So my 161000 2002 MCS was making more noise than usual up front. Clearly RPM related, and with those miles I figured it was time for a super charger.

Jacked it up. Pull the fender liners, the grill and ran it and sound really was coming from passenger side.

But the nagging thought of 161000 miles on a blower with no service was eating at me.

Cut the belt and sure enough the idler pulley was tight and very notchy...that was most of the noise.

I committed to pull the S/C and, while not hard to do, what a pain in the butt!!

My wife walked out into the garage not knowing I was doing this and couldn't believe what the car looked like!!



Well I got the SC out and the moment of truth had arrived. I removed the water pump and pulled the drive cover. I found this:





That is oil on the teeth. The teeth were basically perfect. Now there was only about a teaspoon of oil in the cover so they wouldn't be perfect for long. No discoloration of the fluid, no swarf, no sludge...nothing.

The lobes looked like this:



I've got new SC oil coming and will button it all back up with some new hoses and idler pulley and proceed to put another 150000 on it with any luck!

So it appears that supercharger life is a total crap shoot....Some die at 55000 some at 100000...we will see what we can get out of this one!!

 

Looks pretty clean!!
Still getting good boost?!

 

No boost gauge...but it feels the same as when I got it at around 140K.

Prior history was that it was driven gently by a lady as a long distance commuter (250 miles a day or so) with better than average service since husband owned a performance shop and it got oil changes consistently.

To my knowledge no one has ever been in the SC for service though.

 

I'm curious if it's possible to machine oil fill/inspection holes in the supercharger when it's off the engine. Sure would give some peace of mind to occasionally check the drive end and water pump end to ensure there's oil in there.

Eric

 

great job on the tear down.. kudos to you! supercharger looks great, thanks for the photos!

 

Are you going to use any seal, gasket maker sort of compound when putting it together?

 

It looks really daunting, but there is nothing hard about getting it to this stage. Regular hand tools and some jack stands.

Initially I probably went really slowly and took an hour or two to get to the engine parts. To get to that stage now would take me maybe 30-45 minutes.

5 mins each for the fender wells. Note the areas behind the fender wells had collected lots of leaf and other debris and should be cleaned out!!!

10 minutes for the bumper cover.

5 minutes for the bumper.

10 minutes for the radiator and supports.


Once there you have great access to alternator, belt, clutch slave, water pump, S/C and easier access to intake, and bypass valve.

Tips....

I bagged all the hardware with each sub assembly as it came apart so it should go back smoothly.

Take pics too.




I didn't have a belt tensioner tool so I removed the tensioner and compressed it off the car.

I clamped the arm in a vise with padding. Used a screw driver through one of the mounting holes and ziptied (USE 2 LARGE ONES) that side down as tight as possible then using another screwdriver through another mounting hole pull the spring down and have a helper slip a wire into the second hole. Then reinstall on car.

Do not put yourself or anything in the way while doing this...the ties can break and you will slip....I did.


With respect to the sealer on the gear box, I am not sure. Maybe just a really thin film of some Yamabond or something...but there is none there now.



I do think there is room to drill and tap for a hole to suck out and refill. There is room to use a tube to get past the gear to the bottom of the reservoir and vacuum out the old oil. I am thinking a small brass NPT plug and a quick drill and tap. Probably safety wire it just in case.


I did find that there are several spots on the radiator hoses that are chafing and, while not close to being worn through, are worn much more than I'd like to see. Those will be replaced and attention paid to the source of chafing.

 

I'm curious; do you have any mods on the engine? That's an amazing S/C for 161,000 miles! The longest original unit I've heard of still working is 180K; you're not too far away, and with the looks of it, you'll easily pass that mark.

 

Pulley, CAI, shark remap. I drive the crap out of it...the previous owner not so much.


I really was pretty stunned when I saw it. I was expecting black goo and grooved gears.

 

Nice!
I'm at 210,000 miles on the original supercharger, and it still sounds good. (185,000 with 15% pulley).
I do have a spare supercharger at Stiegmeier being rebuilt so I'll have one "in stock" when the day comes.

Jim

 

my jaw is dropping. That supercharger looks better than mine when i opened it up last month, i have 52,000! nice!

 

Thanks for sharing that jimz68. You're the first person I've heard of with over 200K on the original S/C. This is another example of very good S/C quality and tolerance. Since it's pretty much a non-maintenance part, the biggest varibles to longevity may be heat, climate, and driving styles.

I think overall the Eaton S/C is pretty solid, now that many of our R53s are in the 100-200K-mile ranges and still running strong. Five or six years ago there was some concern about the S/Cs going into meltdown with higher miles, but that has not proven to be true for most of us.

 

When I pulled the M45 off my '05 with 158k and the gears were toast. The condition of yours is amazing.

 

There's hope! =]

What kind of noise were you getting? At 93k, I get a grinding noise that can be heard best by pressing my ear against the silver horn going into the intercooler.

Not sure if it is the tensioner pulley, idler pulley, or s/c going south. I bought a new tensioner and idler so I'm going to do the same job you just got done with. Hopefully it's the pulleys...

 

Mine was a gear like noise that varied with RPM. Sort of an enhanced S/C boost sound.

Stick your head in the right front fender well and see if you hear it louder there.

The idler pulley is basically locked up. It will move, but with great force.

If you have a belt tool it will be cake to access and remove by pulling the fender wells.

I listened all over my engine with a long extension. I could hear zzzzz gear noise from the water pump end, ZZZZZZ gear noise from the nose, but the kicker for the idler was the location once I pulled the fender and ran the car.

Then I VERY CAREFULLY (KIDS DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME) placed the extension on the center bolt of the idler pulley while running and WOW...that was it!

Of course then I had to think...do I really want to pull the SC off???? Glad I did.

 

I've wondered the same thing. Maybe even plumb in some fittings for tubing that would go to a remote resevoir. Have the bottom of the resevoir below the level of the gear housing so that when you suck out the oil from the resevoir, all the oil from both ends of the S/C drains into the resevoir. Then refill the resevoir to the proper level and the oil level goes up on both sides of the S/C. Of course, this assumes that the levels are the same on both sides. Besides making it easier to drain and refill the S/C, you'd have a larger reserve of oil and the chance of the S/C running dry would go way down. Plus it would be very easy to keep tabs on it. If I had the time, I'd just pull my S/C and make the mods, but....I don't have the time. Besides, I've only got 35,000 on my 06 JCW. Maybe later.

 

A kit has already been developed and was demonstrated at MOTD 2012 this year
Check out https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-r52-r53.html