The supercharger was recently replaced on my 03 MCS. It finally became a blender at about 105k miles. I guess the car runs better now, even sounds better (well... obviously). Just a note to those wondering about the expected lifespan of this part. Oh, note: it had a 15% pulley on it since 25k miles.

I would like to publicly thank members of PDXMINI in Portland, OR for their generous help in finding and installing the new supercharger--as well as other much appreciated support.

dan

 

So was rebuilding your supercharger even an option, or was it too far gone? I'm just curious because we currently have two supercharged MINIs and tend to keep our cars for a *long* time. New-from-the-factory replacement superchargers and low-mileage takeoffs from wrecked MINIs will only be available for so long, and I'm wondering if it might not be a good idea to buy one or two now and put them aside for the day ours bite the dust.

 

I'm going Rotrex when mine dies.

- Matt

 

What happened when it dies? How were you driving it?

Jack

 

Also, what was the failure mode? Was the problem with the vanes/supercharger housing itself, or did the water pump gear assembly eat itself? Had you ever replaced the gear oil prior to the failure at 105k miles?

Sorry for so many questions, but it's rare for us to sell cars with less than 175k miles on them, so this is probably something I'm going to be dealing with in the (hopefully distant) future.

 

i think the maximum life span projected for a non over spun M45 is around 125k miles. Each size pulley reduces the effective life span. I don't remember all the mileages but, we all get to look forward to losing our charges around then.

 

Thanks for the info. I'd be curious to see how much approximate "life span" is lost between 15% and 19% pulleys.

 

I replaced the supercharger on my 02 MCS at 104K miles but it was still OK. It had a 15% pulley installed at 23K and a 2% m7 crank pulley installed at 78K.

I bought a low mileage supercharger off someone here on NAM from an 05 car that went JCW. My car is at 125K now and running fine. I kept the old supercharger for rebuilding - have not done that yet.

 

I'm thinking that the demand will be great enough in sevral years that some company will offer a rebuild service for the M45.

 

There is NO rebuild kit available for these yet. Eaton has a LOCK on the parts. Mine died at 95,000 miles with a 2% + 15% installed for over 50k miles.
I was lucky and found a JCW take off with less than 10 miles for $450 shipped!
I put it on in under 3 hours, wasn't too bad of a job. A good weekend job if you are taking it off and a putting a new one on.
My WP side gears were eaten to death and had not a drop of oil in there.
Here's my thread for my old problem...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Eaton...spagenameZWD4V

 

IIRC, the big issue is the gearing for the water pump drive... those gears are made of unobtainium , and are what wear out if you are lucky enough to have one of the units with disappearing oil. Seems like some lose the oil and die, but some last almost forever - there are some VERY high mileage MINIs out there, pulleyed, with the original SC (BEFORE they all had the teflon coatings, etc.).

 

Yep, too bad that wont fix the problem!

 

It was either k-heuvo or Dr. O, I dont remember which, who has gone over in a thread how to replace the gear oil in the supercharger. Call it overkill but I plan to replace my SC oil every 50k, espcially given how little driving I do per year (I dont expect to hit 50k until 2010). It isnt all that hard to do, probably easier (or atleast faster) than doing a clutch.

 

I have seen some threads about converting the water pump to electric. By removing the water pump, the gear problem would go away, but if the seals go away, the rear end of the SC will still go dry. But with the water pump not in the way, it would be a lot easier to check and keep the rear end of the SC full of lube.

I'd really like to see someone offer an electric water pump kit. Maybe they already do?????

YD

 

Glad it worked out ok !

 

NOT TRUE ! ! !

Check out these folks for rebuilding our SC's.

 

Yeah, but neither them or Stigmeier have access to the spindle/needle gear part that drives the water pump (the gear that wears down due to lack of oil).

So yeah, they can rebuild the supercharger itself, just not the portion that matters.

...to my knowledge.

- Matt

 

hmmmm.....

Well according to someone I know he was able to get a quote on rebuilding it with new wp gears. Maybe the folks at PSE didn't know what was been asked of them.

 

A rebuild may have been possible, but was likely overlooked due to the need for a quick turn around. I'm sure it's easier simply to get a new/used one as well.

As for the failure mode... I don't know. Honestly, I wasn't there. My wife says it just started sounding funny. I'm sure it had been deteriorating in some fashion for a while. But degradation may be exponential: at some point it goes real bad real fast. I've never touched the gear oil.

I don't mind the questions; sorry about so few solid answers. I have been out for a few months.

dan