So my pw sc arrived an hour ago and i was looking through everything, there seems to be soo many pieces to the kit. I am going to be installing with my fiance's dad that's ASE certified, i shouldn't have any problems i hope, the instructions seem pretty clear with the pictures. How have others done with installing the pw?

Just take your time and follow the instructions step-by-step and you shouldn't have any issues.

If you you, PM me and I'll get you thru it.

It looks daunting, but really there isn't to much to worry about. Like COSDEV said, the instructions are your friend and are very accurate.

Have you sent your ECU in yet?

i have installed two now(my 03 svt and my wife's 03 svt) and the only thing that i found confusing at times is the directions cover both zetec and svt motors. just make sure you read the directions carefully and you'll have no problems. oh and use good drill bits when drilling the holes for the intercooler in the front reinforcement bar(behind bumpercover). those thing's are high-strength steel and will kill a drill bit in no time.

im sending my ecu tomorrow morning, by the fed ex package they sent me. Hopefully ill get it back Sat. Fed ex only delivers Sat. if its shipped overnight priority, and the way im sending it to them is set at regular overnight. I hope i dont have to wait till mon. to get it back

Congratulations on your acquisition!

My personal install goofs to avoid:

1) Consider dropping the motor out of the car. I know it is a pain, but depending on your clearance issue(s), this might speed the process (even with the added time involved) up considerably.

2) Be patient getting the alternator out of its bracket. It can get wedged in their pretty tightly, but will come out with the right persuasiveness.

3) Send in the ECU right away, as it might take 2 days and weekends don't count to return.

4) Be sure to put the provided gaskets on...My installer goofed this, and it caused much sorrow and heartache (oil cooler = no gasket, oil relocation plate = double gaskets).

5) Take deep breaths frequently and remember how fun this will be once complete.

6) Matt Dunlavey is your friend! Contact him at Powerworks with any issues. He's helped me more times than I can count, and is a tireless source of encouragement, problem solving, and genuine concern for customers.

Congratulations again, and post up your impressions once completed.

Take care, and best of luck!

-Chuck

so i thought i might get finished tonight but that didn't happen, the weather has sucked here really bad. And i haven't been able to start until like 6pm becasue thats when my helper gets off work. I'll be able to start about 3 tomorrow afternoon and should get a good bit done. I'm starting the install process tomorrow, everything has been disconected and taken out. looks like my engine bay has blown apart, there is stuff everywhere. ;-)

<----- Matt Dunlavey

First time installs take 18-24hrs to realistically complete if you are handy with a wrench ... be patient, follow the instructions and all should go fine.

Make sure you plug your knock sensor connectors back together BEFORE you install the blower ... #1 commonly missed item and one of the hardest to fix once the blower is installed.

you have a pm Matt

I am ordering one this week from ZX3tuning, and will hopefully try and have it installed as soon as it arrives. If I get a garage to do my install, do you think that the install will be a lot faster if they have the right tools for doing stuff, and have a hoist? I would do the install myself, but I'd rather it done by a shop that deals with Turbo'ed and S/C'ed cars on a regular basis...

I think I may or may not have to contact your shop, or my mechanic will, if he isn't sure about stuff...

A hoist can make it a little faster, but unless they work on Foci a lot, it will still take some time.

Pulling the PS halfshaft for the install can free up a lot of room and help speed things up a bit.

No problem in contacting the PW hotlline or myself via the forums ...

You have a PM matt, or here is the same message, for anyone that has done this install before........I dont understand what im doing with the oil cooler thing, the black piece that attaches to the filter adapter that is now in the drivers wheel well area. Is that a new piece thats suppose to be in my kit? Or is it the thing on the back of the block near where i ran the lines from the filter adapter and is keeping me from getting that bracket with the pullies under the alternator flush? This is soo agravating, im almost done, and now i dont understand what this oil cooler thing is.

Hey Bryan. I just installed my PW kit last week. I'm not too sure what you are refering to. There is no oil cooler included in the kit, just the relocation kit although the instructions do mention that you can install one later. You should have the permacool filter adapter screwed on to where the oilfilter was, the remote oil filter mount in the passenger side wheelwell and two lines between them.

i downloaded the pdf file from the PW site and it shows it on step 14?

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/5223/oilcooler3dd.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

this is what im talking about, the black oil cooler that attaches to the filter adapter, then the oil filter attches to that. Is this already on the svt engine, and i just need to move it to this location? i already have the filter adapter in its place with the lines flowing in the right direction.[paranoid]

SVTs have the oil cooler (already on the engine). Regular Zetecs do not have one.

The oil cooler needs to be moved from the engine location to the relocation bracket. The oil cooler water supply/return hoses will need to be modified per the instructions. Remove the oil cooler from the engine (including it's O-ring - sometimes will stick to the engine) and move it to the filter adapter as shown in the above left pic.

The hoses you show in the pic above on the right are the oil lines - not the oil cooler water hoses.

the oil cooler already on the engine is located right next to the old oil filter location correct? And after i remove the oil cooler from the engine, wont there be a hole where it was removed from? what do i plug that with? Thanks, sorry im far from a mechanic

ok im out to see if i can get this right, lol, thanks for helping me matt, i might have Q's later. See ya in a few hours. ;-)

Originally, your oil filter mounted on top of the oil cooler. The oil cooler was mounts to the oil filter pad.

Once you relocate the oil cooler, the oil relocation block goes onto the engine block in place of the oil cooler/filter - that is what the oil hoses connect to on the engine.

Bwahahha oops, SVT focus. Free flogging for me :P

OMG@@!!! that was the hardest thing i ever had to go through installing something. It took me about 4 hours just to get off the oil cooler and relocation block that i accidentlly bolted on to it. The SC was in the way and i had to pull the engine off the mounts and unbolt everything! Im at the point now where i fixed the relocater block and the oil cooler and got it set up right in the wheel well. I have the lines done for them too. Now im just finshing up the IC lines and getting all the wires harnessed tomorrow, the belt is also routed. I really hope the computer gets to my house tomorrow afternoon, i mailed it on Thurs. Morn.

I'm surprised you got it to fit in there to begin with!

Cal guys said your ECU was shipped out Monday - you should have it today (Tues).

couple more things that i need help with, one is the directions on how to adjust the shift linkage, because i cant get it set to where my gears are right. Another is the vaccuum boost line on the manifold, does that connect to the little nub in the middle of the fuel injectors? One more thing, i dont understand the step with the act sensor, i have it plugged into a long harness thing, and ran it accross the intake manifold, but i can't figure out where to plug it? All my other connections seem to have already been made.

When you re-attach your shifter cables, it doesn't matter where you have the trans linkages ... the shifter will be in approximately the right spot. You may or may not need to adjust the cables ... every car is different.

The long rubber line coming from the three-prong vacuum line coming from behind the intake neck goes to the fuel rail pulse damper in the middle of the fuel rail.

The short 6" vacuum line with 90-degree boots on the ends goes on the IPS (PS end of the fuel rail) and one of the two vacuum nipples on the upper intake (PS side, by the ACT sensor). The other nipple is for a boost gauge or leave it capped if you aren't installing one.

Per the instructions, you will pull the #1 and #6 wires from the OE MAF sensor connector and install them in the supplied 2-wire connector (wire order doesn't matter). That connector is what the ACT extension harness plugs into. Wires #2-4 will also be pulled and installed in another supplied 4-wire connector for the MAF extension harness (pay close attention to the order).

ok, i understand those steps and i can correct those, but what wires will be left to go into the MAF connector itself? That then plugs into the short intake tube?

sorry im slow at this installation, the only thing i have ever changed on the engine was a CAI, lol.

You will move the OE MAF sensor from the OE MAF housing to the PW intake tube. There is a 4-wire MAF harness in the kit - that plugs into the MAF sensor.

Per the instructions, you will pull the 6-wires from the OE MAF connector - one at a time and carefully. #1 and #6 go to the supplied 2-wire connector for the ACT extension harness. #2 thru #4 go into the supplied 4-wire connector for the 4-wire MAF harness. Pay close attention to the order with the #2 thru #4 wires when putting them in the 4-wire connector (there are tiny numbers on the back of the connector) because if you don't you could fry the MAF sensor. Double and triple check everything.

Don't just yank the pins out of the connector when pulling the wires. Once you get the yellow lock cover off of the connector, there is a space above each pin. In that space is a tab that is part of the plastic connector housing - push that tab with a small pick/pin to release the wire pin from the connector housing and pull the wire/wire pin free from the connector housing.

everything is going well, i got the shift cables on right the act harness on right this time, i just have one issue now. The connector that goes to the IAC isn't going on because of the grooves on each side. My connector has the grooves just slightly off on each side and not straight across, here's a pic of my connector and the IAC that i can't get it to snap on. I was thinking i could file the one groove off on the IAC sensor and it would snap right on. Would that work? http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/6242/dsc001089ub.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/7903/dsc001099kn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

im almost done installing my kit, asap on the one prob. if you can. I have no internet access where my car is at so im at home waiting for reply. Thanks bro

im going back to the car to remove the edge that isnt' fitting into my connector on the sensor. And plugging it in, its got to be the right plug, maybe i was sent the wrong harness? but its got to be the right one because it has the one pin connector that goes to the pump, and its the only harness with the one pin connector. And the rest of the connectors are setup right from all the directions i followed and the corrections i made. I hope this doens't affect much if its wrong, but i can't see how it is, ive been looking at it for over an hour. - BRY

I've heard of one other customer who had to file off one of the tabs on the
IAC for some reason. Don't know why your IAC is like that because all of the installs we have done this isn't an issue - the connector snaps right on as is.

Maybe our wiring supplier somehow has mixed up connectors in the box they pull from when they build the harness ... something for me to try to track down.

No reason why you can't file it off ... should work fine.

hey matt, i did exactly that, i filed down that tab. I have my car up and running! everything seems great. One thing though I have horriblly loud belt screeching at low rpms, and sometimes when i get on it? It seems like its starting to fad away, then all the sudden, loud loud loud screeching, is the belt just breaking in? It seems like the tension on the belt is really good.

Also im in need of spark plugs, mine are origional with 49k on them, which ones would you recommend?

Your kit should have came with plugs.

nope, no spark plugs, just new injectors

The SVT kit doesn't come with plugs ... because the car already has the proper spec plugs.

OE replacements or the coppers will work. Denso ITV22s or ITV24s also seem to be working well.

So is the car up and running?