Jeep TJ Kenne Bell Supercharger

[cvettori55]

I've only seen a couple of these things on the forums that I've been through. I just wanted to throw this thing out here to see if anyone has had issues out there with theirs and what they've done to improve their setup with this kit. Also curious what others think of superchargers on tjs in general.

What's currently on this pos
Kennebell Twin Screw 5.5psi
Mustang Cobra Injectors (03-04 I think)
Oil Catch Can
No Cats

 

[Chris]

You don't see too many of these. Is it intercooled?

 

[NashvilleTJ]

The Kenne Bell setup does have a water to air cooler - the supercharer sits on top of it.

I had great luck with mine - but it is all about the tune, OP. Does that rig have the Kenne Bell tune? If so it would likely have a KB sticker on the ECM.

Here is mine:

Great power - about 300 horse and 400 torque - and dead reliable. You never knew it was there until you hit the loud pedal. I absolutely loved that engine - especially off road. I’m now running a 392 Hemi north of 500 horses - and I still miss that mill.

That said, I’ve read about a lot of folks that have nightmare stories of supercharging this I6. Kenne Bell did have it dialed in, but they no longer make this kit.

Jeff

 

[NashvilleTJ]

By the way, if it’s not running cats you can run KB’s smaller pulley and make about 8 pounds of boost without hurting the engine - and get a good bit more power.

 

[cvettori55]

Sorry for the late responses. I did have an issue with the intercooler clogging and blowing the motor. I put in a new motor and had the ecu returned by a local muscle shop. They deleted the intercooler and replaced it with a catch can. I don't have cats currently on the jeep. It is running 5.5 psi of boost. I have been contemplating putting on the smaller pull. Kenne bell did state that if you wanted to run 8 psi you wouldn't need to make any modification to the motor minus the supercharger kit of course. The damn thing is mean for sure.

By the way, if it’s not running cats you can run KB’s smaller pulley and make about 8 pounds of boost without hurting the engine - and get a good bit more power.

 

[cvettori55]

Sorry for the late responses. I did have an issue with the intercooler clogging and blowing the motor. I put in a new motor and had the ecu returned by a local muscle shop. They deleted the intercooler and replaced it with a catch can. I don't have cats currently on the jeep. It is running 5.5 psi of boost. I have been contemplating putting on the smaller pull. Kenne bell did state that if you wanted to run 8 psi you wouldn't need to make any modification to the motor minus the supercharger kit of course. The damn thing is mean for sure.

By the way, if it’s not running cats you can run KB’s smaller pulley and make about 8 pounds of boost without hurting the engine - and get a good bit more power.

 

[cvettori55]

The Kenne Bell setup does have a water to air cooler - the supercharer sits on top of it.

I had great luck with mine - but it is all about the tune, OP. Does that rig have the Kenne Bell tune? If so it would likely have a KB sticker on the ECM.

Here is mine:

View attachment 243447

Great power - about 300 horse and 400 torque - and dead reliable. You never knew it was there until you hit the loud pedal. I absolutely loved that engine - especially off road. I’m now running a 392 Hemi north of 500 horses - and I still miss that mill.

That said, I’ve read about a lot of folks that have nightmare stories of supercharging this I6. Kenne Bell did have it dialed in, but they no longer

You don't see too many of these. Is it intercooled?

Used to be original one clogged and was swapped for an oil catch can. Hasn't had a heating issue yet.

 

[Rick Flair]

Deleting the intercooler sounds like going backwards with forced induction.

 

[Chris]

Deleting the intercooler sounds like going backwards with forced induction.

It is indeed

 

[williambmac]

I ran a Kenne Bell on one of my old Fox body mustangs. Kenne Bell built them right.

I looked into their supercharger for my TJ but they had just disconinued it at the time.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Used to be original one clogged and was swapped for an oil catch can. Hasn't had a heating issue yet.

That sounds like you don’t know what the intercooler does, and neither does the shop that pulled it. Not sure what an oil catch can has to do with pulling the intercooler.

And the engine running cool or not overheating has nothing directly to do with the intercooler. The intercooler cools the intake air charge after it is heated up by the charger, the purpose being to make more power from greater oxygen density. Without an intercooler to reduce the IAT, it won’t be making nearly the power of which it is capable.

 

[cvettori55]

That sounds like you don’t know what the intercooler does, and neither does the shop that pulled it. Not sure what an oil catch can has to do with pulling the intercooler.

And the engine running cool or not overheating has nothing directly to do with the intercooler. The intercooler cools the intake air charge after it is heated up by the charger, the purpose being to make more power from greater oxygen density. Without an intercooler to reduce the IAT, it won’t be making nearly the power of which it is capable.

Appreciate the feedback, I've been toying with the thing the past two years. Young, Dumb, & Broke you might say. Still learning a lot about theses machines everyday which is why I decided to post this up on here. Ill start sourcing another intercooler to replace the one I had prior. You wouldn't happen to have the original install sheets would you? I've been trying to contact Kenne Bell last couple of weeks to get new stickers for the supercharger. Radio silence (email & phone). If I am to reroute the intercooler it would be good to have a basis for it.

BTW

What intercooler did you have on yours. air to air or liquid to air?

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Appreciate the feedback, I've been toying with the thing the past two years. Young, Dumb, & Broke you might say. Still learning a lot about theses machines everyday which is why I decided to post this up on here. Ill start sourcing another intercooler to replace the one I had prior. You wouldn't happen to have the original install sheets would you? I've been trying to contact Kenne Bell last couple of weeks to get new stickers for the supercharger. Radio silence (email & phone). If I am to reroute the intercooler it would be good to have a basis for it.

BTW

What intercooler did you have on yours. air to air or liquid to air?

Air to liquid cooler. That’s what came with the KB kit.

I do still have the KB instructions. They are hard copy, amd may be too much to digitize. I’m on a motorcycle trip at the moment, but if you PM me your address and e-mail I’ll send you a copy one way or the other.

Jeff

 

[BigKID]

Good luck getting any support from KB on a discontinued kit. I have sent multiple emails over the years for a discontinued kit on another platform that have all gone unanswered. Got someone on the phone once and got the 'we don't support that kit anymore and dont have any info' response.

 

[BigKID]

On the intercooler discussion... at 5.5psi you are likely not loosing anything without the intercooler if it is tuned well and running high enough octane fuel to stave off detonation. Detonation reduction is the main purpose of the intercooler on a forced induction application.

 

[cvettori55]

On the intercooler discussion... at 5.5psi you are likely not loosing anything without the intercooler if it is tuned well and running high enough octane fuel to stave off detonation. Detonation reduction is the main purpose of the intercooler on a forced induction application.

I have a buddy with an automatic same year with a stock 4.0 and it's still a night a day difference in power between the two. Kinda scary having a tj accelerate that quickly

 

[MAXJEEP]

Air to liquid cooler. That’s what came with the KB kit.

I do still have the KB instructions. They are hard copy, amd may be too much to digitize. I’m on a motorcycle trip at the moment, but if you PM me your address and e-mail I’ll send you a copy one way or the other.

Jeff

I have an Avenger Kit. From what I read they got their supercharger from Kenne Bell. It was originally an Autorotor then they got bought out by Kenne Bell. I just got the kit, no instructions and the supercharger has issues. Do you know what supercharger was used? I would also love a copy of the instructions. Kenne Bell copied the Avenger kit and improved it. I have not been on this forum in years and don’t Remember how to PM you. I have seen some sites selling NOS Autorotor supercharger but I dont know how to tell what model to buy

 

[NashvilleTJ]

I have an Avenger Kit. From what I read they got their supercharger from Kenne Bell. It was originally an Autorotor then they got bought out by Kenne Bell. I just got the kit, no instructions and the supercharger has issues. Do you know what supercharger was used? I would also love a copy of the instructions. Kenne Bell copied the Avenger kit and improved it. I have not been on this forum in years and don’t Remember how to PM you. I have seen some sites selling NOS Autorotor supercharger but I dont know how to tell what model to buy

Sorry, after checking I no longer have the instructions.

What kind of issues did you have, and how did you tune it?

 

[MAXJEEP]

I have not installed it yet but the blower it self needs repaired. The drive gears for the rotors are trashed. I found a place selling autorotor blowers but I don’t know how to identify mine and I can’t seem to find any where to buy parts to fix mine

 

[MAXJEEP]