Pulled mine today and checked out the gears... PERFECT!!!
Question now, it is out, so should I change the oil or just leave it alone? It's not low, it's just to the bottom of the gears....

 

If you checked the gears did you not loose all the oil?

I have an SC which had the water pump side plate removed to inspect the gears. What size are the bolts (length and diameter) that holds the water pump side plate on? Also what is the proper gasket material to use when reinstalling the plate?

 

There is no gasket for the water pump drive plate to supercharger mounting surfaces...use a anaerobic sealer.
I don't have a listing for the bolts, as they are not serviced separately. I may have some at home with an old SC.

 

Is this the noise everyone´s talking about ???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQkvjMHTGTU

 

sounds like it, yes. That sounds really bad, actually.

 

What are the first signs of the compressor, be in a poor state?

 

Electric Water pump for a MCS is would cost between 800-1000 dollars
And would solve this issue.

Anyone interested?

 

djako,
thanks for the sounds.I know now when to s---- my shorts and begin cursing. -hopefully I'll never have to hear that.

 

It won't solve or extend the supercharger failure life and you can find rebuilt superchargers for about $1200-1400, so why spend $1000 for just a water pump? Maybe I'm missing something...

 

It would eliminate the water pump drive on the back of the supercharger.
Thats the part that fails. Plus you might pick up a few HP.

Just asking I saw some people posting here asking for a electric w/p

 

I'm not trying to argue with you, but ultimately the supercharger gears/teeth run low on oil and the supercharger locks up which in turn locks the water pump. I'm not aware of a high failure rate on the water pump itself. I replaced my w/p with a new one when I was replacing the supercharger just because I was in there are thought I'd do it as preventative maintenance, it was still working just fine. Just my experience...others will likely vary.

 

The gears in the back run the water pump they have nothing to do with the function of the supercharger.

What I am suggesting is remove the gears in the back of the s/c put on a block off plate on the back. and add an electric water pump.

When your supercharger failed the gears in the back are the ones that failed correct?

 

I've never heard of this happening...the only thing that is going to lock the SC up is a big pry bar jammed into the inlet(or outlet) while it's running, and obviously that is pretty much impossible.
There isn't a high failure rate on the water pump itself...but on the water pump drive. The drive is what disintegrates when the lube runs dry.

I think Eddie is on the right track except for the price point. I have an electric setup ready to go... I just need to finish fabbing the pipes, which are on the back burner right now.

 

I haven't taken my s/c out yet but I had a bad rotational grinding noise about a month ago that came out of the blue and sounded like it was coming from the pulley/nose/front of the supercharger. I checked the lube level via the drain plug, there was very little lube, and I then filled to the correct level. The sound seemed to get quieter for a while, now however it seems to be getting slightly louder. Does this mean that my s/c is failing/has bad seals needs to be remanufactured? Or is it something else? Haven't had any signs of overheating as of yet.

 

Is your s/c noise similar to the one i posted ??

 

It's kind of hard to tell but definitely similar. A little more of "rattely" and grinding sound and less of a squeak/whine. It's hard to tell if its louder or not though.

Was the problem with yours end up being on the nose/pulley side of the s/c?

 

I bought a new s/c and i will have it installed next week, i changed everything else: tensioner, s/c outside bearing, waterpump, etc.
I will keep this post updated when something new shows up.

 

A few months ago, a friend of mine's MCS was making a rattling noise that was diagnosed as the S/C dieing... so he ordered a new (rebuilt) S/C from Classic MINI and I replaced it.

Guess what - the noise is still there.

Needless to say, that was a depressing discovery... We've narrowed it down to either the alternator or idler pulley, but he's still recovering from the s/c purchase (and has another car to drive in the meantime).

A supercharger R&R is definitely an "advanced" DIY job, but not terribly difficult. Just a lot of parts to remove. In hindsight, we should have dug a little deeper into the engine bay to be sure the noise was coming from the s/c.

 

and tensionser go bad as well.... Good luck nailing it down...

Matt

 

That was my thought as well... not to mention the idler is more than a little cheaper... not to mention I think I can replace the idler pulling without ripping half the car apart again (service mode). Not sure the alternator would be as easy...

 

Go electric CHECK OUT THE GROUP BUY SECTION

R53 Electric water Pump

Features

* Computer controlled brushless motor
* Liquid cooled motor
* Patented Flow-Through Design

Benefits
* AVOID COSTLY SUPERCHARGER REPLACEMENT
* Decreased Energy draw
* Drive Mechanism Independent of Engine RPM
* No engine or thermostat Modifications Required
* Ease of integration (uses factory mounting location and factory hose)
* Extremely Quiet
* Corrosion Resistant
* 15,000 hr rating unmatched by any other electric water pump
* proven to increase flow by more then 200% at idle
* ZERO Parasitic drag / no loss of HP
* MADE IN THE USA

Kit includes:

* PUMP and mounting hardware
* Controller
* Wiring Harness and relay
* Supercharger Block off Plate
* New bypass hose
* Detailed installation instructions

 

S/C changed and this noise disappeared.

 

Pulled my supercharger like two weeks ago, bad water pump drive. I had it rebuilt by steigemier and now everything is back together and running smoothly again.

 

In reference to the advertisement above about water pump electric motor, "* AVOID COSTLY SUPERCHARGER REPLACEMENT"...it's false. The supercharger is going to seep oil through the seals without or with the product advertised and that OIL SEEPAGE will be the likely cause of the superchargers failure. What happened to true in advertising?

 

if you have an electric water pump, the fact that the gear in the WP drive disintegrates isn't that important, and as long as the shafts/rotors case are fine, you can get the seals done and put the sucker back in the car.

Since the gear itself is what you can't get separatly, failure of that gear won't mean you need a new SC.

Matt