- First Name
- Brian
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2020
- Threads
- 20
- Messages
- 2,718
- Reaction score
- 6,240
- Location
- Wisconsin USA
- Vehicle(s)
- 1990 Bronco eddie bauer
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
- Thread starter
- #1
So I never really was a "turbo guy". Alot of the "boy racer" mods are kinda foreign to me being a youth of the late muscle car era, but I see alot of this stuff on customer's cars, and generally when I ask how it works, they tell me "IDK I bought it that way". Now that I am the original owner of a turbo, it's an opportunity for me to learn. The 1st mod that came to my mind after a mild tune (FP), was water/methanol injection. Mustang 2.3 guys use it, should work just fine on a Bronco then I would think! Where to start? Well a quick search shows Snow Performance is about the biggest producer of kits, and since I know exactly dick, an off the shelf kit is probably best to start? After alot of reading about various features I decided I wanted a single stage, progressive controller, and to run direct off my washer bottle. Snow's "stage 2.5" kit w/braided hoses seemed to fit the bill. Its a universal kit, which is fine. They do make 2.3 specific kits for Mustang, which likely work on Bronco as well, but I just don't need to get that fancy. 1st thing I had to do was roughly figure out my overall layout, cause the hoses are the length they are, can't really change them. Could order different lengths of course, but I was sure I could make it work as it came. Directions said best place for the injection nozzle is about 6" or closer upstream of the throttle body. There's conveniently a hard plastic elbow right there which houses the factory boost sensor, and has a nipple for the pcv hose. I simply removed it, drilled and tapped a hole 1/8NPT and installed the nozzle, 90deg nozzle block, check valve, and AN-4 adapter all in one shot, clocked so the hose could sit right along the intake manifold. Then checked the fit, and pulled it off again to drill and tap the same size hole at its 1 o'clock for the boost sensor (this kit uses it's own boost sensor)
Once I was sure where the pressure hose would end, I could figure out exact placement of the pump. Directions said best to mount it at or below the source tank for reliable feeding, so w/RF wheel and wheelhouse removed i started looking at the passenger side firewall, under the coolant bottle, directly inboard of the washer bottle. I settled on this arrangement:
Pressure hose reached perfectly, and w/the one supplied 90deg AN adapter on the feed side i was all set up to run the shorter hose to the washer bottle...something like this was my thinking:
So, add this to the "wierd $hit i have done" file now...drilling and tapping the bottom of a washer bottle? I guess!
They send you some kinda special thread sealer w/the kit, and I used a whole bunch on that fitting...I figure there is no way its not gonna leak. But so far so good! If there's a blue puddle in the driveway in the AM then "wah wah". Plumbing done, on to wiring...but wait? Where do I put the controller? I didn't think to order a "gauge pod" or whatever...maybe my local speed shop has something? Well nothing specific to Bronco for sure, but I got a simple gauge bracket that I can stick on the dash w/double stick tape, till I figure a prettier solution.
With the drivers grab handle and trim removed, the wires tuck pretty neatly through that little hole, and the grab handle keeps em there once reinstalled. Just had to fish more wires through my already crowded firewall grommet. I will spare you all the resulting wad of butt connectors...but at least they are well hidden! For the boost sensor wiring i used some trailer light wiring, and peeled the green wire off:
Then just power and ground. I wanted it to run off an aux switch, and the only one capable of handling the amperage demands of the pump is aux 1...and my light bar was on aux 1, so I moved it to aux 3, and blew the fuse, then a bigger fuse, and now finally it works again, but the feed wire coming from the PDC box gets a little warm. Hey Ford? These upfitter switches are a great idea, but more amperage PLEASE! What in the actual F am I gonna do w/3x 5A circuits? I'm not gonna charge my phone w/a upfitter switch, or power a radar detector. Upfits require POWER! End rant...moving on...wiring is always the biggest PITA of these "universal" deals, and this one is no exception...I am not very proud of how it's wired, but it works, and its no worse than what the alarm/remote start hacks out there do...most of my butchery is well concealed...so good enough, on to test and tune. The kit came w/2 nozzles marked 4 and 6. The directions weren't very clear as to what the stamping meant, but I assume 4=4GPH and 6=6GPH...hope I am right. I looked up they're chart online, and assuming roughly 300hp w/FP tune, and max boost of 20-25 psi works out to 6.05 GPH. I have never seen 25 on the boost gauge, but I can hit 20 easy on hard accel, and 21-22 if I really hammer down...so 6 sounded like the right choice. The progressive controller allows you to set the boost point it starts to inject at minimum pump duty cycle, and the boost psi which it will reach 100%. I started at 10/20 just to see if the system worked at all. I filled the washer bottle to the tippy top w/just plain old -20 blue washer fluid (which the directions say is acceptable, I will try "boost juice" later for max performance, but wana know how it will work on readily available stuff), and took it out for a spin...making sure to do some hard accel. Well it drank some juice, so must be working! Then I adjusted tip in to 7 psi, and max to 17, and took it out and hammered down in 2nd...wow! 21psi in 2nd gear! Never before possible! The computer must be learning it. I tried 6 psi tip in, but didn't really notice any improvement, then 8 psi tip in, and that was about as good as 7, so why waste the juice I figure? All in at 17 seemed to be the sweet spot for heavy accel, and I had zero bogging or misfires, so I think I'm good...will continue to play w/it, and try 50/50 mix for best performance, but glad it runs ok on regular off the shelf stuff!
Once I was sure where the pressure hose would end, I could figure out exact placement of the pump. Directions said best to mount it at or below the source tank for reliable feeding, so w/RF wheel and wheelhouse removed i started looking at the passenger side firewall, under the coolant bottle, directly inboard of the washer bottle. I settled on this arrangement:
Pressure hose reached perfectly, and w/the one supplied 90deg AN adapter on the feed side i was all set up to run the shorter hose to the washer bottle...something like this was my thinking:
So, add this to the "wierd $hit i have done" file now...drilling and tapping the bottom of a washer bottle? I guess!
They send you some kinda special thread sealer w/the kit, and I used a whole bunch on that fitting...I figure there is no way its not gonna leak. But so far so good! If there's a blue puddle in the driveway in the AM then "wah wah". Plumbing done, on to wiring...but wait? Where do I put the controller? I didn't think to order a "gauge pod" or whatever...maybe my local speed shop has something? Well nothing specific to Bronco for sure, but I got a simple gauge bracket that I can stick on the dash w/double stick tape, till I figure a prettier solution.
With the drivers grab handle and trim removed, the wires tuck pretty neatly through that little hole, and the grab handle keeps em there once reinstalled. Just had to fish more wires through my already crowded firewall grommet. I will spare you all the resulting wad of butt connectors...but at least they are well hidden! For the boost sensor wiring i used some trailer light wiring, and peeled the green wire off:
Then just power and ground. I wanted it to run off an aux switch, and the only one capable of handling the amperage demands of the pump is aux 1...and my light bar was on aux 1, so I moved it to aux 3, and blew the fuse, then a bigger fuse, and now finally it works again, but the feed wire coming from the PDC box gets a little warm. Hey Ford? These upfitter switches are a great idea, but more amperage PLEASE! What in the actual F am I gonna do w/3x 5A circuits? I'm not gonna charge my phone w/a upfitter switch, or power a radar detector. Upfits require POWER! End rant...moving on...wiring is always the biggest PITA of these "universal" deals, and this one is no exception...I am not very proud of how it's wired, but it works, and its no worse than what the alarm/remote start hacks out there do...most of my butchery is well concealed...so good enough, on to test and tune. The kit came w/2 nozzles marked 4 and 6. The directions weren't very clear as to what the stamping meant, but I assume 4=4GPH and 6=6GPH...hope I am right. I looked up they're chart online, and assuming roughly 300hp w/FP tune, and max boost of 20-25 psi works out to 6.05 GPH. I have never seen 25 on the boost gauge, but I can hit 20 easy on hard accel, and 21-22 if I really hammer down...so 6 sounded like the right choice. The progressive controller allows you to set the boost point it starts to inject at minimum pump duty cycle, and the boost psi which it will reach 100%. I started at 10/20 just to see if the system worked at all. I filled the washer bottle to the tippy top w/just plain old -20 blue washer fluid (which the directions say is acceptable, I will try "boost juice" later for max performance, but wana know how it will work on readily available stuff), and took it out for a spin...making sure to do some hard accel. Well it drank some juice, so must be working! Then I adjusted tip in to 7 psi, and max to 17, and took it out and hammered down in 2nd...wow! 21psi in 2nd gear! Never before possible! The computer must be learning it. I tried 6 psi tip in, but didn't really notice any improvement, then 8 psi tip in, and that was about as good as 7, so why waste the juice I figure? All in at 17 seemed to be the sweet spot for heavy accel, and I had zero bogging or misfires, so I think I'm good...will continue to play w/it, and try 50/50 mix for best performance, but glad it runs ok on regular off the shelf stuff!
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