Supercharger rattle repair

[rkvons]

I did the supercharger rattle repair yesterday and it seems to quiet now, but it is leaking supercharger oil. I used gasket maker around the mating point of the snout. What might I have done wrong? Thanks.

[rkvons]

Okay, so here's an update. When I did the repair, I put it together and put in the 8 ounces of oil and cleaned all the old oil up. I then started it to see if there were leaks. When I came around to look at it, I noticed I forgot to put the filler plug back in. I ran back around and shut the car off. I put the plug in and left it that way. I drove it to work the next day and noticed it was all wet, so I figured it was leaking. I took off early from work to redo it and drove to the dealer to get more oil, stopped at the auto parts store and stopped for gas. When I got home, it was all dry. So I panicked, thinking it was empty and I was ruining it while driving it around. But I took the plug off to find it still had plenty of oil in it. I had to add a couple of ounces, but then I cleaned it up real good and took it for another test drive. It was dry when i got home. I think it's fixed. I think the reason it was wet when I got to work was because it was coming out when the engine was running and the plug was off. I have some pictures of the repair operation:


First, you have to suck out all the oil, or as much as you can.



get the belt off. At this point you can grab the pulley in your hand and move it back and forth real quick to feel the play in it. This is what is making the noise when the engine is idling.



Remove the bolts that hold it on. There is also one that goes straight down, and unfortunately, there's not enough room to get the one by the alternator.



But you can rotate the whole thing up to reveal the coupler. There is no gasket. You pull the coupler off and put the new one on.



Here is a shot where you can see the new coupler installed. It is green. Also, I have carefully cleaned the mating surfaces with a rag and have gone around with a bead of silicone RTV. It looks like it is put on sparingly, but I think some of the surface was shiny and got washed out in the photo. There is material all the way around. Since there is no gasket, it does not take much to seal it. When you go to put it back together, you have to try to make sure you hold the two surfaces parallel to each other, so that there is no strain on the coupler holes.



But then you:

1) Put the bolts back in. (I don't know the torque specs.)
2) Put fresh oil in. (about 8 ounces)
3) Put the plug back in!
4) Put the belt back on.
5) Start it and check for leaks.
5) Put the engine cover back on.
6) Test drive.

Done.

[tblake]

Nice Job! But at the same time you could have swapped to a smaller Pulley!!!!! =D

[rkvons]

Originally Posted by tblake

Nice Job! But at the same time you could have swapped to a smaller Pulley!!!!! =D

I just want to keep my car running. I would be nervous doing stuff like that.

One other thing I should mention is the way I torqued it down. When I take stuff off of cars, I kinda can tell how tight the bolt is. It's not scientific, but that's basically how tight I put them back on. I do have a torque wrench, but there where quite a few bolts that would not allow a torque wrench. When I put it together, I ran all the bolts in finger tight, and then I started at the lower left and then went to the upper right, then back down to the next lower left one going clockwise and then back to the upper right going clockwise etc. I usually do this about three times around, each time tighter until I reach my perceived maximum tightness. When I was at the dealer, I talked to the mechanic about it. He said they usually take the whole supercharger off, place it on a bench and then remove the snout. That way, they can properly torque the snout and then properly torque the whole supercharger. I would really like to have done it this way, but it was a lot more work. Hopefully my method will be okay.

[tblake]

Your method will be just fine. In about a month crack the fill plug open and check the fluid level.

BTW, it is about time for my rearly supercharger oil change.