99 PA ULTRA Supercharger

[ches]

Very loud grinding noise when rpm drops to 600 or less. Any ideas on what the problem is.

[HotZ28]

We need a little more information on the location of the grinding noise. Are you sure it is in the supercharger, or could it be the alternator, the idler pulleys or tensioner pulleys? Have you checked the SC oil level? Also wondering why the idle is so low, 600 rpm?

[benEzra]

Originally Posted by ches

Very loud grinding noise when rpm drops to 600 or less. Any ideas on what the problem is.

Could be a number of things, as HotZ28 pointed out. Idler pulley bearings or a bad alternator bearing could be culprits. Remove the engine sound-damper cover first (don't get any dirt into the engine while removing and replacing the oil filler tube!!). Let the car idle while making the noise, and open the hood and see if you can figure out what's making the noise. Putting one end of a wooden handle or something on the supercharger housing and pressing the other end to your ear may tell you if the noise is actually coming from the blower or not (don't get the wood caught in the moving belts, though!!)

Check the supercharger oil (good idea to change it if you have more than 60K miles on it). The link at the bottom of this post has a photo of the supercharger oil fill port; if you unscrew the plug, the oil should be up to the bottom of the threads. Do NOT tighten it much when you screw it back in, since this is an aluminum blower case and you can easily strip the threads.

If you are ambitious, put some slack in the supercharger belt (use a tool on the SC belt tensioner pulley mount on the front of the engine, below the supercharger, to put a little slack in it--DON'T remove the belt completely as it is a pain to put back on the lower pulleys) and rotate the SC pulley back and forth with your hand to see if there is play in the SC driveshaft coupler. If the coupler is bad, info on changing it is here:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/aepa/blowerinstall.html

[ELKillian]

http://www3.sympatico.ca/aepa/blowerinstall.html

Great link, very helpful, does anyone know of any other option of removing the oil from the supercharger? Since I have not had any dental surgery lately, the surenge is not avaliable. =}

ELKillian

[HotZ28]

I found this suction gun a couple weeks ago @ Harbor Freight for 5 bucks. It works great. I did have to reduce the suction line size down to 1/4 in I.D using brass hose barbs. I think the hose supplied with the suction gun is 3/8 in. I.D. & 1/2 in. O.D. The reduced line is 1/4 in. I.D. & 3/8 in. O.D. I also used a 1/4 in O.D. 6" long, piece of copper tubing for insertion into the SC snout. I sucked it all out in one pull! Total cost = $7.50

By the way, be sure to use only GM SC oil, Part #12345982 available at most GM dealers, or
GM Parts Direct

Ingredients listed on the bottle:
Fatty acids, C5-10, esters with dipentaerythritol-phosphoric acid, (1,1-dimenthylethy)phenyl CAS-70983-72-1
diphenyl ester CAS-56803-37-3

[Garfield2]

I went to Wal-Mart and bought the little bird special "cheap cheap cheap" It is a turkey baster that has a small opening. Then I just put a small extension of vinyl tubing on it so it would be easier to reach the bottom of the supercharger reservoir. Works great and minimal cost.

[benEzra]

I bought a small hand-operated plastic vacuum pump at AutoZone, like you'd use to bleed brakes or test vacuum lines. It came with an attachment for sucking fluid into a little jar, and worked well.