When is the best time to change the supercharger oil? I just rolled 75k and I'm wondering if I should do it soon or wait on it. I have no idea if it was ever done in the past, but it doesn't make any odd noises like it would be dry. The only thing holding me back is the sheer time it takes to do it and the fact that almost the entire front end comes apart. Is there any way to do the change without taking the sc out? Because that would be a huge help. It's my DD so I can't be without it for long.

 

I changed my supercharger at 120,000 miles but I did it when I was in there to change the water pump which was leaking. Turns out both ends were full of oil and the gears looked great.

So, I would say wait until you are in there for some other reason. Or wait till you water pump leaks or the gears start sounding like marbles.

///Rich

 

+1
Why make work for yourself based upon a few folks fear of a problem.
Most folks that do a sc oil change find no problems....and sometimes create problems during the assembly. My though is if you do find the oil low...the sc SHOULD BE REBUILT so new seals can be installed.... And a rebuilt sc costs the same (from most places) with rebuilt gears....or better yet...find used, low mile sc off a wreck...

 

You guys saved me a mini heart attack. I did research and read anywhere from 60k to 100k. So if I was 10k overdue I was gonna freak, haha. I'll just let it go for now then and worry about it later. The next maintenance job is an oil change, hopefully this weekend once the stuff comes in the mail. Then to change out the air filter. Do you know if Dinan still makes replacements or should I cross reference it with a K&N? I read that a while ago but I don't entirely remember. Still have yet to figure out how the damn thing comes apart. Tried before but ran out of time before work and then kept forgetting to go back and figure it out.

 

Don't listen to these guys. I've serviced dozens of superchargers at 80-100k. Some have plenty of oil left, some do not. Its foolish and certainly not cost effective to wait till your charger fails before you decide to service it. Definitely replace the water pump when you get it serviced as they will leak eventually.

 

Dinian still makes a filter....
Waymotorworks has a (custom ? k&n clone) of the dinian filter on his site for about half the cost of the new one from dinian....
I bought a round k$n. Fit, works OK...but for the +5$ , the perfect fit one from waymotorworks would have been better....found out too late!

As for the sc service....
Mini says run it till it blows...their calculations are the labour is not cost effective...
If you diy it in a full day/weekend....you might come out ahead...
I always figured if I di the water pump..then it makes sense...but in my own head...till I NEED to dig that deep...why bother...the sc is a WEAR item...running it forever without a rebuild to bring back efficiency is kinda questionable IMO for a driver interested in performance. I have flip flopped a couple of times....guess it depends on you level of ocd..lol...
Folks that actually LISTEN to their motors usually note a slight change in Sound at startup when the PTO is low...guessing it is till the oil gets splattered around...then you KNOW it is time before it runs dry....some folks run 160k plus no issues.....some 50k...so miles does not seem to be the main factor....

 

To open the filter...
First step I'd you must peel off that weather stripping at the back...it is added and looks own...cover the edge where the panel was cut to add the extra hole for the new airbox...after that it is pretty self explanatory.

 

I'm agreeing with this line of thought. If your SC is low or out of oil...the damage has already been done to the bearings...you are better off waiting until it starts making noise and then swaping it for a rebuilt unit.

Filling up an empty oil reservoir is not going to make the damaged bearings and seals last any longer.

I'm at 120,xxx miles on my JCW R53 and the stock supercharger is still making 13psi of boost, with no problems at all. I was going to pull everything off of the motor in order to get to the supercharger to service it, but I'm not going to waste my time since most SC's with no leaks start failing around 200,000 anyways. I'm just going to wait until mine starts acting up.....then I'll just pull it off and have it rebuilt.

 

Thanks guys, that makes me feel better, haha. I don't think it's making any odd noise, sounds fine to me. I still didn't get a chance to change the air filter, but I can feel it bog down a bit sometimes so I should probably get to it soon.

 

I agree with the thinking here about not touching it unless you have some other reason to be in there. It isn't the worst of jobs if you are at least comfortable turning wrenches, but there is the potential to break something or otherwise cause unneeded headache.

Having said that, I did mine when I purchased the car at 65k along with a leaky valve cover gaskets, leaky crank sensor gasket, needed coolant flush, oil change, and several other services. The oil level in the charger was fine as was the color. I do feel better having new oil in there, but do not feel it is worth the time as a singular service, even if you diy. Just my .02

 

Yeah, i'll let it ride out for a bit till I need to get in there.

 

I saw threads on here when my 04 MCS was cracking 100k so I went out and bought the SC oil and was prepping to do the job. My lazy side came out and kept putting it off...for another 100k. Still no problem and I'm still not going to touch it. I talked to Way and one of his mechanics about it and both of them said just wait on it and rebuild. No sense in adding oil to something that's already shot.

Watch after posting this that bad boy's gonna break.

Saw your sig. I've got a 98 XJ!

 

I'll sell you my k and n I only used it for about 1000 miles if that til I put in a heat soaked short ram haha. Id rather hear my supercharger whine than not. Eventually I will get the heat shield for the top of the box from megan!

 

--ih8cornnuts, i'll take your word for it. haha. Glad to see an MCS with 200k on it. And hopefully soon my XJ will be lifted. Just waiting on those nice fat paychecks to start rolling in. Been workin my *** off for it. I'm getting jeepsick, haha. That 245k beast never failed me. Well, aside from the awesome CPS, starter, and fuel filter giving me problems. But that was all partly my fault...

--tummi_gimmi, is that a direct replacement for the Dinan intake? How much are you asking? I think I may just need to do a full tune up on the thing, it's deciding to get a rough idle when I stop at lights and such. Gonna check the plugs this weekend and see how it's been running.

 

Also, no odd noises from the SC as of now, so hopefully I'm good for a while. Just that damn flywheel chatter -_-

 

Radiator started leaking so I knew I was in for going into service mode. After reading about SCs needing the oil changed I figured this was a good time. Surprised to get lots of relatively clean oil out of both ends of the SC. I'm not recommending waiting to beyond 200K miles, but this might put some minds at ease. 206K miles and so much of the Mini is in great shape.

 

Never have had any experience with SC's. How/where do you check the SC fluid on my 05 S? Thanks!

 

Heard a funny noise at 122000 miles from my SC and decided to remove and check it. No oin and gears were like the Sahara desert, all sandy. Had a rebuilt one sent to me from Way Motor Works with a 15% pulley attached. Did all the work myself, easy but time consuming, and learned much about taking my MINI apart and putting back together. Replaced all SC seals, radiator hoses, water pump and coolant tank, cleaned the SC cooler out with acetone. 100000 miles later and still runs like a top. I will be servicing my car this spring and will pull apart then to check the oil and gears. If all is well, I will place the SC oil and keep motoring.