When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I got all hot and bothered and went to install the M45 this weekend. It should be easy enough as I've got all the parts sorted out <queue foreboding music>
It's a fairly easy install if you've done it before, even with Moss' horrible instructions. I figured I'd start with the fuel system as its fairly easy now that I have all the clamps and hoses are cut to the correct length.
Sorted! Fuel pump still makes 100+psi when the return is deadheaded and nothing exploded, so I'm feeling confident.
...which for me, is usually when everything goes to ****. And there were no exceptions here.
That vibrant blue stuff is the super awesome JB Performance synthetic oil that I filled this thing with back when I split the nose and drive section to replace the coupler. Its that ridiculous blue color to make it super easy to identify when it leaks, and obviously its working. Checking the shelf under my workbench where this was stored for the last 6 months and clearly its been leaking for a while.
Yes, I'm aware of the 2 bolts that aren't seated. This is actually where the blower mounting bracket attaches and those bolts are not long enough to provide a clamping load without the bracket. I'm sure this is why it's leaking.
I topped it up with the appropriate lube to see how much it lost, which is the GM/ACDelco 10-4041 12345982. Of course I have 2 bottles of this stuff lying around, this is me after all.
The blower nose section is purported to take anywhere from 5oz to 7oz of this stuff depending on which generation of blower and which vintage of miata.net posts you are reading, and I put probably a little more than half of this 4oz bottle in there. There is also no real published process for filling these things. Due to the weird mounting when its in the car the oil fill port is actually pointing down, so you have to remove the thing to top it off, its a huge pain in the ***. The best I was able to come up with is the 01-06 Mini Cooper S M45 service instructions which indicate that you put the blower output flange on a level surface, use a vacuum pump to pump out the old oil, then add fresh oil back in until it comes up to the fill hole. This seems consistent across the other small Eaton blowers so that's what I decided to do here as well. I have more of the JB oil but I didn't want to waste it for a test. It should be fine to mix the two.
So I bolted the bracket back up and took it into the garage, blasted it with a ridiculous amount of Brake Cleaner (that blue die is persistent!) and then left it on a "clean" rag overnight to see if it leaks.
I can't really emulate the thermal cycling it'll see under the hood but for the funnies I pulled out the power drill and a socked and used this thing as an air pump. It moves a shocking amount of air at drill-speed, but I wasn't able to really get enough load on it to make any heat in the thing. Apologies, I didn't take a video this time
I'm unsure where to go from here. It's either going to leak or its not, but I haven't come this far to just burn this thing up from lack of oil. I have no idea if the Loctite 510 I used to put it back together will reseal after being exposed to oil and I don't know if I have it in me to split this thing to R&R everything again. I guess I'll know more tomorrow.
I can't really emulate the thermal cycling it'll see under the hood but for the funnies I pulled out the power drill and a socked and used this thing as an air pump. It moves a shocking amount of air at drill-speed, but I wasn't able to really get enough load on it to make any heat in the thing.
AIUI a lot of the heat comes from the compression of the air (PV=NRT!), so just spinning it with the inlet and outlet open to atmosphere probably isn't going to do much. I'm not sure how you'd bench-test that.
AIUI a lot of the heat comes from the compression of the air (PV=NRT!), so just spinning it with the inlet and outlet open to atmosphere probably isn't going to do much. I'm not sure how you'd bench-test that.
I put my hand over the outlet and it made rude noises while forcing air between my fingers
Wait a second. So you took a battery powered drill, and converted it to an electric supercharger?
Ahem, wall plugin drill. My Milwaukee drill has a braking function which would be tremendously bad for the bearings and gears in the blower head. My DeWalt corded drill has no such feature and just spins down, its much more positive displacement blower friendly.
These are the considerations one must make when doing dumb things. This is the same reason you never use the ugga-dugga gun on a blower pulley nut.
This is like one of those sanitary napkin commercials, looking for the blue stain.
I sat and had a drink about it after work and decided, you know what? There's really no good way to see if this is going to reseal and stand up to heat cycling other than to install the thing and put some heat into it.
So... I started the reinstall process.
After a little over an hour of work the stock intake tract is out and the belt system is mounted, as is the blower and a good chunk of the plumbing. It got cold and dark so I decided to call it a night, and I'll put some more time into it tomorrow.
The big question is if I can get a wideband sensor somewhere in the exhaust in the next couple weeks, and then wire it up. With our current weather forecast that might get a little sketchy. I don't have a ton of faith in this 20+ year old Jackson Racing FPR so I'd prefer to be able to keep an eye on the AFRs. At least then the explosion won't be a surprise.
Originally Posted by msmola2002
looking forward to hearing how much this idiocy helps with those giant tyres.
Believe it or not it does quite well with the ATs. I think the car has a 4.1 in it plus the 5 speed and its not terrible. I mean, its still Miata terrible you just lean on it a bit harder and its fine. I really, REALLY wish I had got my act together and built the 4.78 for the car, but these "freeway flyer" ratios plus the blower might help me keep up with highway traffic during the rally. We'll see!
Despite my best efforts, things have been moving forward on this project.
Thanks to the efforts of one sharp-eyed @Cxracer I managed to acquire the unobtainium final part I needed for the supercharger install.
Its taken me nearly a year to get hands one of of these things. Installed on the car, along with the fuel system components and electronics and we can call that done.
Well, almost done. The car would be running if I hadn't pulled the exhaust apart.
My plan is to attempt to install a bung for a wideband in the downpipe, right before the cat. I have a welder but very little in the way if skill so I fully expect this to be a "learning experience" type of thing. My flux core MIG riiiiiiiiig should be fine, right? 😬
The bungs should get here tonight, wish me luck! 🤞
10-18-2021, 02:09 PM
0
