JDM Stage 2 Saleen Blower Installation

April 10, 2008 | Installations

Picking which power adder to bolt onto your Mustang can be a daunting task. In the past few years more new supercharger, nitrous, and turbo kits have appeared on the market than ever before. The market is flooded with options, but which direction should you go with your Mustang? This article intends to shed some light on one of those options, the Saleen Series VI Supercharger kit for the 2005-2008 Mustang GT.

Our project car for this article is Elisa Brooks’ 2006 Mustang GT, equipped with the 5R55S automatic transmission. Her car is mostly stock with the exception of a Tunable Induction CAI, American Racing Headers 1 3/4″ long tube headers, and matching X pipe coupled with Zoomers axle back mufflers. Additionally, it was tuned by yours truely using SCT’s Advantage tuning software.

Picking a reputable shop will be the most important decision you will make and the type of supercharger application is second. For our installation, we opted to travel over 900 miles to JDM Engineering’s facility in Freehold, NJ. The decision to go with JDM was a no brainer, they have sold and installed more Saleen blowers than anyone. Jim D’Amore of JDM Engineering highly recommended that we upgrade our fuel system with the Saleen / GT500 fuel system. In addition to the fuel pumps, 39lb./hr. fuel injectors were used (courtesy of my 2003 Cobra). We also stepped down a heat range with the FRPP 0 degree spark plugs. The MAF sensor was upgraded to a 90mm Ford unit as well.

Our install was under way on a VERY cold NJ morning. We met with the entire crew at JDM, and were introduced to Craig, the technician doing our installation. Craig is one Saleen blower installing machine. All this guy does is install Saleen blowers. He could install the blower with his eyes closed, and one arm tied behind his back. His attention to detail meets or exceeds anything I have seen from any technican before.

Follow along with our installation …

Seen here is Craig, doing yet another Saleen blower install….

After removing the inlet and MAF, the injectors are disconnected from the wiring harness, and the fuel rail is disconnected from the fuel lines. Next the intake bolts are removed.

Seen here is the removed stock intake. Take note the CMCV (Charge Motion Control Valve) attached to the intake are not reused with the Saleen blower.

Stock intake removed.

After removing the intake, Craig lifted the car up to remove the the passenger side inner fender liner, and front bumper assembly. The bumper was removed so that the intercooler pump and heat exchanger could be mounted later. The liner was removed to give access to the harness and firewall grommets, to make the install easier, as you will see.

Shown here are the heater hoses and lines that run below the factory intake. The Saleen blower reuses the hoses, however the hard lines are replaced to accomodate the blower.

After installing the Saleen supplied coolant lines, and reattaching the factory heater hose, its time to really get started. Note that the factory COPS (Coil On Plugs) are removed.

With the blower about to go on, we made a last minute decision to install the FRPP black cam covers. The bare metal factory cam covers definately do not cut it in the looks department.

Black FRPP cam covers installed …

The Saleen kit comes with a new coolant crossover tube to accomodate the blower, it is powdercoated black to match the blower. Craig test fits the new crossover tube before installing the blower. If there is any problem, it is easier to fix it now with the blower off. After everything checks out, he removes the crossover.

Here, the Saleen blower is installed in place of the factory intake.

This is an upclose view of the Saleen blower. Notice the blower sits below the intercooler, unlike the traditional setup, like that of a 2003-2004 Mustang Cobra. Below the blower snout, you can see the coolant hose that Craig was test fitting with the new coolant crossover tube.

There has been alot of discussion on our forums about the amount of room (or lack of) between the Saleen blower and the firewall. This image makes it clear that there is adequate room.

This is where Craig really deviates from the Saleen instructions. JDM has found that reclocking the alternator is an easy fix to a sure fire problem. The instructions has the alternator wiring running on top of the alternator, sandwiched between the inlet tubing. Over time this will most likely rub through the insulation, and bad things could happen. Reclocking the alternator moves the wiring to the bottom of the alternator.

After reclocking the alternator, the Saleen supplied alternator pulley is installed. This pulley is slightly smaller than the factory pulley, to make room for the added supercharger pulley.

The alternator must be installed with the pulley facing the engine. With this setup the alternator is spun backwards, but there are no ill effects from doing this.

In this picture, we see Craig attempting to tighten down the coolant crossover bolts. Looks like he is missing the bolt. Oh well, he is doing good with an audience watching him install everything, and with me snapping pictures every 5 seconds.

The intercooler tank supplied by Saleen is attached to the factory brackets on the strut towers. I am not quite sure what these brackets are for, but Saleen makes good use of them. Please note the OEM look.

The heat exchanger is a crucial part of the Saleen package. The Saleen heat exchanger bolts to the back of the bumper support.

The intercooler pump is mounted to the backside of the bumper support. The bracket shown here has been modified to raise the pump up about half an inch. JDM does this on Mustangs with factory bumpers, to help protect the intercooler pump from any mishap with parking curbs. The Saleen vehicles have a chin spoiler, and do not require this small modification.

With the intercooler pump in place, the hoses are connected and tightened up.

Remember earlier when Craig removed the inner fender liner? Here’s why; the black wiring connects to the intercooler pump. Routing it this way results in a very clean install.

Craig beat us back from lunch, and got a little ahead of us. While we were gone, he reinstalled the factory throttle body. Here the upgraded 39lb./hr. injectors are being installed. The factory rails are adequate for the power we plan to make. The crossover line in the center of the fuel rails is routed between the intake runners.

The inlet air temperature sensor comes pre-installed in the blower. Saleen uses a Lightning style IAT sensor. The sensor is placed after the blower and intercooler to give accurate temperature readings to the computer, so that the appropriate amount of timing is removed based on how hot the blower is. Prewired into the sensor is a connector for use with Saleen gauges. We did not opt for the Intercooler Temp gauge, so the connector is left hanging. In the future, we will add some aftermarket gauges to the car, and utilize this connector.

Since the 2005+ Mustangs use a built it intake air temperature sensor in the MAF, the wires must be removed from the MAF connector, and soldered to the Saleen IAT sensor.

The alternator wiring runs across the front of the engine bay, instead of along the top of the blower. This picture was taking before the wiring was loomed up with the factory wiring.

We lost some coolant earlier, after removing the factory coolant crossover. Craig topped off the engine coolant, and also filled the intercooler system.

The CAI we had installed on the car before going to JDM was removed before the trip, since we knew ahead of time it would not work with the Saleen blower. JDM offers both the C&L intake system, and their own system. The JDM cold air kit utilizes the larger Saleen inlet tube seen here, along with a heat shield and an open conical filter. Before installation of the MAF and the cold air kit, the 3.4″ pulley is installed.

Craig attaches the billet MAF flange and Lightning 90mm MAF to the JDM heat shield.

The Saleen intake tube is attached to the MAF before installing the system in the engine bay.

With the cold air kit installed, the blower install is done. Using a Lightning 90mm MAF sensor requires a special harness to adapt it to the newer style MAF connector.

Finishing up the intercooler pump install, we opted for a toggle switch that allows the pump to run when the car is not running. This is especially needed if you plan to drag race, as it allows you to circulate the intercooler coolant while in the staging lanes. Note - JDM does not use the Saleen supplied electricals for the intercooler pump. The kit comes with a small relay that turns the intercooler pump after a certain amount of time has passed after startup. JDM has found this piece is prone to failure. JDM wires it up so that the pump comes on immediately when the key is turned on. Note (2) - The Saleen instructions for the intercooler pump wiring uses the fog lamps ——, which effectively eliminates the fog lamps. The way JDM wires the intercooler allows both the intercooler pump to function, as well as the fog lamps.

The last thing left up front is to install the FRPP 0 degree spark plugs. The 2005+ uses a new plug design, and gapping them can be tricky. There are companys that make a special tool for this, however JDM has found a way to do it using a standard lathe.

With the new plugs gapped and installed, and with the COPs back in place, we can now move to the rear of the car….

JDM recommends going with the GT500 fuel pump kit from Saleen over the one from FRPP due to the way the kit is wired. The FRPP kit currently does not wire into the inertia switch, and is hooked up directly to the fuse panel. The Saleen kit is setup to be wired correctly. Otherwise the kits are the same.

The first step to installing the GT500 fuel pump kit is install the second FPDM (Fuel Pump Driver Module). To do this, we must remove the trunk floor, and spare tire.

With everything out of the way, we can see the factory single FPDM. The FPDM is an electronic device that is what the PCM communicates with to control the voltage supplied to the fuel pumps. FPDM’s are only used on returnless fuel systems, where there is no return line. On the older return style systems, the fuel pump operates at a constant voltage, and a fuel pressure regulator controls how much pressure is in the fuel rails. On the newer Mustangs (1999+), the returnless system is used. In this fuel system, there is no return line, hence the pressure is regulated using a variable speed pump, controlled by the FPDM.

When larger pumps are used, they can overload a single FPDM. There has been much debate on the forums as to whether the 2005+ Mustangs have the same problems as older Mustangs, in reguards to the FPDM going into thermal shutdown mode. Rest assured, the 2005+ has the same FPDM (internally), and is just as suceptible as the older models.

The fix for this problem is by installing a second FPDM. The Shelby GT500 has two FPDMs from the factory, just like the Ford GT.

Here you can see the second FPDM and the factory wiring after Craig spliced it with the harness for the additional pump.

With both of the FPDM’s plugged in, the harness for the added pump is routed along side the factory harness.

This picture details the routing of the factory harness, along with the added harness.

The S197 platform makes it easy to access the fuel tank. There is no longer a need to remove the fuel tank to install new fuel pumps. To access the fuel pumps, remove the back seat and on the driver side, you will see the access panel for the fuel pump. Craig first removes the rubber panel, then disconnects the plug going to the old pump.

With the factory pump removed, we are now ready to install the new fuel pumps.

The factory pump is on the right, and the GT500 pumps are on the left.

Don’t forget to run the car out of gas before installing the new pumps. We brought the car in with a full tank of gas (sorry Craig), so when it was time for the new pumps to go in, the fuel level was a bit to high to keep the extra gas from running over. Craig used a hand pump to bring the level down, enough to accomodate the new pumps.

With the new pumps in, and plugged up, the rubber panel is put back in place.

After reinstalling the back seat, the rest of the new harness is ran under the dash, and into the engine compartment, and to the fuse box.

The install is complete, now its dyno time!

Once the install was completed, the car was loaded up with a base tune for the modifications. Craig took the car for a spin, to make sure everything was working properly. Upon returning to the shop, the car was inspected for any leaks, none were found.

After the inspection, the car was strapped down to JDM’s dyno.

After 3 dyno pulls to get the air fuel ratio perfect, the car puts down 435/435 with only 16 degrees total timing. The timing was kept low so that the stock engine would live for a while. We could certainly get the car into the 470 range with a couple more degrees of timing, but to us it is really not worth it until we upgrade to a built shortblock.

Overall, I am very impressed with the Saleen kit. I have yet to seen any other blower manufacturer put out a kit that is comparable in OEM fit and finish as the Saleen kit. Every blower kit I have dealt with in the past required some sort of additional parts or “customization” to make everything fit, and work properly; that is simply not the case with this blower.

The installation at JDM was very smooth and painless. I highly recommend anyone thinking of going with the Saleen blower to contact JDM about the installation and tuning. The first tune Jim loaded into our car was spot on, and required little adjustment.