I was out today and all of a sudden, I heard loud grinding coming from the engine(Also seemed to have loss of power). Pulled over, popped the hood, noticed the noise seemed to come from the supercharger. I was about 2 miles from home so had to drive it home and it overheated. Anyone ever had this issue? I assume its a supercharger issue, but who knows.

Thanks everyone

 

The lubricant in the water-pump end of your supercharger got low or disappeared altogether. As a result the gears self-destructed and no longer spun the water pump. Thats why your car overheated. Bummer.

 

More than likely it was your waterpump, as it's run by the s/c. How far did you drive it after it overheated? Did you get it home and it overheated, or did it overheat while you were driving? There's more chance to do catastrophic engine damage driving when it overheats.

 

I drove it home and noticed that the temp gauge was all the way up and the red light was on. So no "real" signs of overheating I guess.

 

What year? How many miles? Are you original owner? Is this the original supercharger? Had you heard any squeals or grinding sounds in the days and weeks before this event? Stock pulley or undersize? Other mods?

 

So when the water pump is out, the whole SC will need to be replaced?

 

2003, 50000 , second owner, I think the SC is original, I have been noticing some strange grinding sounds this last week, 19% pulley, alta intake.

 

Stiegemeier can rebuild S/C incl the water pump gears.

 

How long was that 19% on there? Mileage wise.

 

Sorry, I am an idiot, it has a 15% and it as been on for 2 months,

 

Huh...
Lots of people have had 15% pulleys on their cars for tons of mileage with no issues. I've had my 15% for almost 40k.

 

Given the way that supercharger failures tend to occur (completely random once you get past a certain point), it is tough to blame the failure on the pulley. This certainly wouldnt be the first time a supercharger has failed at this kind of mileage.

So, you have several options now assuming it is indeed the water pump drive (which is what it almost certainly is):

1. Send the one you have now out for a rebuild
2. Buy a new or used supercharger and stick that on there.
3. If the rest of the SC is in good shape you could switch over to an electric water pump.

You used to be able to find used SC's for less than $500, so I might check there first. I would also check and make sure that the overheating has done any damage to the engine (warped head).