I know the expected lifespan of the SC is about 100k, but how do you tell when it has worn out? Does it give any obvious signs of failure? Do they typically fail gradually, or all at once?

Obviously performance will go way down, but that could be due to alot of different factors. Our car only has 15k on it, so I'm not worried about it, I'd just like to know more about SC failure behaviors.

Has anyone had their SC fail due to age/mileage yet?

 

I wouldn't think a slow death would be the deal. The pressure output should remain the same providing no seals leak. I believe the bearings would fail from rotation and lubrication breakdown. They spin hot and fast.

The super charger may howl or sound like a chainsaw as the bearings go eliptic the result could be total meltdown or a sieze. Should pay attention to the service recomendations.

 

Long before your supercharger would fail you'd have gone through many changes of the pulley belt and maybe a water pump or two.

If bearings go bad you can hear them make noise.
If there is a big failure then a OBD fault code might happen as well.

 

It constantly relives the past and complains about the weather

 

Any idea what the expected service life of that belt is?

 

I had heard years ago that turbos would last 100k miles. However, lately I've heard of some going 100k miles with no problems. A turbo is not the same as a supercharger, but they are similar in that they aspirate the engine with pressure and boost, and also what they share is that they put a lot of stress on the engine. Given the current technologies, I would think (hope) that now a supercharger (and turbo) would last 200k (and the engine too), if you follow minihune's and other's advice and change the parts proactively. We've already heard of one MCS going 100k miles, with just a few minor problems with the supercharger (that were fixed no problem), so I think the engine is a winner! I really feel 200k miles should be doable, unless you drive it real real hard. :smile: Over that, well that's another story.

As a point of reference: Even the best Japanese small (4 cylinder) engines (normally aspirated or non-boosted) can go 250k miles and more until they have major problems, i.e., need valve job or engine is using oil. So, hopefully the normally aspirated MC engine should go 250k miles, but who knows. [Note: BMW 4 cylinder engines have gone 300k miles with no major problems.] But I've heard Japanese and German 6 cylinder engines (normally-aspirated) can go 300k miles with no major problems. :smile:

 

*cough*profilegasket*cough*

 

I was under the impression that superchargers last longer than turbochargers, since they run cooler. Turbochargers are powered by hot exhaust gasses, and that heat is what destroys the lubricants and eventually causes the failure. Superchargers run a lot cooler, since they are powered mechanically from the engine.I would expect that the supercharger, if lubricated properly would easily outlast a turbocharger.

 

White_Knuckles is on the right track. Usually the bearings will start to go, causing the rotors to rub together and slowly rub the coatings off. This will cause some loss of boost, along with more racket from the bearings. A seizing is possible, but I'd bet there would be lots of advance warning before it happens (either visually with a seal, audibly, or performance-wise)

FYI: the Bentley manual says the Drive Belt should be changed every 60k miles.

JoeDentist: Turbo's typically last longer (think semi-trucks and other turbo-diesels that go million miles plus) - heat isn't the killer for turbos like it is for blowers.

 

Plus the turbo is not constantly spooling as it is on a belt driven supercharger.

 

Hey, guys! I don't know much about mechanics....LOL! But...Pilgrim (Doug), the first MINI owner in North America to arrive at 100K miles on the odometer, has about 120K miles now, and his supercharger is still spinning just fine. He is also using a 15% pulley and has had it on since 30K miles. He autocrosses and races it, too!


Clover

 

Not to throw a wet blanket on the Pilgrim thing, but we have a saying in my business: "The plural of anecdote is not data". I think it's going to be awhile before we can make any generalizations about the service life of the Mini and its parts. Hell, I saw a Pinto the other day.