BLEW MY SUPERCHARGER! Here is the scoop. Bought a 2003 Mini Cooper S with only 27,000 miles last month. Car had suspension and exhaust done only, or so I thought. Turns out the last owner swapped the Supercharger pulley and did not get it installed perfectly straight. I drive it and my luck is not so lucky.

Good news is I have a friend very high up at a local Auto Superstore Chain and he called his Service Manager at the Mini dealership and got me an amazing deal. Prior to this call to my friend, I was quoted $2,868 out the door installed. I found a rebuilt Supercharger for $800 and got a quote of $700 to install it. However, my friend got me a Brand NEW Supercharger installed and with a two year warranty for only $1,668.00.

THANK YOU JOHN W.....

 

Not sure if I understand.
If you miss align the pulley, it will what?.... blow up the supercharger?
I would think it would just pull the belt off. Seems like the supercharger that was replaced was possibly bad?
Not sure what prices are on rebuilt ones but seems you got a better deal on the new one you installed...compared to the first one quoted... hope everything works out for you.

 

Wow!!!! Congrats!! It's always nice to have friends who look out for you. 28k is low mileage for a 2003. Sorry you had to endure this, but it looks like it worked out for you in the end.

 

 

Some of the bad pulley installs I've seen have damaged the supercharger shaft. That will damage a supercharger, otherwise it will just throw a belt. I've also seen bad installers damage the belt tensioner.

 

Contrary to what many do with these high performance cars, they are made to be DRIVEN not coveted in some garage bay as a Sunday Driver. Nothing quicker will destroy cars like these.

Was it a self aligning type of SC pulley ?

How many miles ago did the previous owner install this pulley ?

It's just that if the pulley was indeed misaligned and the root of your problem, I would think there would have been other issues which would have manefested before reaching that point.

Glad you came through and saved some cash as well. So when you can, and if John W's source is something other MCS owners can exploit, by all means please list that information here.

Good luck.

 

is it a regular sc, or did they do the jcw upgrade for you? (it basically is a normal one, port & polished with a 14% reduction pulley...)

 

JCW SC is not P&P'd. It has a teflon coating and the pressed on 11% pulley. In fact the SC's from 05 on had the same coating.

 

huh.. i figured when they said they improved the flow, they just p&p'd it...

 

Hi I have a 2004 S mini and am in the same boat but don't have that kind of money to throw at it. My Supercharger and waterpump are toast. Does anyone know if a 05 or 06 supercharger and water pump will fit my 04?
I found an 05 supercharger in good shape and an 06 waterpump but no refunds and until my mechanic friend takes them off I need to be sure they will work

Thanks

 

The MINI's supercharger seems to attract a lot of attention in MINI forums every where as they seem very prone to failure, sometimes prematurely. Even superchargers that mostly fail at a higher mileage are due to oil leakage and etc. Is a class action lawsuit possible in this case?

 

I have been so dissappointed in my Mini but this time the car was low 1 and 1/2 qt on oil with a leak there as my daughter was driving it. apparently the gears are high where they sit and not too low on oil will burn them right out. I am not a mechanic so this is only a "story" to me. I will say I have had multiple other problems not my fault including being left on the road twice and in need of new alternaters that apparently no one can rebuild or buy used to way too much money and way too less miles for it to happen even once.
I will never buy another and I am a huge BMW fan with many BMW under my ownership belt with NO troubles.

 

Corianman: the supercharger is not lubricated with oil from the crankcase.

 

I am perplexed to read that as that's what I was told by a good mechanic. How is it lubicated? Is it a seperate resevour then like a transmission?
I wish I had found this forum and wealth of info a while ago....thanks for the anser. I am hoping someone will chime in wheter these superchargers are interchangeable for 04 thru 06.

 

The lubricated parts of the supercharger - the 'snout' where the pulley resides, and the 'pto' that drives the waterpump - are sealed cavities with 'life-time' specially-formulated supercharger lubricant of a precise quantity.

 

Just a bit of information I received about the MINI supercharger. If the car is registered in California, Maine, Massachusetts or Vermont the emission warranty is for 7 yr/70,000 miles. I have been told by my service rep that MINI up the emmission warranty to 100,000 miles and that includes the supercharger. I'm not sure about other states. But I would check if you are having problems.

 

They will work, no problem!
And if your in one of the states just mentioned your problems may be even less.

Hope this helps...

 

Whoa, where did you hear this? I'd like to know some more. But how does the supercharger effect emissions?

 

It's a listed component for emission and part of the extended Calif emission warranty. Just check the Mini Warranty book it's toward the back pages and listed as 7yr/70,000 miles. Again I was told that Mini has extended it to 100,000 miles not sure on the number of years.

Check with your local Mini Dealer and tell them to check all bulletins

 

Is there a PDF of this Warranty Book? I've heard about this for California, but I"m not sure if this applies in MA.

 

Kazlot thanks that's what i needed to hear. Thanks to all for the extra info.

Corianman

 

I would imagine that having replaced the sc pulley gives Mini an out on having to cover the supercharger under the emissions warranty.

 

Absolutely correct except for the precise quantity part. Lube measurement is identical to a Model T. Open the fill port and if oil runs out you have enough; if not, put some in until it does. Here's a photo of the port.

 

Only things that sucks is that it takes about 9 hours to check the oil on MINI supercharger!!!

 

A buddy here in the SCCVermont has a supercharger in his Miata; it's got a dipstick (a mini dipstick ) - keep forgetting to ask him what kind it is. Too bad we couldn't come up w/ something similar...