ZR6 motor adding a supercharger?????

[Lvnspeed]

I have a 2003 ZR6 PCM motor. Isnt that the same as the 6.0 GM motors that come in the trucks like a H2 or 2500 pickup? If so, couldnt I take the superchager for one of these trucks and put it on my zr6? Are the PCM/ECus the same or simluar? maight take a little fab work but that no big deal to me. I wonder if a prop could be made to hold the addition 100 HP. I know Mercury has tons of SC motors in boats so why not a ski boat? They seem to start to make power/boost around 1700- 1800 RPMs. Has anyone ever done this?

[Lvnspeed]

I have found a few SC kits for the GM 6.0 motor that are not that badly priced

[gride]

you'll have to have PCM adjust the ecu i believe. i think they keep it pretty locked down, but dealers may be able to do it. would you need to modify the engine hatch?

[Lvnspeed]

I dont think so I have friend measure his on his truck and it looks like I will have plenty of room. I might have to knotch the area at top deack at the back for the drip rail at tad to get the belt on but that it from what i can tell. I will also have to change the air to air Intercooler to a water to air intecoller but no big deal there. any suggestion on who to talk to at PCM?

[NautiqueJeff]

Just throw a new PCM XS-550 in there. It is already supercharged from the factory!

http://www.planetnautique.com/vb3/sh...charged-Engine

[Lvnspeed]

That would be sweet but I bet it would cost a pretty penny.... plus it should be able to get this done as long as I can get the ECU reflashed.

[stealth71]

Any reason you couldn't run a stock LSx ECU? Any of those can be reflashed with HP Tuners or EFI Live. Does PCM use a factory ECU or something custom? Either way you could change the wiring harness if they did something proprietary, but I doubt they would go through the effort. Call PCMforless he does a ton of tuning for the car based LSx world.

[Lvnspeed]

Yes I know about the LS based tuning stuff. I think i am going to call PCM and see I am with you cant see them making their own ECU. Hopefully they will be willing to let me have it reflashed. i cant be the first guy who has wanted to do this.

[Lvnspeed]

Emailed PCM and here is the responce:

We have not set up a program for the ECM that could handle a supercharger. We have also not tested that engine with a supercharger and do not recommend it. This engine is not the same as the truck engines as they are rated for marine/industrial use only.
We do not flash ECM’s unless we have tested the programming on our engines.

Well this sucks..... I still think I am going to dig and see what it will take. I thought GM built the motors for PCM and PCM just slapped thier assecories on the motor.

[stealth71]

To me Marine/Industrial use would be more extreme than being in a truck. I can't imagine that they would use pistons that are any weaker than the hyperutectic ones from the factory and the block/heads can be verified by looking at the casting numbers. All you need to do is make sure the fuel system is sufficient, possibly upgrade the injectors and put a couple wideband O2 sensors in. Then you can have someone give you a base tune and have them come for a ride to do the final tuning on the water. I'm surprised there isn't much of an aftermarket for this or is there?

I think they are putting up the smoke and mirrors to try and sell the high dollar engines. Were you thinking about going with a roots style or centrifugal (procharger/novi 2000) supercharger?

I'm new to the inboard world, but have a lot of LSx knowledge from building my Chevelle LS1 swap.

[TRBenj]

Surely you can understand why PCM keeps their proprietary engine programs locked down. Giving people free access to them would negate the competitive advantage they have (they spent lots of time and $$ spent developing them), and would also open themselves up to warranty/reliability claims.

It would be entirely possible to start from scratch with an aftermarket GM ECM and develop your own A/F curve. But I doubt its easy or straightforward- I suspect the marine tune is quite a bit different from an automotive one. Doing all the work to develop a good tune for this specific application, is what PCM is in business to do. I would imagine that every once in a while they frag an engine and learn something. Hopefully that wouldnt be you and your $$$ motor!

That being said, I think that this would be a very cool project. But be aware that its quite a bit more complicated than simply bolting on hp.

[ClemsonDave]

I would think the centrifugal would work better. A roots based blower might throw too much power too quickly to the prop. Not like you can add slicks! ;-)

Sounds like a fun project. I'm pretty sure the blocks are the same. How about the rotating assembly? A stock LS based motor can handle a lot if you do it right! Ask me how I know... ;-)

[mike-d]

Change out the ecu with a motor that is already sc. It should be plug and play? but you would have to figure out the other sensors that the automotive motor would use and adapt it to the marine version?

Sounds like a fun project! You might get better gas mileage with a loaded ballasted boat, keep us posted.

Mike
orlando

[Lvnspeed]

I have a call into a friend at Vortec Superchargers if anyone can hep he can.

[stealth71]

Can someone take a picture of the computer to compare with a stock GM computer? Also is there a OBDII port on the boat?