Magna-ficent: Installing a Supercharger

Pulling up the fuse/relay center revealed three wiring blocks on the bottom. We went to the white block and located a pair of gray wires. Different years have different wiring schemes. The smaller of the two wires was cut and the yellow wire from the heat-exchanger relay and wiring harness was spliced in with the supplied crimp/shrink connector. Just crimping the connection wasn't enough--we had to shrink the plastic covering, too. Then the black wire with the ring connector was routed down to the ground terminal under the battery. The rest of the wiring was worked forward following the factory path and the large red wire and fuse holder was attached to the B+ terminal with the ring connector.

The Magnuson supercharger's manifold comes with 42-pound injectors installed, so it was time to upgrade the fuel pump to make sure fuel delivery keeps up with the engine.

Installing the new fuel pump involved making sure the tank had no more than 1/8 inch of fuel left in the bottom and removing the right-side wheel and tire to access the stock unit. Four bolts were removed to release the end cap on the fuel-tank panels. Then we took off three fuel lines by pushing the connectors and squeezing the release triggers. We removed six more bolts and pulled the access cover and pump out of the tank about 6 inches and removed the fuel-level transmitter and eased out the pump assembly. Moving to a bench, the fuel-pump can was separated from the lid and the fuel line connection was removed, taking care not to damage the line. The electrical connector was unplugged and the new fuel pump was assembled and put back into the tank.

Installing the supercharger was about the same as removing and replacing the intake. But there were a few twists:

First, the plastic fuel-rail covers were set aside since they wouldn't be needed again. Then the fuel lines were disconnected using the supplied tool. From there, it was an exercise in removing the air-cleaner duct and mass airflow meter, unplugging the intake air temp connector, disconnecting and removing the EVAP-canister purge tube and the purge-canister solenoid from the throttle body. Next, the throttle-body coolant hoses were disconnected and clamped before pulling off the electrical connectors at the throttle body, the crankcase breather-vent tube, the electrical connectors on the fuel injectors, and the EVAP-canister purge-solenoid electrical connector.

Then the vacuum hose was disconnected from the brake booster, and the knock-sensor wire-harness connector was removed from the PCV tube and the connector was unplugged. The PCV tube assembly was then removed and the MAP sensor electrical connector and vacuum line were disconnected. The 10 intake bolts were pulled using an 8mm socket, and the manifold assembly was lifted off the engine.

A Shop-Vac was used to clean the dirt and debris away from the intake ports, then the coolant vent pipe was removed. The intake ports were taped shut and the serpentine belt was removed and discarded. The power-steering reservoir and its bracket were removed from the driver-side head and the bracket was separated from the reservoir. The bolts were reinstalled into the head and torqued to 37 lb-ft. The line was disconnected from the reservoir and the fluid was discarded. The reservoir line was rerouted under the top radiator hose and over to the passenger side where the reservoir will be permanently attached later on a new bracket.

A new front coolant vent pipe was installed using the stock bolts, making sure the O-rings were in place. The two rubber knock-sensor covers were removed from the engine valley cover and their electrical connectors were disconnected. The knock sensors were removed before removing the engine-valley cover. The original gasket can be removed, but the bolts will be replaced. The new engine-valley cover from the kit was installed with flathead bolts. Finally, six O-rings were placed in the recesses in the cover.