Oh, I wasn't sure you wanted to use the f/ic6 and thought maybe you just wanted the patch cable.

In terms of the f/ic6 with boomslang harness, you don't have to do any re-wiring, but you will have to do some maneuvering to get that thing to plug in. It's pretty cramped for that amount of patch cabling.

In order to leave the harness for the SMT8-L in place without the unit, you need to have the shorting plug, or some how loop the connections on the plug for MAF and crank/RPM (pin 7/12 to 5/10 and 8/10 to 2/10 on the 12 and 10 pin plugs). These two signals, or lack of, will throw DTCs (P0335, P0102 and P0107), pop the CEL and limp the car. This is why I have to leave my laptop plugged in... the unit won't work without my laptop and the car won't work normally without the unit (or a loop-back/shorting plug, which I don't have).

Electronically, zeroing out the maps in the unit should be similar to unplugging it (minus the need for the plug). Which is where I'm at.

Edit:

Darn it, i'm torn... My package arrived. So now, i have to decide... Do i pull out the airbox (and probably the battery too) to install just the fuel pressure sensor and do some pressure logging to test my thoery? Or do i just skip the proving and remove the smt8-l wiring harness also?

Removing the airbox makes the fuel line accessible. As for the wiring harness, if i force it, i suppose i could get by without removing the airbox to remove the harness. It just gives more room to deal with unsoldering the wires.

If i pull the harness, i may as well swap the fuel pump.

 

Yea just go for it. I say just do it how you actually want it the first time. Take the time now to fix/check everything and arrange it the way you want it.

So I took my car to my mechanic today and pointed to the area where the smt8l harness was acting up and he said that area in pointing to is how the harness came. Apparent the soldering park is actually way inside and not on top near the piggyback. I'll post a picture later pointing to where the issue is.

 

Well apparently, it's a no go.

The freaking 3-way adapter plus NPT tap has a FIFTH hole. And I do mean... hole. It's supposed to be only FOUR ways.




How the heck am I supposed to use that?!?

It also doesn't help that the pressure sensor requires you to install the harness wires to the plug. The actual part that plugs into the sensor (that it came with), not the other end that attaches to a gauge or whatever. Considering this thing costs $140, they couldn't include and install three wires?!? Not cool.




This is most of how it's supposed to go together (and replace the 3-way adapter that was part of the fuel line that came with the supercharger kit)... right now, it has one black adapter and one blue adapter, then one empty port. The black adapter is for 3/8" ID (inner diameter) tube. The blue is for 1/2" ID tube. So, as soon as I get the correct "4-way" and figure out what the ID of the tube is I'll put all three with matching colors. Actually, I could mix the adapters a little because the hexagonal body can be separated from the port nipple. And the hexgonal main body is the same size for both.




Well, here's the pump... I hope there's no issue with that.

 

Here is the area where I wiggled the piggyback harness just a little bit and the car just died out almost instantly. No CELs thrown like i said before, just dying out. The only time it threw a CEL was then i tried to retape more with friction tape just like Sprintex used and it did not seem to like that since I may made it too tight. I removed most of the tape I placed and the car ran fine again after I cleared the CEL. Though I still think there is something loose inside that area I circled. The car does not run with that Oomph it has before. It feels sluggish when I'm hitting the gas hard. There are few times when it feels how it really supposed to run, that grunt and angry feeling where it just wants to take off.

I pointed the area to my mechanic who installed the supercharger and did the soldering and he told me that this is how the harness came and that the soldering actually happened way in the back where I couldn't even see. The soldering is not the issue. It's not even the port issue of the harness, its the friggin wires within the harness.

He will open the friction tape around that area to see how the wires are if they need to be repaired or are openly touching each other or may need replacement. Won't really know until Tuesday since he is swamped with other work.

Gary, I know you are a busy guy but I hope you are paying attention to this.

We need that plug and play harness ASAP :-)

 

I thought the DW fuel pump was a perfect drop in like the EVO X fuel pump? I guess not. Well that blows! Sorry you have to go through this. I know I would totally be frustrated.

Anybody got a picture of how the Evo X fuel pump looks like for comparison?

 

Oh, I didn't mean to say there was anything wrong with the fuel pump. I just didn't do the DW because I wanted to log fuel pressure first, or if no logging, install both at the same time.

The Evo X fuel pump looks pretty much the same.

The only problem (at the moment) is the sensor and the 3-way adapter for the sensor. The sensor only means I actually have to do a little wiring, no biggie. But that adapter means I can't install the sensor.

~~~~~

I pseudo-chopped the harness off. What I actually did was cut the four wires that intercepted MAF and crank/RPM. Then I used crimped connectors on them.

I actually messed up a little.

When I cut the first pair, I put flat style connectors on the reattached OE wires, then matching connectors on the piggyback wires so that I could reattach the piggyback quickly.

The issue came on the second intercept pair. I used bullet (round) connectors to reattach the OE wires, but forgot to put bullet connectors on the piggyback wires... then I started taping everything up. So I was sitting there staring at the two loose wires and taped up OE harness.

I knew it was bullet connectors, but I didn't know which wire would use the male/female connectors. I didn't feel like unwrapping the etape. And if I installed the wrong side, I'd have to re-cut it if I decided to plug the piggyback, back in. So I just left them there and covered it with a little more tape. whoops

In any case... I didn't fully remove the piggyback harness... but now, I'm running as if I did. The piggyback itself is unplugged from the harness, which means I don't need my laptop plugged in to drive. In fact, I unplugged the AEM earlier too... so I only have the physical part of the supercharger installed, and no electronics to "tune" it. I'll plug in the AEM later, after I've seen how my car is.

Now, I just need to drive to set the readiness code. Every time it limped or I forgot to turn on my laptop first, it would require the ECU to re-check for readiness.

 

Let me know how this goes with just the supercharger installed and the piggyback unplugged.

Gary told us that unplugging the piggyback does no permanent changes to the ECU, but im not sure I you actually reset this? For example, if I were to completely remove the entire supercharger and piggyback including harness, would this automatically run the car normally again?

Can it run normally in stock form with just the supercharger installed? Im thinking no correct?

Sorry I'm a complete newbie with FI and tuning. Still learning alot and thoroughly enjoying it. I appreciate everyone who has chimed in on this thread and given their opinions and experiences. Goobers, you have way more experience than me and applaud you for doing the work yourself or anyone for that matter. I really wish I had the time to mess with the car myself, but my work now just wont allow that much free time. On top of that it is my DD and need it to work to properly..haha.

Anyways, I didn't realize you were still using the oem fuel pump. That DW box in your pic threw me off.

 

Well, I've been running zero in maps for the last few days and it's been fine. Sure the trims are higher, but then again, the supercharger is pumping more air through the system. Ultimately, the higher trim is basically what the maps in the piggyback were doing too.

I think I like it with zero maps because its just ONE thing (factory ECU) trying to handle fuel trims and whatnot as opposed to a piggyback doing intercept and "hidden" work, around the ECU.

I didn't get to drive it after doing the crimp connectors (other than moving it away from the garage door), so I'll see what the effects are tomorrow. I did get a strange "pulsing vibration" where the car would vibrate a little... smooth out, then vibrate again, rinse/repeat, all while just sitting in my driveway. Hopefully, it was only because I reset the ECU (disconnected the battery to do the clipping/crimping).

From what I've read here and on various sites... the car has two modes, open loop and closed loop. However, aside from using/ignoring the O2, they both do the same thing. And that is adjust the fuel trim and ignition timing based on RPM and MAF/MAP (note: according to Ultragauge, we have a secondary MAF sensor?!?) and probably a few other things. The trims/timing are how much more or less than the preset map in the ECU. That's hard coded into the ECU software... the only way to change it, is to reflash the ECU (via Hondata or even from Honda themselves). The piggyback simply allows you to do some/much of the work to make the ECU think it doesn't need to do much.

For example, ECU puts 5% extra fuel vs piggyback 3%+ecu 2%... results in the same thing... 5%.

It's just, I think some car's have ECUs that think something is horribly wrong if it's doing "a lot of work." Or simply out of range for it to handle, like if it's pre-programmed to put out up to 20% more fuel at MAX so that normally puts much less, but finds itself almost always needing 20% (indicating it needed more than 20%, possibly).

So yeah, my Fit has been running on "stock" electronics with just the supercharger dumping more air into the engine. So, if you also remove the physical supercharger itself (and put the stock manifold setup back in), then the only thing that needs to be done is... nothing, just drive.

You say you're a complete newbie? Well, I'm right there. Any and all experience I have started with this supercharger unit. Maybe two years ago, DSM tried to show me map tables with the engine running, but I couldn't make heads or tails out of what I was seeing until just recently.

Most of the time that I work on my car is either on a Monday (my day of the week off) or late night after work. Even on Mondays, I have a habit of not doing much until the evening. So, that's why I try to break down my tasks to manageable parts. My Fit is my DD too... so if it's limping, I'm in trouble cause I won't be able to drive efficiently for my deliveries. If it's dead... well, I'm sure you can figure that one out.

 

Decided to swap in the fuel pump.

I pulled the relay for the pgm, then cranked my car a few times. They say you're supposed to let it idle until it dies... but it never even started (I guess most of the fuel in the line had drained away). I kept cranking because I didn't want to repeat getting sprayed in the face with gasoline. When I was doing the supercharger install, I let it idle, and cranked it twice afterwards, but there was still enough fuel in the line to spray out when I disconnected the fuel rail.

It was pretty straight forward... the only thing was, the OE pump's nipple was smooth, while the DW had multiple barbs. That prevented me from reusing the OE clip ring(?). It looks a lot like the outer part of the push pin clips used around the Fit. So, I settled for popping on both O-rings that came with the DW pump.

OH MY FREAKING A, that damn "locknut" was a pain in the ass to put back... refused to line up with the threads, always went in at the wrong angle (threatening to cross thread). Eventually, I got pissed off and started just pushing it straight down, making it "hop" the first part of the threading... and it went in just fine. =.="

Hope the rest of it was sealed the way it should be...

Now, I'm late for work. Ciao.

Edit:

Only managed one preliminary test on the way to work... In 3rd gear i held it around 5500-6000 RPM (70 mph?) on the highway. Counted up to 15... No limp!

My trims are lower too.

Looks promising!

 

Goobers,

I sent a you a PM. Please take a look. Thanks!

 

Just to throw this in here, you might consider a couple of things with the AEM. I've used them on Jeep XJs and they are good units. They work well for modding the stock injector mapping as well as extra injector mapping. I've done them both ways. The different strategy with the Honda ECU is what I have not worked with.

Our SMT configuration doctors the o2 signal and the MAF signal. The o2 sensor is doctored so we can run richer. The MAF signal is suppressed so the ECU doesn't see as much vacuum. The blower is inhaling more air than the engine and the MAP sees that signal. When suppressing the stock MAF signal, you are also richening the factory injectors. That is what you need to be mindful of. One sensor tweak and affect 2-3 other functions.

Our system is setup based on airflow, not throttle position and boost which is more typical. You can use either strategy on either box, but it's up to you to get it right. I can't help you much when you go down this road. We're manufacturers, not tuners. That's what tuners are there for! Someone has to physically make this stuff, and that's where we come in. Tuners help you get it dialed in perfectly. You have the same number of ropes to hang yourself with on either piggyback unit. Both have the same functionality and complexity. You can buy our kit as hardware only if desired. It's $200 cheaper if you go this route.

I can offer some rudimentary advice but as far as tuning and work, you'll be on your own. I'd let the tuners do as they wish and see what they come up with! I like the AEM and have no problems with the box or the company.

I'm looking at buying our shop Fit. If I scoop it up, then I'll go nuts with mods . Until then, it needs to stay as a nice corporate cruiser with tuning and parts as we intended.

When you key on with the AEM, you'll see the ambient pressure reading in PSIA. Anything over that number is your supercharged boost. It reads a little differently, but you'll get the idea. 14.7PSIA is normal at sea level. 3500ft. elevation will be around 13psia. 5,000ft+ will be 11-12psia. The pressure reading will be PSIA + boost (14.7 to 22.7 total).

Pull 1 degree of timing per pound of boost to start off with to be safe. We were able to add timing on the SMT unit, but that doesn't mean the AEM will be happy doing the same.

I'm looking at buying our shop Fit. If so, I'll go nuts with mods. Until then, it HAS to stay like we intended it. I've had a hiccup or two with our SMT unit, but nothing that stopped it dead in its tracks.

 

Thanks for the advice. When I get the AEM FIC, I'll likely take it to Church Automotive for tuning since they are experienced with the unit.

 

Gary, is that why the O2 wire from the plug also connected to the O2 wideband output pin? Where pin 12/12 ends up with two wires, one coming from pin 3/10 and the other going to the OE harness?

I was trying to figure out what O2/AFR sensor the Fit has in bank 1 (bank 2 is a narrowband), and the only conclusion I could make was that it has a "psuedo-wideband" sensor. In that it uses ~2.2 volts as a constant, but uses the amperage as the method of indicating AFR. Neither the SMT8-L or the AEM unit can see that amperage (both only see the voltage, and barely varies from 2.18 to 2.19). But then, reading the "wide band theory" part of the f/ic 6 pdf of the manual, it implies, that's how the UEGO is also (despite the UEGO having more wire connections and most other sites saying it uses the full 0.5-4.5v range).

I tried testing the O2 "skew" function of the AEM f/ic6 with varying results... namely that too big a change results in horrible engine running or flat out limp. And smaller more moderate changes (+/- 3%) are not really perceivable. And I'm not even sure WHAT its modifying, since the AFR reading is in voltage and doesn't change.

I guess that's why folks go with an aftermarket O2 (UEGO?), to get some sort of measurable value. I guess I need to learn some (or rather a LOT) more stuff.

 

I currently still do not have the budget to buy the Sprintex Supercharger,
but as soon as I do,
I think I will go with AEM F/IC and boomslang harness from the start.

I also had learned a lot from the experience of everybody in this thread,
and I think this is the steps that I want to do,
again I learned all this steps from everyone who had been a pioneer in installing this Sprintex Supercharger Kit,
so I owe and want to Thank You guys all for this knowledge:

So here are what I plans to do (when I have the money):

1. Buy Sprintex Supercharger with thePerfectPower SMT8L
(I still buy them with SMT8L so in case I want to sell the supercharger, I don't have to sell them with the AEM F/IC)
2. Take out the Restrictor on the Sprintex inlet
and paint the Sprintex Supercharger with darker color finish to make it blend with the other engine parts
so it looks almost stock inside the engine bay. (maybe helpful during DMV/SMOG inspection times
or police stops or something like that...just in case since this is California...)
While I am doing it, I will follow Gary's way in adding heat insulation the the supercharger housing to prevent
heat soak.
3. Buy AEM F/IC with Boomslang harness and Wideband uego air/fuel ratio gauge.
4. Buy T1R header or Weapon R header, ceramic coated them
then weld a Bung for the AEM Wideband uego air/fuel ratio gauge.
Install the Header along with the AEM Wideband uego air/fuel ratio gauge.
5. Buy and Install K&N Typhoon intake
6. Buy and Install Mitsubishi Evo X Fuel Pump or some other aftermarket fuel pump.
7. Buy and Install Colder Spark Plug (2 steps colder for me).
8. Try to get a base tune.
9. Buy and Install Higher flowing injector preferably RDX
10. Do another tune to adjust after using the higher flow injector.
11. Install the Sprintex Supercharger (without SMT8L)
12. Either try to tune the car myself
or trailer the car to Professional Tuner to tune it ONLY USING the 4 RDX Injector
WITHOUT using the 5th injector.
I think this will provide the car with the most accurate fuel to air ratio,
in any given RPM and Speed of the car.

I have no experience at all in tuning a car
my opinion below is based from my logic,
could be wrong logic,
but hey, making mistake and learning is the best way of gaining
experience
Now,
our engine is 4 cylinder engine with 4 different injector,
injecting a fuel, one injector per one cylinder at one cycle at a time.
at any given time, only 1 injector work and the other 3 do not work.
so there is REST time for each injector...
if I name the first injector One,
than the work cycle for the first injector will be like a Inject, two three four, Inject two three four and so on.

BUT
I suspect
the FIFTH Injector on this Sprintex SMT8L configuration
would work all the time to add more fuel to any injection cycle for all 4 cylinder,
so that FIFTH injector would work 4 times harder than any other injector...

and this mean at HIGHER RPM, that Fifth injector might not work fast enough.
I mean if for example at 4,000 rpm, each of the 4 engine injector
work and then rest until the other 3 injector complete their cycle,
while the fifth injector never rest and work all the time...
so the Pulse of the Fifth Injector is 4 times the Pulse of the other
4 original location injector.

well, at least this is my NEWBIE NOT EXPERIENCE logic
which might be wrong.

still on my car, I think I will NOT use the 5th injector at all,
and only use the AEM to control the larger 4 RDX injector to compensate for the lack of the 5th injector.

I mean (as far as I know) all Factory Standard Turbo
or Supercharged engine do not use the concept of an extra injector (fifth injector in our case of 4 cylinder engine).

I read somewhere here that according to Gary the 5th injector
had the advantage/side effect of poorman intercooler, that I agree,
but since my goal is driveability / reliability and not peak power,
then I think I am willing to let go of this good side effect.

13. then I would now build a custom exhaust system with 2.5"in piping from front to rear.
I would also add larger flowing catalytic converter
to replace both the main catalytic that taken out after the T1R or Weapon R header installed
and I will also replace the factory secondary cat too.
so 2 factory cat replace by 1 higher flowing one.
for the resonator and the muffler I either buy a custom welded magnaflow
or buy the CR-Z HPD exhaust system (that HPD already optimized for their supercharger application)
and modified them to fit our car.

14. last step would be going back to the Tuner (or I try to tune myself),
after I install this custom exhaust.

Hmm.. I think that is all the steps required.
It does mean extra budget will be required for the AEM (F/IC and gauges),
the boomslang, the custom header and exhaust,
the Tuning cost (if pro tuner do it for me), and the K&N intake.
but the car should perform in more reliable way,
and since it is my daily drive, it need to be reliable and dependable for me.

ok, now I am back to work to find the money to buy all the above

Thank You again everybody for all your contribution to this thread,
I had learned a lot and still learning more each day

 

Sprintex will be coming out with a plug and play harness for their new Interceptor piggyback. It will not be the SMT8L unit from the looks of their website for future Honda Fit SC releases. The ones that Gary still has in stock are likely still the SMT8L. I would not buy the SMT8L, I would just wait for their new plug and play harness and their new piggy back.

I am not sure when they will release this but I will not be waiting for it and going with the AEM FIC and boomslang harness.

Also, Church Automotive said I only needed a bigger fuel pump, not bigger injectors. The oem injectors should suffice. I would save the money and keep the 5th injector provided and let the professional tuner worry about it.

 

Oh, that is good news from Sprintex, I hope the timing will be right for me (meaning I have the money at that time to buy this new Sprintex kit with plug and play harness),

I agree that the OEM Injectors should suffice with the addition of the fifth injector in term of fuel flow,
for most application,
but I read that a lot of you guys had problem when you install the non factory intake,...
which might be not enough fuel pump,
but for a fifth injector to work 4 times harder than the other injector...
well, it might in some cases, can not keep up... again just my assumption...

but, the more important factor for me
since I will be putting a lot of mileage on my car,
my logic is,
the fifth injector work 4 times harder than the 4 factory location injector,
that mean at 50,000 miles, the 5th injector would be working like it had been working for 200,000 miles...
plus the fact that it work at much more rapid pulse than the other injector make me worry that if someday it failed at higher rpm on highway speed and make the air to fuel ratio become suddenly lean
and blow up the engine...
and I can not afford to have a blown engine...
I am not saying that the 5th injector will fail easily
but I am always want to prepare for worst case scenario since
I plan to keep this car long term with lot mileage too.

plus I think it will be easier in term of precision to tune the 4 injector in factory location, might not matter much for our application since we are not tuning the engine to the absolute max,
but I think the tuner would found it easier too to tune just 4 injector,
instead of 4 injector plus one configuration.

but, yes, it does mean more cost to buy 4 RDX injector on top of other extra cost...

oh,
if you contacting Church,
maybe you could ask them
Which configuration they think is better,
using four larger RDX injector or use the factory stock injector plus the 5th injector.

 

I, myself would rather TAKE OUT the fifth injector. Some else mentioned it somewhere, but having the injector put fuel before the intake runners leaves the system in a sort of "random" state, since you can't be sure where or which port all that fuel is going. Each of the factory injectors are specific to a port/chamber.

And for clairty, the 5th injector works off the injector map in the smt8-l piggyback. It will be OFF more than it being ON. AEM fic6 will NOT control it if you have the boomslang harness (unless you custom add the wires for it), in which case, it will be OFF all the time.

I think, if you want to avoid the "random" state, you have to have the 5th injector on all the time, but then you'd need to find a VERY LOW CC injector, far, FAR lower than factory injector. Because a constantly ON (5th) injector will flood the engine if its anywhere close to factory size.

On the other hand, some folks did mention converting it to a water/meth injector for cooling. Not sure how that would go (inject only when temps rise?).

That being said... With the K&N drop-in filter as my only other intake/exhaust mod, the factory injectors don't run very high duty cycles. Aside from a few very rare spikes, it even sits at 16-18% at high RPM. In the last two of the bigger logs i took, the last one spiked at 30% once, and the one before that spike at 80% once.

At idle, with my OE fuel pump, it was running 2%, possibly even lower now that the DW pump is forcing more fuel pressure (haven't logged it yet with new pump). And if you run bigger injectors, there's a possibility that the ECU might end up running rich under idle because it can't reduce the duty cycle anymore. Bigger intake, exhaust and/or gutted restrictor might allow for bigger injectors... maybe.

So, if you plan on replacing the injectors, i think you should get a good log of how its running first to see how stock injectors are doing. If it never hits 80%, i probably wouldn't bother.

I would recommend to new buyers, buy the AEM f/ic 6 first (assuming that you want that piggyback)... Log it, tune it, putz with it, whatever, with the car stock to get a good baseline, then add the "hardware only" version of the supercharger.

 

What is the part-number for the RDX injectors?

 

Acura RDX 410cc Injectors - Part # 16450-RWC-A01

 

Thank you!

What cc is the oem injectors rated as?