Can you put a supercharger on a zr409?

[shirlz72]

Hi,

just wondering if there are any possible power upgrades for the PCM engines? i have a 2010 zr409 and am looking for a bit more holeshot and dont really want to sacrifice too much top speed by going to a prop with less pitch. has anyone done any mods for these engines for more power? what would be the difference between the 409 and the 450?

thanks in advance for any advice or links to previous discussions

[nyryan2001]

Never heard of a successfull supercharging of a motor for a wakeboat and it turning out well and lasting.

very difficult to increase hp/tq on our boats, you are better off trading in for a different boat.

if you get to the point you are wiling to adjust prop, we can work with you there... Suggest you look at a 2315. That will significantly increase your hole shot when sac'd out heavy... And put you at about 38mph wide open.

what prop do you have on there now?

[shirlz72]

Never heard of a successfull supercharging of a motor for a wakeboat and it turning out well and lasting.

very difficult to increase hp/tq on our boats, you are better off trading in for a different boat.

if you get to the point you are wiling to adjust prop, we can work with you there... Suggest you look at a 2315. That will significantly increase your hole shot when sac'd out heavy... And put you at about 38mph wide open.

what prop do you have on there now?

hi thanks for the info, i have the 1235 at the moment, it has 1 inch clearance. so with a 15 inch prop will the .75 inch clearance be enough? i just googled a search on the comparison of the two props and it sounds like the 2315 is the go. top speed isnt too much of a concern i was just thinking if it wasnt too hard to get more HP i would explore that option.

[jsta281]

Hi,

just wondering if there are any possible power upgrades for the PCM engines? i have a 2010 zr409 and am looking for a bit more holeshot and dont really want to sacrifice too much top speed by going to a prop with less pitch. has anyone done any mods for these engines for more power? what would be the difference between the 409 and the 450?

thanks in advance for any advice or links to previous discussions

It's **** near impossible, and definitely cost prohibitive even if you use 100 dollar bills as kindling . :-) As has been mentioned having the right prop for your application can make a huge difference.

[nyryan2001]

hi thanks for the info, i have the 1235 at the moment, it has 1 inch clearance. so with a 15 inch prop will the .75 inch clearance be enough? i just googled a search on the comparison of the two props and it sounds like the 2315 is the go. top speed isnt too much of a concern i was just thinking if it wasnt too hard to get more HP i would explore that option.

Yes with 1/2" you'll be fine. FWIW, Centurion does 1/2" clearance OEM because of their shallow prop angle... and most of the prop sellers say 1/2" is fine also.

You'll see a nite and day difference between 1235 and the 2315, especially when sac'd out heavy. Neck snapping difference.

On a 450 G23, it was 12-13 seconds 0-23mph fully sac'd out using the 2315 vs 18 seconds on the 1235 14pitch. 6 seconds faster acceleration is HUGE. you'll loose about 3-5mph at top speed to pay for that acceleration, but will be well worth it if you routinely sac out heavy.

[Mikeski]

I went pretty far down this path before I stopped my research. I have a 2007 Chevy Avalanche Pickup with a 5.3 LS motor similar to the LSx based 409. I put the Edelbrock supercharger on my truck and it works very well. Gives my little 5.3 near diesel pulling power.

On the boat Whipple is a better choice, they even have marine programs they can dump in the MEFI controllers, they are designed for a Mercruiser but it is nearly the same mechanically as the PCM. They can probably tweak it however it is needed to make it run correctly. I talked a fair bit with Whipple, parts alone are about $5k then installation, then tuning. At the end of the day you will probably have a nice unit but it's not going to make your day on the water that much different than it was before you dropped the $8k ish to get it installed. With me it came down to time, I had the money set aside but I did not have the time to deal with a custom installation. My goal was to make my boat a better slalom/barefoot machine. In the end I took the money and bought a whole boat that is now my dedicated slalom/barefoot boat, it is a 1997 Ski Nautique.

Along the way I also considered a custom built marine motor and had Larry's work up a unit for me. Using the manifolds and electronics off my existing PCM 330EX the Dart block/heads unit would be a little more than 430 cubic inches and probably produce about 500 ft lbs of torque without a supercharger. To build this motor would have set me back roughly the same as supercharging my existing motor. Not sure which is a better choice? The best choice is probably neither, that's why you don't see it more often.

Now that the 550's are pretty common I would guess you could probably buy a ECM programmed for a 550 and hook it up to a Edelbrock supercharger. The Edelbrock uses the same rotors as the 550 but the Edelbrock is a 2.3 liter supercharger versus the 1.9 liter supercharger on the factory GM unit (I am not totally sure about this, let me know if I am mistaken). You might need to re-pulley the larger huffer to make it run correctly or use bigger injectors so it did not run lean. Unfortunately PCM will not unlock the program to any of these motors no matter who you are...

[ffmedic74]

I would also guess you could get some extra mph by changing the tranny ratio.

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[TRBenj]

I would also guess you could get some extra mph by changing the tranny ratio.

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I would guess that even if that were possible... that you'd still be wrong.

[jtryon81]

I would guess that even if that were possible... that you'd still be wrong.

hahaha

[ffmedic74]

TRBenj... Got me! Thinking about a smaller boat which wouldn't have a big difference on whole shot with that much HP. Looked at the author profile and believe that the 230 has a 1.48:1 and not the 1.23:1 ratio tranny.

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[Westlotorn]

I worked many years in the Engine business, we made pistons, Rings, Bearings and more for Mercury Marine, Ford, Chevy, Chrysler and most everyone else including Briggs and Stratton.

Supercharging any engine really raises cylinder pressures, if the tune is not perfect there is no room for error. Head Gaskets blow, Piston Rings fracture, Pistons fail. In cars these problems are common with non factory engines. Cars work at far less load than boats.
In boats the failure rate would be pretty high. I would not want to invest $8K to gain more pull and melt an engine. There would be no warranty. If you have lots of money to burn, can afford to repair it when it breaks then by all means do it. It will make big power and with fuel injection your odds of making it work are much better but still not good.

If it was my money and I needed more power and I did not care about fuel mileage I would pull the engine and stroke it, increasing the stroke 1/4 inch will add 30-40 inches and give 50 pounds more torque. This change could cost $4,000 or more. Maybe pull your engine, swap for a 409/450, Sell yours and maybe the cost will be only $3,000. Still big money for the gains.