demundo

i've had s/c setups since the early 90's. b&m thru whipple. i can tell you that whipple is by far the best even though you have had some problems. the 7.4 l is very difficult to program at best, and yes, the newer chips are difficult to flash. i'm sorry your project is dragging on.

Kokopelli

NineLives,

Be patient it will be worth it. There are allways Gremlins that pop up in a project like an SC install, its just the nature of the beast and something that makes the final results that much sweeter. I installed my Whipple last fall and it took a couple of reflashes to get it right but I've had almost 60 trouble free hours since, picked up 20 mph and improved my fuel economy - and Dustin has allways been a stand up guy and helped resolve every issue. It doesn't get much better than that!

Whipple Charged

I would like to clear a few things up. First, we were very leary of even shipping this system, we told your dealer that with the stock L29 heads, detonation is very, very likely and we do not want to sale a headache, they mentioned the head swap and we told them they can do as they wish, but the ECU calibration is done for the stock L29 engine, therefore, it may not work properly with the different style heads. We were very clear that this is in no way a complete ready to go system, since we've never tested it on that engine. We have run similar engines, but never that engine with those heads and this SC.

The ECU you sent back was of an earlier design, part # 7009 which we had not run into on the 7.4MPI 310hp engine. We've only worked with the later program, which is a part #6999 which has better idle control and a few other features. The files we have do not just switch over, you have to manually switch all the info by setting two computers next to eachother and enter each number one by one. I flat did not have time to sit there in front of the computers and just switch them back and forth so I took a brand new #6999 computer, made the mods I felt were best for your engine and shipped it. It was my mistake for the code 51, I should've caught it on the way out. I didn't and I shipped it back to you sat. delivery.

Were doing our best, but as we stated previously, this was not a true "bolt-on" system like we normally sale. We were very clear about that from the beginning. This stuff is not as simple as one may think, every change or mod has some effect on some parameter. Since we are treating this system as a custom kit, we would normally charge for the extra work that we have to do to try and make it work but there have been no charges of any type.

I'm not sure why you didn't get the right bolts, that's all very standard, that certainly should've been provided with the system.

I hope this clears some things up.

Thanks and sorry for the problems,
Dustin

NineLives

When you say the kit is a custom job i think that is just a bit misleading. If the L-29 heads are such an issue than why do you even offer a specific kit for that engine? All I did was follow your advice and swap over to the GenV heads which actually have a slightly lower compression than the L-29 heads that came on that engine. Now that I did the recomended swap that makes it a custom kit? You yourself told me not to install the kit on an engine that had the L-29 heads even though the kit was for that engine. Nothing else on the engine deviates from the kit in any form. If anything these new heads would allow maybe 2 degrees more timing to be used over the L-29. I understand why the L-29 heads could be problematic and you also explained this to me. You also stated that the changes in the heads wouldnt affect the kit but give me room to add more timing while eliminating the "hot spot" in the combustion chamber. I understand the fine tuning with these heads will be slightly different than what you have done in the past but if you programmed the ECU with the map for this engine utilizing L-29 heads I will at worst be undertuned. For whatever reason this computer is causing issues in the programming stages. Specifically the startup mode and idle mode. These areas shouldnt be issues no matter what the heads are. The engine ran in its "limp mode" while throwing the code 51 but without changing anything but the programming the engine fails to even start now. When I talked to you this morning about the problem you advised me to raise base fuel pressure higher than 55psi to test for a lean startup. I tried that(went all the way to 100 psi) and it failed to make any difference. The ECU is now in the mail once again, on its way back to you. I understand that sometimes these things can have gremlins, and like I said earlier the main components of this kit are excellently made and fit perfectly. But I would think that the startup/idle program would not be the issue.
Tim is still waiting to hear from you about this, he is as anxious as I am to work this out.

NineLives

I will also like to add somthing else. Having talked to many people about marine efi supercharger kits and being part of the install of several, Whipple is one of the simplest to install. And from those with experience have told me the Whipple kits are virtually trouble free down the road. That is why I chose to put a Whipple on my boat. Even now I would hate to see somthing else on my engine besides this kit. The kit does not appear to be an add on and is beautiful to look at. It is really a high quality piece.

I hope the ECU issues get resolved shortly so I can give a follow up on just how well it performed on the water.

28Eliminator

NineLives hang in there.
I'm in the middle of an install also and have issues with the ECU programing. Mine would at least run, however it is so lean the plugs still look new. I wanted to hit the throttle so bad, but I knew I would just blow the thing up. I know what you are feeling, pretty frustrating. I sent mine yesterday overnight to Dustin. Hopefully he can get it richened up so my plugs will be brown. It is going to run great, we just have to be patient.
Maybe Dustin can get us both going for the weekend and it will all be worth it.
BE COOL!

aTX427

I have to agree with Cattitude, that any major upgrade is best left to the winter. That said, I will attest that Whipple is by far the best hi performance company I have ever delt with from customer service and satisfaction standpoint. It took some finese to make mine work as well, but Whipple did make it work and I am very satisfied. Remember, every environment is so dramatically different, heat, humidity, weight, air flow, etc. are all factors that will effect the calibration. If you want 150% more horsepower you need to be patient.

SR-24

Ninelives, Just a thought, but did you check your plugs after the initial run? You may have fouled them so bad that they will not fire at all now.

NineLives

There was no initial run. The boat has not been able to start at all since the last ECU fix. The first ECU program would allow the boat to barely idle for several seconds then die while coughing black smoke the whole time. But yes we did check the plugs each time.

Whipple Charged

I would like to be very, very clear, I never recommended a head, I stated that if you want the kit, I strongly suggest changing the heads because it won't live any other way, but I have never done calibration work for that stock motor with different heads. I never once said, "hey why don't you put those peanut port heads on."

I was asked a few times which head I recommend, I suggested the Dart Pro One heads. I don't think telling you up front that those heads and supercharger do not make a good mix as a major sales push. I will not allow one of these systems to go out the door for a motor with stock heads, it's just too dangerous and I'm not into selling problems for fellow boaters. We originally designed the system but as time past on, we felt very concerned regarding that engine and heads. It simply cannot pass our standards for many reasons. I was asked whether the peanut port heads would be ok, I clearly said that they would certainly be better than the L29 head for detonation but the programming would be different, the L29 heads are Vortec style, a complete different design, different air speeds, different VE, totally different. We don't know, those heads may flow less air which would increase manifold pressure, maybe they'll flow more and you'll have less manifold pressure? I have some assumptions, but I don't know for sure.

I leaned out the low end and crank fuel because I know the 310 cal is rich in this area and so I tried to make improvements. If you want your system to work the best, your better off flying somebody out there to calibrate the computer on the boat with the proper equipment, this is the only true way to "dial-in" your boat. Now on typical installations, with stock motors, this is not a problem, 500HP's, 454/502 Mags, 6.2MPI, etc. The 454/502 mags and 500HP's don't need as much cal work with changes such as heads or cam because the designs are far more similar than Vortec style vs. non Vortec heads.

Thanks,
Dustin