What a strange journey this has been. Anyway, I picked up some NGK iridium's tonight, because even though the Cooper manual says 100k miles, I'm at 80k and that's not too far off. I put in the new plugs, torqued them down to 20lbs, and got no love. Tried with a little bit of gas pedal, no dice. Grabbed one of the old plugs, and started testing each wire for spark. They all sparked. Alright, well I'll just put the wires back on and call it a night and think some more about it. Oh **** it, let's give it one more try. Got back in the car, started turning over, and this time sputtering?!? Then finally fired up a second later. I only left it on for a couple seconds as I heard a kind of a whirring sound. Again, I smelled that same smell I did yesterday, but didn't see the thin smoke. The smell is hard to describe, almost ozone-like. I got down by the serpentine belt to see if maybe something was slipping. (As a side note, I put the old belt back on, because I couldn't get the second hole on the tensioner tab to pop up far enough to get the pin in it, and the new belt was just a little too tight to get on without using the second hole in the tab). The belt was still on correctly. I had just put the intercooler in place, but not bolted down the sealing bellows, since I was taking it on and off quite a bit to check stuff. I decided to bolt the bellows down before starting the car again. I also opened up the coolant reservoir as I hadn't filled and bled the system yet(except for what I initially put in the reservoir after the swap) since the SC swap. I had the girlfriend start the car this time so I could watch the engine bay and it fired right up with no hesitation. No whirring sound this time, or it was much quieter to the point of sounding normal. No smells either. I only ran it for a minute as I didn't feel like watching the temp and screwing with the coolant tonight. It was so nice not to hear the supercharger gears grinding themselves to death. I went inside the house. Ate some Chef Boyardee. Coolant system tomorrow.

 

Cool, you may have just ended up with some fouled plugs somehow, give us an update after a day or two.

 

Glad you got it started without having to spend $$$. May have been the plugs, air trapped in the fuel line, something like that... hopefully it is fully resolved for you.

 

Make sure you tq. the plugs to 25 ft lbs for sure. I even go a bit more, but no more than 35 ft lbs.

The smoke i am sure is not really a big deal. you got coolant all over everything, as the engine gets hot, it will burn off quickly. we normally spray it all quickly with brake clean before the whole front end goes back on to minimize the burn off. at this point, let it run and spray it down with water and you will be fine, or let it bun off. any project like this will have some "smoke".

 

+1 I did mine 2 ft lbs at a time over spec until I felt they were tight but not too tight which for me was at 28 ft lbs. I used a little anti-seize just as a side note. Haven't had any loosening since doing so.

 

Great news bud. Hope all is well after torkin them plugs a little bit more, according to the last couple of "been there before" guys have just posted. But Congrats, and best of luck!!!!!

 

Thanks for all the help guys, really appreciated and you are awesome. I did torque the plugs down to 28 tonight.

I am happy that she is starting, but I went out to do the coolant tonight and the whirring sound was back. There's no smells or anything. Sound doesn't seem to be coming from the belt area. It seems to sound loudest coming out of the intercooler. Slow gas is ok, but a quick tap of the pedal and she really stutters. Here's a quick video. What do you think?

 

I don't know what that sound is either..but I am bumping so maybe you can get some help. One thought..there was a thread on the sprintex install that spoke about seals and needing to seat for a few hundred miles before achieving full boost...it does sound a bit like a vacuum sound in the video...you are absolutely certain that everything on the sc is torqued back down to spec?

 

Have you filled it with coolant yet?! I see the cap is still off.
maybe you are hearing the waterpump running dry?
not sure, just a wag. The sc oil is the right stuff, and not overfilled right?
Filling with coolant asap imo would be good....both to keep it cool and to check for leaks, like the oring by the waterpump.
With it running, then you can look around for a gasket issue, leaks, etc. Good to hear it is running!!

 

Thanks guys.

In regard to the SC, there's not all that much to do to it. Torqued correctly onto the block, and the horn is on tight. Once everything is back together, it's pretty impossible to see how well the plastic intake is sitting on it.

There's quite a bit of coolant in there now, just haven't done the bleeding yet. Unfortunately, I've never heard anyone talking about weird noises after changing coolant, of course they didn't change the water pump at the same time though. In regard to the SC oil, that's a scary thought indeed. I got mine rebuilt from Way, and they state on the website that oil is already filled in both chambers. All touched gaskets/o-rings were changed. I'll start bleeding it in the morning and see if it helps. Thanks again.

-DT

 

If you bought a rebuilt unit, especially from WMW it should be fine.
I just said that cause I thought you just did a DIY lube job!!
Sounds like you just had a string of bad luck, but sounds like you save about $500 in shoptime!!

 

I'd recheck those intercooler seals each side. If there's even a small unsealed spot you'll get that loud escaping air sound. But that's more like a jet engine sound. I'll second getting the coolant all in and correct and checking vacuum lines.

Glad to hear it running. Give you someting to work with again.

 

Well, all the coolant is in and bled, car is holding at half way up the temp gauge. I haven't taken her around the block or anything as the wheels and bumper are still off. Anyway, the whirring sound remains. Spending more time with it, it seems to be coming squarely from the supercharger/alternator area. I rechecked all the vacuum lines. Line into the SC itself is fine, both into the plastic intake are in. I ran my hand around the intake to SC and it seems solid, and the green gasket between the two was changed. Slow gas pedal acceleration is fine, but a quick tap of the pedal, and the engine almost cuts off.

At this point, I might just put the wheels back on and see how she does on a trip around the block. If it's fine, I can always just drop her off at the dealer, which isn't too far away. I would imagine it's just something cheap and simple at this point.

 

is that a rebuilt supercharger? they are a bit noisy when they start up, the gears need to mate together. who did it?

 

He reported he got it from wmw.

 

It came from Way Motor Works.

 

FYI our ported superchargers make more noise than a standard rebuild. I don't hear anything abnormal for a ported blower in the video, but it's a video so it's hard to diagnosis anything.