it on the car.

If there is misalignment, how would I detect it?

Obviously I won’t be driving the BRZ again until I get a new belt, but wasn’t planning driving it again for the next two weeks anyway, so plenty of time to get a new belt ordered and shipped before I get back

Is there a belt that anyone recommends? Thinking about just getting the Continental one since it’s available at the local Autozone

I second the idea to always have a spare belt at home or in the car (like the other poster mentioned).

[scotty228]

Is it very expensive to say retune a brz with an edelbrock kit from say 92 to 91 or 92 to 93?

[aKaGorganZola]

Originally Posted by scotty228

Is it very expensive to say retune a brz with an edelbrock kit from say 92 to 91 or 92 to 93?

Depends on your tuner. I think delicious charges $150 for a tune update. Fyi if you're going up in octane you don't need a tune. You'll be leaving the marginal gains from 1 octane on the table but it will just be extra safe on the current tune

[Jerr]

Guess here is a good a place as any to write an install lessons learned review!

I purchased the Edelbrock Kit, a JR DROC, radium dual catch cans, and ecutek/e-tune from CSG like many others here. The install took me 4 days (where a few days were cut short due to various issues/stores being closed) but the instructions were fairly nice and detailed.

Some tips for those looking to get this setup:

1. You will need 3 gallons of subie blue coolant total. I only bought 2 and it wasn't near enough, which put me back a day since dealerships were closed already.

2. Buy 4x of several sizes each of worm clamps from your local auto parts store. 1", 1.5", and 2" should do the trick. There are 3 places of note where getting a clamp tool in there is very difficult, much blood was spilled and many words were had. If you care to know, these places are:

-Between the firewall and supercharger, hose clamping the IC lines. I tried for 30 minutes and couldn't get the tool around the ones Edelbrock provides. 2x 2" hose clamps later and I was in business.

-Between the front crash bar and the radiator stack, clamping the upper LTR line. This one isn't totally necessary but will just be easier to get to later with a worm clamp.

-The two PCV lines on the supercharger nose itself. Kinda a squeeze to get the ones that come with the Edelbrock kit in there, the worms were just easier and look nicer IMO.

3. The instructions call for a rivet nut tool, and honestly you don't need one. They don't tell you until you get to that step, but all they want you to do with it is relocate your external DRL resistor. I have an FRS and disconnected my DRL circuit in favor of some LED ones I wired myself, so I just took the whole resistor out since it wasn't connected to anything. They use that screw hole to mount the additional water pump for the IC. If you have DRLs and want to keep the resistor thing, a drill, a self-tapper bolt and some common sense are all you need here.

4. You will want to stop the Edelbrock instructions and start installing the Dual Radiator Oil Cooler right at the step where Edelbrock wants you to put their radiator on your AC condenser. Mount that AFTER you've done the DROC drop-in. Oh, and be careful not to force any AC lines. It's tight but it all fits, just look at the side holes where things should eventually mount, and the trick is that the AC condenser line goes to the right, then up left over top of the DROC upper oil line. The images show it on the next page in the Jackson instructions (sort of) but a video is badly needed IMO.

5. Get a proper AN fitting adjustable wrench and a 27mm deep socket. Yes, you need them if you want to torque the DROC sandwich plate and fittings properly to prevent leaks.

6. Get a big tube of SuperLube silicone lubricating grease. It was kinda a pain to find locally, but online should be easy enough. Rub it nice and thick on the intake runner gaskets and on the metal faces that will make contact when you lower the supercharger in place.

7. Pay attention to where and how coolant lines, PCV lines, and wiring is routed where the supercharger nose will sit before you lower the supercharger in place. I wish the instructions would have had me route the final piece of wiring while the supercharger was still off the car; it's a split connector running from the intake over to the ECU and driver's side runner. If I had any tips here, it would be to keep all of your wiring running to the nose "together" and routing it out and above the AC compressor where Edelbrock has a nice little bracket to ziptie to. Bonus points if you can get some high temp shielding to run everything in, there are about 6 connectors going to that area. MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS PLUGGED IN. I may have missed it somewhere but I saw my AC compressor ground line still unplugged towards the final steps.

8. Get a spare serp belt of the same brand and part number that comes with the Edelbrock and keep it in your tool kit in your car along with a 14mm wrench and a small screwdriver. It's cheap insurance saving you from a $500 tow if you ever shred one. Mine also came with a warranty.

9. Get yourself one of those bright-ass battery hood lights from Harbor Freight. They're like 35 dollars and will make your life a lot easier.

10. Take it slow and read everything twice. One missed 5 minute step can lead to hours of head scratching and disassembly.

EDIT TO ADD INFORMATION ON RADIUM DUAL CATCH CAN INSTALL

So after a couple days I finally got around to putting the catch cans on. I decided to do a small writeup since I didn't see one for this boosted application. There is no way to know this until you start testing hose routing, but you will need additional parts if you have an Edelbrock kit. These instructions assume the Edelbrock install is already complete. Order yourself these or equivalent:

Napa Auto Parts
Heater Hose Connectors - 1/2 In. X 3/8 In. Connector - Plastic
Part #: NOE 6601661

Any Auto Parts Store
Worm hose clamps 1", x6 (these are just nice to have in general, buy a bunch)

The kit comes with a 1/2 x 1/2 extender which you will also use.

Instructions:
1. Proceed with the radium catch can install until you get to the point where both cans are mounted and the barbs are fitted on the tops and sides. I ordered two petcock kits, but honestly I would just get one since I didn't use one on the driver's side. The can on that side is easier to just remove and empty than try to fiddle with a hose and bottle under the car or in the bay. MAKE SURE YOU USE THE SMALLER TOP ELBOW FITTING ON THE PASSENGER SIDE CAN. There are videos about this but they show the incorrect install before correcting it halfway through the video. When putting hoses on barbs, use some engine oil to lubricate the barbs. Seriously, you will make mistakes and have to redo hoses, make your future life easer by making them easy to remove.

2. Leave the passenger side Edelbrock PCV hose connected to the bottom (third) barb on the supercharger. Reach under the supercharger manifold on the passenger side and disconnect the passenger PCV hose on this end. Leave this hose loose somewhere accessible. Take off the stock hose clamp. Seriously, it sucks to get to with pliers.

3. Route some 3/8" hose (the smaller hose that comes with the Radium kit) from this PCV barb on the engine to the passenger side top elbow port on the catch can. Secure the hose to the engine barb with a worm clamp mentioned above. Follow radium's instructions on cutting to length, installing their AN fitting, etc. This will be the only small elbow + AN fitting in the kit.

4. Connect the 1/2" hose (the bigger hose that comes with the kit, use the shorter length hose since it comes with two) via the 1/2 to 3/8" adapter we ordered above, to the Edelbrock passenger PCV line we left loose from step 1. Secure both hoses to that adapter with each a worm clamp that I mentioned. Follow radium's instructions on cutting to length, installing their AN fitting, etc when connecting it to the side of the passenger catch can.

5. Disconnect the driver's side PCV hose from the Edelbrock air filter box. It's the only hose plugged into the back right side of this box. It's kinda a pain to separate if you did not lubricate it before. Toss out the factory clamp, it won't fit right over the new 1/2" hose from Radium. You may need to remove your oil filter for a moment to disconnect (but KEEP) the nice "bracket clamp" holding the hose in place, right next to the AC compressor. Wihtout disconnecting it from the engine, route this hose back under the supercharger manifold and towards the drivers side catch can. You'll notice it's a bit short and won't make it to the top fitting just yet. Make sure there are no kinks in the hose by checking under the supercharger manifold with a flashlight.

6. Connect a 1/2" hose (you should have some spare hose from the short length from step 4, use the portion you cut off) via the 1/2 to 1/2" adapter that came with Radium's kit, to the Edelbrock driver's side PCV line we left loose from step 5. Secure both hoses to that adapter with each a worm clamp that I mentioned. DO NOT CUT THIS LINE TOO SHORT, THE WHOLE HOSE SHOULD MAKE AN "S" SHAPE AROUND THE SUPERCHARGER MANIFOLD AND AROUND THE BRAKE RESERVIOR. When at rest, the hose should touch neither of these. Follow radium's instructions on cutting to length, installing their AN fitting, etc when connecting it to the top of the driver's catch can.

7. Route the really long 1/2" hose you have remaining from the PCV barb on the Edelbrock air filter box, over the right side of the AC compressor where the bracket held the old hose, under the supercharger manifold, and back towards the driver's side catch can. Connect the hose to the barb on the air filter box with a worm clamp, lubricating the barb with oil. Reattach the bracket that held the hose in place from step 5. Reinstall oil filter.

8. Follow radium's instructions on cutting to length, installing their AN fitting, etc when connecting it to the side of the driver's catch can. DO NOT CUT THIS LINE TOO SHORT, THE WHOLE HOSE SHOULD MAKE AN "S" SHAPE AROUND THE SUPERCHARGER MANIFOLD AND AROUND THE BRAKE RESERVIOR. When at rest, the hose should touch neither of these.

9. You do not need hose clamps on any of the barbs that attach to the catch cans themselves, per Radium.

10. Tighten (hand tight, the fitting will still rotate freely) the silver hex head holding the top fittings on both catch cans in place. You now have catch cans, woo.

Hope these tips help someone out, they certainly would have helped me!