daily driven supercharged fsvt questions....

[naneek1]

I have been a focus owner for 5 years, driving a slowpoke spi around, dreaming of some day being able to own an svt.....


well my day has come, i have the money and theres a nice little 2003 svt with a JC supercharger at a local dealership.....

54000 miles on it, great body and paint, new clutch new brakes.......only asking 6500......sounds perfect right.....


The only problem is, I know next to nothing about forced induction, I was looking more towards a regular bonestock N/A car....


so my questions are whether or not i should be skeptical about the reliability of a daily driven supercharged fsvt.......during the test drive, it had no hesitation to move whatsoever....It's got spunk.....but will it last...


I'm very weary, because i don't want to jump head first into a lemon......I want a reliable car, but i really want a fsvt.....



any suggestions would be much appreciated.....any advice whatsoever....


like what to look or listen for when i go back to test drive it again......any possible problems with JC superchargers......ect......

[j20000]

THe JRSC is THE most reliable FI for the Focus...SVT or not. It's been around since the begining, and besides the few of us who have pushed the limits far beyond what the JRSC should go....there have been nearly ZERO problems. You would be perfectly fine having an JRSC'd SVT for your DD. I am just skeptical of buying previously modded cars. For the most part they were modded so that they would be faster...meaning that it was probably beat on. And the fact that it had a clutch put in at 54,000 miles should be the biggest red flag. I would do some research. There's a good chance that it MAY have been somebody's car on here.

I personally would look for a bone stock SVTF and mod it yourself, or fiding one on here that people know the history of.

Just my $.02

[Hitokiri]

Your supercharged SVT should be good as long as it runs on the Jackson Racing tune and you don't boost it more then 11 psi because of heat issues. I remember Mr. Jackson also saying if you're really worried about reliability because of heat issues a larger radiator well help as long as a "mist" system which if you search should of been discussed here before.

[OrangeSVT03]

It no more reliable tha the powerworks SC... the JRSC is considerably smaller than its competitors and that why it doesnt put much stress on the engine.

But to answer the OP... Yes it should be a reliable ride... depending on how its been treated and the maintenance that has been done on it.

[j20000]

How many "stock" boosted PWSC's have blown up compared to how many JRSC's? There are alot more JRSC's out there, and I bet there are more blown motors due to the PWSC's

[kennan J]

you will have to baby your boosted car if it was a dd. Take note of everything, I say little problems can lead to big problems

[OrangeSVT03]

Originally Posted by j20000

How many "stock" boosted PWSC's have blown up compared to how many JRSC's? There are alot more JRSC's out there, and I bet there are more blown motors due to the PWSC's

The only 3 I've heard of was due to the first tune that came out... then PW stepped up and replaced their engines.

[d.bluefocus21]

^^^^yeah that's what I heard too

blueovaldave tracks his 240ish whp everyday and has well over 100k on his motor running strong as ever...btw it's a PWSC'd car

I wouldn't be too worried about a dd'd jrsc'd car....as long as it was maintained, you are good to go

[blueovaldave]

Thanks for the mention.

Mine is a Zetec with 151,000 on it. I put the PWSC on the stock bottom end with 85K on it.

Track it once a month or more, when money allows, and daily drive it 106 miles roundtrip per day in rush hour traffic.

Be smart. Keep the maintance done on it and you won't have any problems.

Most of the PWSC cars that have popped have been modified cars running higher boost and custom tunes, ect.

By the way my PWSC has been on 2 or 3 different cars. I know 2 cars for sure.

[kimbo305]

When buying a used car with mods, you really have to take a close look at the disposition of the seller. Is it a guy who looks like he would hammer the car every day, and rev at people at red lights? Does he look like he's honest and disclose problems or potential upcoming problems with the car?

Or is he pretty conservative with it, just liking the extra power, has some notes on repairs and maintenance?

Obviously those are 2 extremes. A car with mods is no different than any other car -- you have to know why the owner put those mods there and how he treated the car.

I just had the PWSC kit put on my car, and for the sake of future resale, I'm going to keep a journal of all the work being put into the car and how it's being used. Yeah I don't expect much more than over a stock SVT, but I do want to have potential buyers know exactly what they're looking at.

[naneek1]

Thank you all for your responses and input, keep it coming....

So lets say i do buy this car....What kind of routine maintenance will it take to keep it reliable as a daily driver? Just the basics, like plugs, wires, and fluids??


And how would i go about getting the jrsc tune done to it, to ensure greater reliability.....


I really wan't this car, but i would hate to buy it and destroy it with my lack of experience with FI cars......


You all seem very knowledgeable about this topic, and I appreciate your efforts....

[blueovaldave]

From my experience in the last 2 years an Supercharged car is not really any more maintance than a regular car.

Only thing I have had to do differently was replace the tensioner once or twice. Other than that the kits are made to work with your car the way it was built.

[kimbo305]

Originally Posted by naneek1

And how would i go about getting the jrsc tune done to it, to ensure greater reliability.....

The more the PO knows about this question, the more confident you should be. I think there was a revision to the JRSC 'factory' tune which made it safer? If he didn't even know that, then he probably didn't keep up with other maintenance. Better yet would be a custom tune from a reputable Focus shop.

Since a dealership is selling it, your only hope might be to ask if the PO left them any paperwork / notes on the car. They'll hide every single problem they know of to sell the car, and can get away with that legally since it's used.

[sleeperlove]

As a DD JRSC will be fine. If you plan on tracking the car I would stay away from the JRSC as it turns into a big heat pump when beat on.

[dongnong]

it's reliable - however, keep in mind that if you don't work on your cars, the JRSC could be a financial burden when the stealership charges you to remove/reinstall the kit. there aren't many instances that would require that - but it is something to keep in mind should you need a major repair.

[CaysE]

Originally Posted by OrangeSVT03

It no more reliable tha the powerworks SC... the JRSC is considerably smaller than its competitors and that why it doesnt put much stress on the engine.

But to answer the OP... Yes it should be a reliable ride... depending on how its been treated and the maintenance that has been done on it.

The JRSC and Powerworks blowers are both Eaton M62s for the SVT kits as far as I've been able to find out. Powerworks kits are more powerful because they're intercooled in the plenum and tuned for it.

[naneekE]

sorry Im on another name i forgot my PW..........



But i have decided to get it......

I will post updates of my progress......



Thanks for all of the help......

[LowZX3on17s]

where is it? if u dont buy it, i will.

[Stolle]

Originally Posted by sleeperlove

As a DD JRSC will be fine. If you plan on tracking the car I would stay away from the JRSC as it turns into a big heat pump when beat on.

its a heat pump all the time. my non SVT jrsc m45 has peaked as high as 242F when doing 3rd gear AF pulls.

[Power Surge]

Any supercharged Focus (or car for that matter) can be just as reliable as a stock car. It all comes down to if you are staying at a power level the car can handle, and if your tuning is proper.

Driving habits also factor in as well. The 02 SVTF I bought a few months back, had a JRSC with a blown motor. The guy I bought it from, bought the car (which had been together for two years prior with the blower and tuned) and blew the motor in 300 miles of owning the car. Crap gas and beating the living hell out of it mercilously will do that.

A few years back I did a KB install and dyno tune on an 03 Cobra for a customer. The car left me making 570 rwhp, and an A/F of 11.5. It came back on a tow truck several days later with coolant pouring out the exhaust and 8 burned plugs. Then the guy told me he was out on the highway, making 150mph blast after blast. On the 6th consecutive blast, he hit 4th gear and popped the motor. Just ONE WOT pull on that car, on the dyno in 4th gear only, will send the IAT2s to over 170 degrees, so you can imagine what 6 all gear WOT pulls in a row will do.

You just need to be aware of what's taking place under the hood, when you mash the gas. Supercharged cars can be reliable, but they are not bulletproof.

[Stolle]

170? thats it? i got that beat.

242F.

i need some water/meth ASAP. lol

[CaysE]

LOL I was going to say, 170 sounds great! hahaha

[DigitalGT]

Wow Stolle. 242°? That's destructively high. Where is your intake drawing from? I've hit like 160-170 with my PW once and noticed shortly thereafter that the degas bottle had cracked and leaked all of the intercooler juice on the ground. Usually without WMI I'm around 120-130 on a hot day. With the spray it's down near ambient.

SCARY IATs there bud.

[Power Surge]

170 is one 3rd gear dyno pull on that Terminator Cobra. That's air to water cooled. It starts off at about 120. So 6 seconds later it's risen 50 degrees. And that's just ONE 6 second pull. You can imagine how hot 5 or 6 consecutive all gear pulls can get.

IAT's in the 250 degree range are common on most non-intercooled blower setups. I usually see 220-240 on base Mustang Vortec kits, with no problems as long as the car is tuned properly. It's very important to have your IAT downstream of the blower and then have the tune corrected to pull the proper amount of timing based on how hot it gets. Naturally that's not the best thing for making power.