When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I'm doing a supercharger oil change while replacing the water pump and vibration dampener. There was a total of maybe a tablespoon of oil in the pulley side of the SC and ZERO in the water pump side. Should I be concerned?
Picture shows total oil remove!
Car only has 86K miles on it. Is this normal? Should I investigate further or just add oil and move forward.
Yes. I might be concerned with that little amount of oil drained out of either end of your supercharger.
You should take the snout off and check the gears and coupler for excessive wear. The coupler can be replaced with new.
The PTO/waterpump end gears and bearings are critical and I would be concerned if excessive wear. I believe you can replace the PTO/water pump gears as well. I have no experience in replacing those gears.
After cleaning the snout and PTO end; fill with AC Delco supercharger fluid/oil:
Snout= 140 -145ml (9.45 TBSP)
PTO/waterpump end = 40ml (2.7 TBSP)
Try not to overfill. Operating pressure/adgitation may cause leaks.
Catching this at 86K is a blessing, looks like it wasn't completely dry yet and I don't see any glitter in that oil. I think it's a recommendation at 100K, considering the low mileage that gear oil is probably just caked up inside of there from sitting around for so long. Keep us updated, this is one of every Gen1 owner's worst nightmares, those pinion gears just start dissolving after too much negligence.
I’m with the other comments, yes you should be a little concerned. Without knowing how long the supercharger has been running with no oil in that one chamber it’s hard to know what damages have been done. I’d also be concerned about the seals behind the cogs in the oil chamber as these have been known to fail and could explain the lack of oil in yours. Obviously you can just top up the supercharger again and if there’s no audible noises then it should be okay but you may run into some issues soon down the line. Would advise taking the supercharger to specialists sometime in the future to see if there’s any underlying damage.
The correct Eaton Supercharger Oil and the rubber shock absorber for the pulley end are available at Superchargersonline.com The highly toxic GM oil cannot be shipped into California but the Eaton oil is shipped FROM there. It’s what your supercharger was filled with when new.
Catching this at 86K is a blessing, looks like it wasn't completely dry yet and I don't see any glitter in that oil. I think it's a recommendation at 100K, considering the low mileage that gear oil is probably just caked up inside of there from sitting around for so long. Keep us updated, this is one of every Gen1 owner's worst nightmares, those pinion gears just start dissolving after too much negligence.
Agree, we'll see what the inside looks like later today.. after I clean the gutters :(
It looked moist looking thru the plug holes at both side, thou nothing drained out the water pump side. Yet, I hope that's a good sign. Water pump was very dirty. I assumed that was from the green SC to air tube gasket... maybe not!?
I love and hate this car! This will be the third water pump for this car. The first was replace by the dealer at 40K!
Looks good inside I'd say. Claimed just a little more oil from the snout side.
Bentley manual doesn't say much about the supercharger. I'll try to find info on the torque specs for the gear cover bolts. Felt like 25-30 30 ft lbs. Also felt like there was thread locker on the snout side bolts as well? No gasket?
Looks remarkably good.
I had also serviced my original supercharger @85k. Although I did manage to extract about 134ml from the snout and about 30ml from the waterpump end.
I was also surprised to discover neither end had any kind of sealant or gaskets between the mating surfaces.
The condition of my supercharger looked as good as yours.
Looks good inside I'd say. Claimed just a little more oil from the snout side.
Bentley manual doesn't say much about the supercharger. I'll try to find info on the torque specs for the gear cover bolts. Felt like 25-30 30 ft lbs. Also felt like there was thread locker on the snout side bolts as well? No gasket?
I agree as @ssoliman had mentioned above - Your water pump looks to be fairly/if not, brand new.
I too am interested to know what that "weep hole" is all about.
It does appear to extend into/inside the impeller chamber where water may (or is intended ?) to leak or "vent" out.
Strange to me; as the Mini is the first and only water cooled car I've ever owned.
Looks remarkably good.
I had also serviced my original supercharger @85k. Although I did manage to extract about 134ml from the snout and about 30ml from the waterpump end.
I was also surprised to discover neither end had any kind of sealant or gaskets between the mating surfaces.
The condition of my supercharger looked as good as yours.
Yeah I'm happy the gears look good but know think the seals to the rotors might be bad, where did the oil go? Do you remember if you reassembled with any sort of sealant or gasket maker and the bolt torques?
The water pump was leaking from that vent area and down around the SC/air tube connection point, as seen from the underside of car:
With the core support out, looking straight between the water pump and SC/air tube, a little foam column had formed, like silly string texture, if you remember that stuff. I didn't take a picture directly but can be seen from other pictures taken.
Looks good from here, glad to see everything intact for ya! Good save Gear boxes tend to cause oil reduction through the friction and heat they generate, the stuff just eventually cooks down into a gelatin, no leak required.
Gears look good. Just do a good cleaning, seal them with some gasket maker (I use a thin bead of reinzosil- It's favored by a BMW mech on youtube M539 restorations). Place the S/C on a level surface and fill until fluid runs out. Close it up and call it good. Do not overfill.
New water pump and you're good to go.
However, since the pics you posted show a gross mess of sludge all over the block, I would pull as much as I can and clean everything. I'm guessing you'll find a few more leaks that need new seals.
Yeah I'm happy the gears look good but know think the seals to the rotors might be bad, where did the oil go? Do you remember if you reassembled with any sort of sealant or gasket maker and the bolt torques?
Thanks for posting the pics while the supercharger was still in the car... ('still curious about that weep hole on the water pump).
As for gasket sealant - I used a very sheer coat of permatex RTV - BUT it had been pointed out to me that I should have used Anaerobic sealantinstead:
As for tightening down the SC snout and water pump bolts - The bolts were torqued to 18ft lbs (as per water pump replacement torque specs).
This is a link to a discussion I had started when I'd refreshed a salvage yard supercharger: Viable SC? or SCrap?...lots of pics. Your impressions welcome
How did the rubber look in the pulley end? I’m planning a supercharger service and water pump replacement this winter. I’ll probably just replace the rubber bit while I’m in there.
to make sure i'm reading this correctly, this had no gasket from the factory, but when folks reassemble themselves, the recommendation is to use the anaerobic sealant here?
to make sure i'm reading this correctly, this had no gasket from the factory, but when folks reassemble themselves, the recommendation is to use the anaerobic sealant here?
Yep - There is no gasket or sealant used from the manufacturer. Although it has been advised from other users that if you were to reassemble using sealant gasket goop - Anaerobic should be used and not plain 'ol rtv.
Water pump weep hole is my nemesis. God I hate these things... The weep hole will leak when the seal around the shaft fails. The reasons this happens can be many things,
- old water pump (unlikely your situation)
- incorrect coolant, not using coolant friendly to bmw will prematurely eat the seal. As early as weeks to months before it's destroyed (ask how I know lol).
- low coolant, seal overheating due to not being lubricated.
Basically when coolant leaks out of the weep hole your do for a new water pump, as they are unserviceable. These are purely my thoughts alongside scouring forums to come up with answers when I had this issue. Best of luck!
I spent too much time googling this. In hindsight I should NOT have dissemble the SuperChager. Thou there was very little oil.. what did come out was clean. I should have just added oil and moved forward. IMO, from my googling, the SC can basically consume the oil over time. Just add oil!
What I found:
Reseal the SC with Loctite 510 anaerobic sealant (High temp, chemical-resistant anaerobic sealant for close-fitting rigid flanges). It is not recommended to use an RTV!
I used acetone to soften and scraped clean the mating surfaces. Do not mar the surfaces when cleaning! I could see a light pink skin layer removed as I worked. Loctite 510 is pink so I believe this to be the correct stuff. I could only find Loctite 518 (Permatex 51813, 51817) locally but it is not high temp. Idk if this is ok to use. Loctite 510 seems to be in short supply and had to order online. I found Permatex 51031 to be the Permatex equivalent.
Use Loctite/Permatex Surface Prep Primer Activator too clean and cure faster...recommend for use in cold weather. This primer/activator is recommend by several forums as some say it creates a stronger bond/seal.
Use Threadlocker on the SC bolts torque to 18 ft-lb as already recommenced.
I'll check my notes for the torque on the hex fill plugs but i think it was 7 ft-lb.
Water pump weep hole is my nemesis. God I hate these things... The weep hole will leak when the seal around the shaft fails. The reasons this happens can be many things,
- old water pump (unlikely your situation)
- incorrect coolant, not using coolant friendly to bmw will prematurely eat the seal. As early as weeks to months before it's destroyed (ask how I know lol).
- low coolant, seal overheating due to not being lubricated.
Basically when coolant leaks out of the weep hole your do for a new water pump, as they are unserviceable. These are purely my thoughts alongside scouring forums to come up with answers when I had this issue. Best of luck!
Ok good to know thank you,
It just sucks these waterpumps are junk. I ended up getting a new OEM pump. I couldn't find any info about who the original equipment supplier is for the OEM waterpump so I purchase one from a reputable mini vendor that claim it's a genuine Mini unit. Research seems to say the OEM pump is the best to use ... although mine have only ever lasted 40k miles. I've always used bmw coolant accepted this time I used Zerex G48. Idk maybe I should change it out for the BMW stuff. What the hell seems as thou I'll be doing this again in about 40k if history repeats itself.
40k is better then I have managed. G48 is mini and bmw safe, that's what I switched to and use now. The only better choice as you said would be mini coolant itself, but it's rebranded something with a steeper price.
I to would also be curious to know the OEM manufacturer and cut the cost in half.... I scoured the web forever, compared pictures... got nowhere. HEPU makes a solid pump I've had decent luck with. German manufacturered, about 170 usd but it's not OEM just by looking visually.
@Scoobaru2010 what's the backstory on BMW friendly coolant? I had s/c service done with a pump replacement a few years ago and it's been running green coolant (can't remember what brand exactly) pretty good so far. I only run straight 100% antifreeze as the distilled water or 50/50 stuff I was using before the pump failed, would always cook off and require additional fluid, but I'm curious as to what makes a coolant unfriendly to a BMW engine?
