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Sprintex Supercharger Install

74K views 268 replies 33 participants last post by  CobraMarty 
#1 · (Edited)
I just finished installing a Sprintex supercharger with Hypertech programmer in my 2007 JKU. For the benefit of others who will be installing this upgrade, here are my experiences and suggestions, over and above the installation instructions, that will help with a smoother install. Unless you've done several of these installs before give yourself 2 days to complete the work, not the 4-6 hours stated in the instructions.

Big thanks go to Tight wad who had installed this unit before me and gave me a lot of good suggestions.

Here's a pic of the SC unit in the box:


NOTE: Updated 6/10/2013.
Although not written anywhere in the installation instructions, I'm going to tell you that a transmission cooler for JKs with automatic transmission IS REQUIRED. I overheated and fried my transmission in less than 200 miles. After replacing my entire transmission I added Aeroforce Interceptor gauges and found that my transmission temperature was right around 200f in city driving averaging 40-45mph. Way too high! I added a PSC transmission cooler and transmission temperatures dropped approximately 60 degrees. The same test drive that had my temps at 200f produced a trans temp of 140f with a transmission cooler.

Suggestion - You will need to run high octane (min 91 octane) fuel with this unit, so make sure you have premium gasoline in your tank before you install the unit.

I highly recommend that you buy new breather hoses. You will need to modify them for the install and having new hoses will make things MUCH easier and head off performance problems that I had. I wound up replacing mine after the install with new ones.

Your plastic conduit that surrounds wiring around the top of the engine may be in bad shape and disintegrating. Buy some of this from your local auto parts store and replace it as you find it. I bought several feet of the 2 smallest sizes and still have plenty left.

This is also a good time to replace your PCV valve, since you will have easy access to it. Removing the old PCV valve can be difficult and I destroyed mine getting it out. Replace it, don't plan on inspecting and re-installing the old one.

Buy a new EGR tube gasket. This is the gasket that mates the EGR tube coming off the SC to the EGR valve. Mine fell apart when I removed the stock EGR tube. Do not attempt to use RTV here in place of a new gasket as it will leak.

The installation instructions will mention several tools that you will need. I already have a massive selection of tools, but here are a couple that you may not have that I'll mention here to make the job easier:

Fuel line disconnect tool:



1/4 inch drive universal joint:


Long handled 5mm hex wrench. There is a bolt under the SC that is a PITA to install. I screwed mine down with a hex wrench. If I ever have to do it again I will make my own ratcheting 5mm wrench from a small flex head ratcheting wrench with a 5mm hex bit welded into the ratcheting end. It took me an hour to screw this one bolt in. You will also not be able to torque it to recommended specs because there is no way to get a torque wrench on it.

Read and re-read all of the instructions until your are familiar with the tear down and installation before you begin work.

If you have a tuner (I had Superchips Premium tune installed) currently installed you need to set your vehicle back to STOCK at this point.

The tear down goes relatively smoothly. I recommend labeling all parts removed/unplugged.

Here are a few tear down pics:




 
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6
#2 · (Edited)
Spintex Supercharger install continued

The installation instructions state that you can optionally remove the battery side inner fender liner to make installation easier. DO IT. I can't imagine doing the install without removal. Get used to removing the inner fender liner on the battery side. This is the only way (and very easy way) that you will gain access to the spark plugs on this side of the engine after the SC is installed.

Remove your alternator and sit it out of the way. I can't imagine how they think you're going to get the valve cover off without doing this.

Although not stated in the installation instructions, it is a good idea to replace your spark plugs with STOCK spec plugs at this time.

You will need to seperate the throttle body plug from the fuel injector wiring harness. Take your time with this and make sure that you get at least the recommended length.

Test fit the SC to your intake with a helper. Go slow and don't slide it around, you can damage the intake O-rings if not careful. You may find that you have problems getting the SC to lay flat because wiring under it sits too high. Remove the SC unit and slowly and carefully work with the wiring to reposition until you get clearance needed.

I had problems fitting my stock throttle body to the SC intake and had to file the bottom of the TB so it would mate up with the SC. If you need to do this I recommend applying a thin film of silicone grease to the TB mating surface and pressing it up to the SC intake by hand, then check to insure that the O-ring is making complete contact before installing.

The installation instructions omit when to use the Blue med strength thread locker. I used it on all valve cover and SC to intake bolts.

The installation instructions omit installation of the new MAP sensor that is included with the unit. Install it carefully after you have the SC bolted onto the intake. Apply a thin layer of silicone grease to the O ring and gently install into the SC unit. I had MAJOR issues after my install with performance and found that the extremely delicate O ring had torn when I installed it.

After you've finished installing everything check to insure that there aren't any hoses or wires contacting the exhaust manifold heat shields. If you find any reposition them.

The SC unit comes with the oil in it. I checked mine just to make sure it had the proper amount of oil in it. Better safe than sorry.

Before you install the Supercharger tune with the Hypertech unit you should make sure that you have the latest firmware installed by updating it via the web. Go to the web URL listed in your installation instructions.

Many people seem to get confused installing the tuning with the Hypertech unit. After you have selected the Supercharger tuning you must step through the menu and select INSTALL TUNING to get the changes updated.

Test drive your vehicle and take it easy. During the first 3 key cycles your PCM is re-learning. I'm giving mine a few days before I do any fine tuning.

My Jeep feels like a totally different vehicle now. The only issue that I need to work out is a small lag in the throttle from a stop to about 10 mph. There are throttle sensitivity adjustments via the Hypertech unit that can be adjusted to deal with this. I'm going to give my Jeep a few days before playing around with these settings. Both Sprintex and Hypertech support are excellent and eager to help me out with fine tuning. I have had several calls from each asking me how it's going. IMO support is top notch.

All installed!


Video of first start up running (with torn MAP sensor O ring):
Sprintex super charger Jeep JK - YouTube
 
#7 ·
I considered the RIPP unit before I selected the Sprintex. The Sprintex was on sale for $2999 and I wasn't going to pass it up.

The Sprintex installation seems much more invasive that the RIPP, but I'll be able to judge that better after I help my buddy install his RIPP unit this weekend.

As far as performance goes, I'll need to drive both kinds to judge that. I can tell you that the Sprintex power increase is very noticible right off idle.
 
#8 · (Edited)
First of all, I have no experience with the Sprintex Supercharger. So, I'm not getting into the performance differences of Sprintex vs RIPP.

I installed a RIPP SC with the intercooler on mine over a year ago. Looking at the installation of the Sprintex, very good write-up btw, the Sprintex IS more invasive than the RIPP SC.

The RIPP SC only requires you to remove the intake plenum to intall new fuel injectors and remove the air filter box. No alternator or valve cover removal.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Update:

After driving for a few days I have the time today to tune out the throttle lag. I've found that from 0-5mph there is a dead spot in the throttle that I can't tune out.

I'm currently working with Hypertech to resolve the issue. The tech had me set my PCM back to stock and then attempt to re-install the supercharger tune. Re-application of the SC tune appears to be causing problems. I took my JK out for a short spin around the block set back to stock and was shocked that the throttle problem was gone and power felt like my old 2000 Z28 Camaro. The tech assured me that when we get the SC tune installed properly the performance will be even better. I'm waiting for a call from Hypertech so I can download/upload my tuner info and get this show back on the road.

Stay tuned.....
 
#20 ·
Update:

I heard from Hypertech today and was told that with their tuning removed from the Jeep I should be getting no errors/codes, and therefore there must be a problem with the supercharger unit or install. I get 2 codes when set to stock, indicating Barometeric pressure out of range/too low and torque out of range. They recommended I speak with Sprintex.

Talked to the Sprintex tech who indicated that the error codes I was getting with the vehicle set to stock were to be expected since the MAP sensor is designed to work only with the SC and there is a lot more torque being output. I was told to re-install the Hypertech tune, which I did. The annoying dead spot/lag in the throttle from 0-5mph is back. The tech told be he believes that the Hypertech tune is being installed properly without errors and the lag is due to a PCM safeguard, I guess to prevent sudden acceleration. The tech also told me that the Diablo tuner is much more flexible and can override/tune-out these safeguards.

I have found a thread on another Jeep forum where many people have complained of the exact same lag I am experiencing. I want to give the Hypertech guys a fair shot at fixing the problem, but will be trying the Diablo unit if this is "as good as it gets" with the Hypertech unit.
 
#22 ·
Update:
I have found a thread on another Jeep forum where many people have complained of the exact same lag I am experiencing. I want to give the Hypertech guys a fair shot at fixing the problem, but will be trying the Diablo unit if this is "as good as it gets" with the Hypertech unit.
With Diablo, you will have to find a tuner who will do a custom tune for you...unless Sprintex has a secondary tune for Diablo.
 
#21 ·
just went through something like 47 pages of posts on the other forum. the guy they were working with has been working individually with the guys on there to work out their tuning issues on the diablo tuners. happy people as it progresses.

one thing that had me wondering... dont know about the hypertech tuner, but the diablo has the sprintbooster feature built in. i wonder if that was enabled in the tunes and was contributing.....

anyway.
hypertech "should" be able to adjust it out for you.
 
#24 ·
Hypertech believes that the unit I have now is not applying the tuning properly and is sending me a replacement unit next week.

I have also decided to get a Diablo inTune unit which should be arriving next week.

Hopefully the replacement Hypertech unit will apply the tune properly and the lag with be gone.

My plans are to run each brand for a week and then compare results.
 
#25 ·
Received replacement Hypertech programmer this morning and installed the tuning. The throttle dead spot is now gone! :bounce:

I'm going to run it for a week to get the feel of things and then will try the Diablo inTune programmer for comparison.
 
#26 ·
The hypertech programmer is able to get updates online. Have you downloaded any updates yet? Also, thanks for the writeup. I read it a couple of times before installing my SC and it was very helpful.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Update.

I got the dreaded HOT OIL light on a drive a few days ago. I've never had it come on until now.

I was driving on the x way at 70mph into a 40mph headwind. Cruise control on and Jeep rarely needed to shift out of OD. Prior to adding the SC my Jeep would have stayed in 3rd.

Prior to the HOT OIL light I got check engine error codes indicating wrong gear ratio for 4th gear and failure to lock up torque converter. Clutch started slipping HOT OIL came on and I pulled onto shoulder to let it cool. Limped a mile to next exit and let it cool down for another 45 min. Went for a short drive to check things out and trans kept slipping in 3rd gear. The PCM then forced the Jeep into limp mode where I was stuck driving 2.5 hours home on back roads in 2nd gear.

Drove the Jeep straight to the only shop I trust to work on it.
Verdict is that the clutch slipping along with 104k miles with 37in tires had caused a lot of wear and the trans needs to be replaced.

My 2007 was one the the first batch of JKs that was produced and according to my mechanic several upgrades and improvements to the tranny have been made since then. I will be getting these improvements with the new trans.

I am also having the shop add a PSC tranny cooler. When I get the Jeep back next week I am adding Aeroforce Interceptor gauges so I can monitor trans fluid temps and shift out of OD if the temps start to rise.

I am also having the shop add a Dynomax cat back exhaust while its in there.

So what have I learned from this?

The additional power and torque of a SC will quickly expose any weakness in the tranny.

I highly recommend a trans cooler and guage to monitor temp along with any SC install on an auto tranny.

The HOT OIL light will not always prevent damage from occurring.
 
#29 ·
All types of problems

I bought an 07 Sahara that the previous owner must have just had a sprintex supercharger installed. He said it was tuned when the charger was installed. The problems I am having are the transmission no longer has the right shift points so it stays in the low gears forever. The other problem is the fuel line from the tank has now popped off the main fuel connection twice. From there I put a better hose clamp on and bought a new diablo.
Well I got the tuner and went through RPM extreme for my supercharger tune. It has not gone well. The first tune I recived had really a really high shift point for 2nd and then virtually skipped third and jumped to fourth. Then I got a check engine light because going up hills it would stay in second and rev to 5K then it started bucking. I read the code and it was multiple cylinder missfire. So I disconnected the terminal as instructed and touched the positive to the negative to drain residual power, that did nothing, it was about undrivable. I talked to John and he sent me another tune. So I put about 75 miles on the Jeep with the new tune. It still chuggs going down the highway with cruise on. The shift points are allot better. The other problems I am having with the tune is when I let completely off the gas it jumps idle from 800 to 1000 then to 600 then back to 800. If I stop completely it will calm down. I tried the slow acceleration and it acts like the throttle position sensor is bad because between 2500 and 3000 RPM it pulls and lets off like its shifting but its not. The super charger whines and then calms down and then starts again so to say the least its jerky. I hold stedy on the throttle and it can't seem to figure out what I am doing. From whatever I originally had it shifts better but has more overall drivabilty issues. Has anyone ever seen anyone with this many issues?
 
#30 · (Edited)
I bought an 07 Sahara that the previous owner must have just had a sprintex supercharger installed. He said it was tuned when the charger was installed. The problems I am having are the transmission no longer has the right shift points so it stays in the low gears forever. The other problem is the fuel line from the tank has now popped off the main fuel connection twice. From there I put a better hose clamp on and bought a new diablo.
Well I got the tuner and went through RPM extreme for my supercharger tune. It has not gone well. The first tune I recived had really a really high shift point for 2nd and then virtually skipped third and jumped to fourth. Then I got a check engine light because going up hills it would stay in second and rev to 5K then it started bucking. I read the code and it was multiple cylinder missfire. So I disconnected the terminal as instructed and touched the positive to the negative to drain residual power, that did nothing, it was about undrivable. I talked to John and he sent me another tune. So I put about 75 miles on the Jeep with the new tune. It still chuggs going down the highway with cruise on. The shift points are allot better. The other problems I am having with the tune is when I let completely off the gas it jumps idle from 800 to 1000 then to 600 then back to 800. If I stop completely it will calm down. I tried the slow acceleration and it acts like the throttle position sensor is bad because between 2500 and 3000 RPM it pulls and lets off like its shifting but its not. The super charger whines and then calms down and then starts again so to say the least its jerky. I hold stedy on the throttle and it can't seem to figure out what I am doing. From whatever I originally had it shifts better but has more overall drivabilty issues. Has anyone ever seen anyone with this many issues?
Before you do anything else with the tuning you need to check the following things on the supercharger install. Based upon you having the fuel line pop twice I have my reservations on whether the following things were installed correctly:

First check for vacuum leaks that can cause many of the problems you have listed.

I had severe bucking and erratic idle when my O ring on the MAP sensor was torn. Remove the sensor and check the integrity of the o ring. It's located on the driver side of the SC. Apply silicone grease to the o ring and reinstall if its ok. The o ring is a soft rubber - light blue color. If you see a black o ring this tells me that the installer ripped the blue one and replaced with the closest size black plumbing o ring which WILL NOT work correctly. The black o ring is too hard of a rubber. Trust me I found this out by trying it.

Gently tug on each end of the clear tube that sits on top of the SC to make sure it is firmly connected.

On the passenger side valve cover reach under the SC and check to insure that the PCV breather hose is fully seated against the top of the valve cover nipple. Check the other end of the hose at the SC to insure it is also seated correctly. There shouldn't be any rips in the hose and there should be clamps on both ends.

Look at the throttle body where it mates up to the SC. There shouldn't be any gap at the bottom. I had to file off a bit of my TB to get a proper seal against the SC. See my notes in the installation write up.

You may also want to perform a smoke test to look for vacuum leaks. Get an incense stick and light it so it is smoking. Start the engine and with it idling move the stick around the SC to see if the smoke is drawn in anywhere, indicating a vacuum leak.

After you have verified there are no leaks then:

You should have reset your Jeeps PCM back to stock factory settings and captured the backup of the stock factory tune to send to RPMExtreme. They would use this base tune to apply the SC tune to. Before applying the diablo custom SC tune you should have made sure the Jeep's PCM was set to the stock
factory tune.

With the SC tune installed I would do the following:

Hook up the diablo intune programmer and take the Jeep out for a drive.
After the drive turn the Jeep off then turn the key to the on position and look for error codes with the diablo. Not all codes will turn on the check engine light.

Start the Jeep and go to the diablo screen where you can record real time engine diagnostics. Drive around for a while holding different speeds (25,35,45,55,70) for 30 sec each. Hit the back arrow on the diablo and stop the recording. Choose save the log file. The log file is stored in the diablo log directory and can be emailed to RPMExtreme for them to look at. There is also a free viewer than you can download from the diablo site to let you view all of the engine diagnostics recorded.

Since you bought the Jeep with the SC on I'd also recommend checking and changing the spark plugs. See my installation notes on changing plugs on the passenger side.

I'm assuming that you've already checked the tranny fluid level.

Let me know how things go.
 
#33 ·
The story I got was he bought the kit used and payed the old owner to install it. That guy tuned it but the guy I bought it off says he didn't get a tuner or anything. All in all it was better when I bought it. The shift from second to third was crazy like 5500 but no problems with cruise control or standard getting on the gas. I would assume he must have used an Intune as well, because when I plugged the new one I bought it just told me I had a calibration update. It made a backup but I did not load any tune, then I sent that to RPM extreme and got my custom tune. That one also had the shift points loaded at 5500. Then the miss fires started, and the jittering started and cruise was jacked up. The second tune has better shifts but still has cruise issues. From what I have seen so far it is all connected as it should be, short of removing it entirely I am not sure. I stopped getting replys from everyone so I am not impressed with the supercharger because I have stayed out of the gas entirely and I finally got to 12MPG, on premium.
 
#35 · (Edited)
You either had the Hypertech or Diablo tune installed in the Jeep when you got it. The new Diablo inTune doesn't know if the Jeep had programming changes done to the PCM or not, it just took the existing tune and saved it as the stock tune. The stock tune that you saved and sent to RPMExtreme isn't really a stock/factory JK tune. I'm assuming RPMExtreme applied their changes to the tune you sent them and you loaded the custom tune. If there were problems with the "stock" tune's shift points they could have been carried over into the custom tune.

It is my understanding that the Diablo tune(s) prior to the last update, that was sent out about 2 weeks ago, had issues with surging at cruising speeds. Both Tight Wad and I received the most current Diablo tune on February 16th. Tight Wad said that the surging issue has been corrected. I have yet to switch from the Hypertech tune to the Diablo tune. You need to make sure that you have the most current tune from RPMExtreme that corrects the surging problem.
 
#34 ·
Are you able to retrieve and transmission codes or data from it such as the clutch fill volume index? I have guys that work for me who are factory trained in the 42rle
we just had a supercharged JK in here that lost third gear twice on 2 different transmissions and the one I sold to a guy that has a supercharger on it had also lost third gear a few months after he purchased it. The 42RLE has had upgrades made over the years. If it has any transmission codes in it the transmission will go into limp mode.
here is a screen shot of the starscan showing a high CVI for the overdrive clutch fill volume index. When the trans was torn down what was found is the snap ring that I think holds third gear in broke and is listed under Jasper's upgrades list so it must be a common failure in the 42RLE. It seems that most people with transmission issues with the superchargers that I have dealt with and read about have lost third gear resulting in limp mode.
 

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#36 ·
The transmission that I just had installed has 11 upgrades to it, all of which seem to address premature failure issues. One of the upgrades deals with snap ring failures.

Over and above the issue with the snap ring are you suggesting that the failures are resulting from tuning issues? Is fill volume related to shift firmness? Are you saying that too much fill volume with cause the snap ring failure? I'm not a transmission expert by any means and would like to understand better what you think the root cause of these failures is.
 
#38 ·
Watching this closely as I am having the same issues as Rogers1982. I installed it in Dec. of 2012 and rpmextreme and I have been fighting it still. I am taking it into the dealership for diagnostics to see if my cats are going bad. I did a back pressure test on it and got 0 psi but now I am throwing a P0430 code so off to the dealership. Quick overview, pinging on acceleration, surge on cruise, can also feel it cruising without cruise on. Does not want to shift into 4th until at least 5500 rpm then still need to back off for it to shift. and a surge when going from a stop to 2nd gear. Also pulsates when chopping throttle down until idle is reached (rpm bounces up and down). Chipewa what transmission do you and Tight_wad have as you stated that the latest tune corrected the cruise surge. I thought I had the latest but maybe not. I am waiting to get the results from the dealership before I bug rpmextreme any more.
 
#39 ·
The transmission that I just toasted was a stock 2007 42LRE that had 104k miles on it (with no prior issues). I will be picking up my Jeep Monday from the shop. They installed a trans that has 11 improvements over the stock 42lre.

I am currently running the Hypertech tune. I have the Diablo inTune with the most current tune (sprintex1.0.drg) loaded to it but haven't yet installed it.

Tight Wad has sprintex1.0.drg installed.
 
#40 ·
Thanks Chipewa, for some reason mine is being very difficult. I am just glad rpmextreme is not giving up on it, he has been great. I know he will get it but I am looking at everything anybody has done.
 
#41 ·
So mine looks to have all the same issues as 4wheels4life. I still have the surge issue essecially in second. On the second tune RPM dropped the shift points, so its better. The first tune was terrible the shiftpoints and the multiple engine misfire. Maybe it wasn't a stock setting. I thought it would give me an error code if the hypertec tune was last installed. So I am waiting on sprintex to get back to me. So they say this supercharger is supposed to be 275hp 275 torque. When you look at it s 4K and my jeep has 4.10 gears and 35. Getting on the highway makes that little 3.8 scream, just sucks that it drinks so much premium. An LS seems like a better choice. This 3.8 in mine has 2K on it guess the last guy spun a bearing and it was under warrentee, got a new long block. I'll let you know if I find a good fix.
 
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