posted 08-18-2000 01:11 AM                  

I dynoed my Prowler today and I got a whoping 306.2 HP with 273 ft. and made 10 lb. of boost with the retard nob at 7:00 o'clock .... YEEEEAAAHHHHHAAAAA!!

Now for the bummer part. As we finished the dyno, my check engine light came on and I think I lost a cylinder, a sparc plug or a fuel enjector. My idle got horrible and the Cat was shaking like if it was scared. It was backfiring something oweful. I left the dyno place and immediately headed to the Plymouth Service dealer which is where my Prowler sits as I write this post. Driving there was an aweful experiance. My cat was shaking and backfiring all the way there and I could not floor it because it idled horribly.

The tech at the dyno room looked at my dyno sheet and from his experiance with mustangs, he says if my Prowler has a knock sensor then this made the ECM retard timing to the point of a bad idle. It could have been I experianced detonation and might have done some damage somewhere. I hope I don't have to overhaul my engine with only 6000 miles on it.

I will post my dyno sheet and some picks later. I allowed the rpms to go to 6800.

I can't wait to here what happened to my engine tomorrow when I call the dealer.

Anyone bother to comment on what might have happened?

I'm shaking right now like the smily face you see on this post. I like it Mike good job!!

Later....

posted 08-18-2000 11:21 AM                  

This SC design is still too new for a Prowler and needs to have more bugs worked out. Maybe it just needs more safeguards. I'm grateful to have the benefit of your experience. Given a few more incidents like yours we'll soon see Paxton Prowler Generation II SC. Maybe we'll even see the SC improve performance off the line-wouldn't that be a kicker!

posted 08-18-2000 11:32 AM                  

They checked out the check engine light and they came up with a "Mis Fire" and "Vacuum Leak" error. The service tech does not come into the the shop till this coming monday. I told them, whatever is wrong with it, FIX IT!

My Prowler will sit in their shop till then. I cannot drive it home because it backfires really bad.

If the engine has to be changed, I'm just going for the gusto and will beef up that baby!!

If this happens, you bet I will have tons of things to report on my website....

Will keep you folks posted.

For those of you out there wanting to remove the whole filter housing with venturi and putting the boost retard to 7 o'clock. Be warned this will destroy your engine. When Paxton said if you try to make more than 6 pounds of boost ..... you are risking damage to your engine, guess what, they where right. I have the evidence to prove it. I now drive my Saleen.

My engine put out more horsepower than my Saleen but quit while doing it.

I got to say ... Sorry My Black Kitty ......

Later....

------------------
Dan Peņa "Prowling On With POWER!"


http://www.prowlerexcitement.com/
http://links.prowlerexcitement.com/

posted 08-18-2000 11:40 AM                  

quote:

---

Originally posted by dpena:
Folks,

Just got back from the dealer and yes.... the first thing they told me with a frawn on their face was .... We Have Voided Your Warranty and Have Notified Chrysler .....

---

Sorry to hear that but, expected.

I just got a copy of the 2000 Prowler 32 page brochure and in it it mentions a 360 ci small block hi-rev v8 (that is only comes from Mopar in a crate). Only in a crate? Written in a Prowler brochure?

posted 08-18-2000 12:30 PM                  

I completely knew what I was getting into and had in my foresight the possiblity of blowing my engine.

No hard feelings here other than looking forward to more horsepower!

Oh Yeah Baby!!

Later....

posted 08-18-2000 12:30 PM                  

My Kitty is finally on the way from the factory, and it sure makes me think twice about supercharging it. Although I like what you did with your exhaust.

posted 08-18-2000 02:31 PM                  

"speed cost son, how fast do you want to go?"

I wouldn't be knocking the paxton just yet.

I drove mine off with 8 lbs when asked for, any time.

The only problem I had was heat when climbing the mountains in 102 temp.

Dan was just pushing the envelope, we were in sort of a duel to see who was fastest.

And my tech is not positive Dan's engine is blown yet. No smoke or water, his feeling is computer needs to be reset.
More to come. We shall see

posted 08-18-2000 05:46 PM                  

Just got back from the dealer and we disconnected the battery and waited something like 10 minutes and then reconnected the battery. The kitty is still shaking scared. I think it overdosed on power.

The certified tech won't be in till Monday so I will have to wait and see what broke. It almost feels like the engine is running with 5 pistons instead of 6.

I'm just now working on the html pages to put up the picks I took and will put some text on them. I wanted to have the movie or mpg player to prove I was getting 10 pounds of boost on these runs. It was an awesome thing to see.

More to come....

Later....

posted 08-18-2000 05:49 PM                  

1. Misfire
2. Vacuum Leak

Later...

posted 08-18-2000 06:02 PM                  

You say you were running with 10 pounds of boost? How did you manage to get 10 pounds instead of the 8-8.5 the rest of us are getting?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if your computer is indicating a vacuum leak, it sounds like you've burned a hole in a piston or valve.

Did they pull the plugs yet to examine them?
Have them run a quick compression test on all cylinders. This will tell you right away if it's a piston or valve.

I hope it can be fixed easily!

posted 08-18-2000 06:51 PM                  

My html pages are up if you want to see some pics.

I have broken the pages into two categories-

1. Before my paxton.
2. After my paxton.

Go to my main page and scroll down to this icon and click on it.

More to come guaranteed!

posted 08-18-2000 06:58 PM                  

All I did was remove the filter housing and venturi plate and set the boost retard to a 7 o'clock position. I then reved up the cat to get it into 3rd gear via the autostick and when I reached 2000 rpms, I punched it till 6800 rpms. My speed was 140 and my boost was 10.

Here is what my filter looks like!

Later....

posted 08-18-2000 08:33 PM                  

I knew before I got into a paxton that this may happen. This does not hit me by surprise. It was only a matter of time before it would happen. I love speed and power. The Prowler is not a type of car you want to hot rod unless you are willing to pay. If you don't want to pay don't play.

If you want to play, you will have to pay!!!

Nothing is for free but one thing I know about in this earth.

Later....

posted 08-18-2000 09:23 PM                  

We are pioneers! Don't let anyone get you down about wanting more power. There are many people that are happy with the basic Prowler, but there is nothing wrong with striving for more!

Kudos to you for being that pioneer.

posted 08-19-2000 09:38 PM                  

http://www.dpena.com/DanPenaProwler/DynoPhenomena/PaxtonDyno.jpg

DAN.007 (First Run) Car was fresh and ready to go.

DAN.008 (Second Run) Car got a little warm but nothing really checking out ugly.

DAN.009 (Third Run) Car got a little hot again but no big deal. We looked at the graphs and said we are loosing power every time. I said, let me turn the car off and set the boost retard to 12 0'clock and then we will restart the engine and do another run. I went ahead and did this and when I restarted the car, the idle was all over the place and I began to hear backfires. I told them, its over something wrong. Right after this the check engine light came on and the rest is history.

I was going to include it as an image but thought this post would take much longer to load.

Later...

posted 08-20-2000 10:02 AM                  

Paxton Automotive tested our vehicle for 6 months before we released the supercharger system. We were excited about the supercharger system because it appealed to a market of individuals that had the same mindset that we did, a fun supercharger system for a fun vehicle. We tested the supercharger system from 5 psi to 10 psi. I have personally driven the vehicle (tuned by Paxton technicians who do this for a living) with 10 psi under rigorous conditions. Our Prowler has been driven over 6,000 miles with out any problems. We made the decision that it was not necessary to push our customer's cars that far.

The supercharger system that we released was a system that would be enjoyable to any Prowler owner without risking engine damage. The system is fully upgradeable to individuals looking to push the envelope. Dan is a great guy and I appreciate his enthusiasm, but everything he did was in direct contrast to every recommendation made by Paxton.

In no way is this intended to be an attack on Dan. There just seems to be a lot of blame placed on the supercharger system for the modifications he made.

According to Dan's post: he was making 10 psi, the timing retard knob was set at "7 o'clock", the vehicle was running at 6800 RPM and 140 mph. I would never run a vehicle under these conditions. Paxton includes a timing device to retard timing under boost. At "7 o'clock" the retard device was turned completely off. We recommend that the knob is turned to 10-11 o'clock setting. This will provide approximately 1/2 degree of timing for each pound of boost. At 6 psi for example, timing would be retarded approximately 3 degrees. Dan was running full timing and 10 pounds of boost. This is insane! To make the matters worse the vehicle was on a dyno (high loads) running at high mile per hour (140) and high RPM (high engine heat). Nitrous would have made the situation worse (I do not know if Dan installed nitrous, he was talking about it).

Dan is an enthusiast and I wish he would have trusted our testing more before learning on his own. Several posts blame Paxton for Dan's independent testing. Some claim that the supercharger system is too new and untested. This is untrue. "Enthusiast" stated that the supercharger system should have a "cutout sensor" to prevent damage. The supercharger system was used beyond the design parameters recommended and all safety features were disabled to attain higher dyno numbers. Additionally, (no offence to enthusiast) I do not know what a "cutout sensor" is.

Let me sate one more time that I think Dan is a good guy and I like his enthusiasm. But I hope that his experience does not affect the opinion of others interested in supercharging their vehicles. "Prowling" and "BKG" have posted comments such as "I will think twice about supercharging" and "what is with all this business with supercharging and nitrous on a new car." These are certainly not positive comments from my position, considering the time and money that we have invested in this supercharger system.

Paxton Automotive has tested the performance and designed a supercharger system for Prowler owners...a fun horsepower increase for a fun car. Please do not judge our efforts and product by situations caused beyond our control. I think that the vast majority of the individuals that have installed Paxton superchargers on their Prowlers, including Dan Pena, have been happy with the results.

If you would like more information, or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at dadams@paxtonauto.com

posted 08-20-2000 12:09 PM                  

Please do not blame Paxton for this. I like to push the envelope. Paxton clearly indicated damage will occur if we do anything more than what their kits come with. John Davies has the paxton and he and I push the envelope more than any of you out there it seems like since I have not heard of others with only paxtons blowing something.

John Davies is still running fine with no issues other than heating problems going up hills. I think Paxton will do us good and resolve this heating issue by coming up with a cooler that goes inbetween the paxton and the intake manifold. This will cool the compressed air making it a cooler air to fuel mixture thus making more horsepower. Hondas and other 4 bangers have these setups and Prowler must have this too.

YES! you could consider me insane when it comes to these kinds of things. I have not seen in my side of town other Prowler enthusiasts burning rubber like I do. I will spin my prowler almost out of control before gaining control again. I enjoy speed and power as I said before. The results of my behavior will result in something getting broken. I'm okay with it. I know if I play I will have to pay .... period!

I think Paxton has a good kit and like anything else, if you follow their recommendations, you will enjoy your paxton for many trouble free years. If you don't, you will damage your kitty like I have mine. My kitty will be back on the road stronger, smarter and quicker. You can count on that. This is just who I am and like what Mike said, I am a Pioneer and like that title.

David at Paxton,

I knew I was violating your recommendations but wanted to see how far I could go before breaking. I want to improve my system furthur and hope you could assist me. John Davies and I have some feedback we would like you to consider.

One pressing one is Heating of the engine!

Thanks,

posted 08-20-2000 01:21 PM                  

------------------
Real Rod front and rear panels, front turn signals
Exhaust by Precision Muffler
Metal Crafters front spoiler,grill and rocker panels
Supercharger by Paxton

[This message has been edited by jd2ksilver (edited 08-20-2000).]