Supercharger

[easymo]

Thanks to the help here. I have gotten most of my minor bugs out of my 96 Riv (just bought it). One last question. If my SC goes out at some point. Can I just bypass it? Run a shorter belt?

[tman]

Just take the SC belt off, it's not necessary if you dont run a supercharger. Theres no harm in not having the SC nonfunctional

[easymo]

Thanks. I wasnt sure if they had figured out a way to plug that thing in to the computer for some odd, reason. (I am an old guy. This computer stuff intimidates me )

I have a tiny, irreguler, tick. It,s coming from the SC. I can put my hand on the SC and feel it. Oil level looks ok, so I figure I have a problem heading my way, at some point.

[camlifter]

the tick is most likely the coupler in the snout, it will start to make a rattling sound when it gets worse, cost about $50 to fix if you do the work your self.

[Movinfr8]

On the subject of S/c belts, the Prev Owner of my wife's car put belts on crooked!! One side of the S/C and the regular Serpentine belts are frayed, and ya can see that the belts are not lined up right on the pulleys. Other than that the belts look good.
My ??? is, What if the S/C belt snaps? would the engine be able to pull enough air around the rotors to get her home? I need to replace the belts, just have been too lazy so far....
Norm

[tman]

I believe there is a bypass in the SC when the amount of boost it creates at low rpms is negligable. You CAN run the engine without a SC belt, you'll just have the performance of the L37 engine.

Off-topic: Your post said you were lazy, and your named Norm. Do you by chance hang out at a bar with a mailman all day? (Cheers)

[panz1100]

my 97 riv has been running without the supercharger belt for about three months now. I havent had time to change a bad pulley.
the only noticeable difference in power is getting on the highway. It actually shifts smoother when you stomp on it. I guess thats because of the decreased horsepower.

[CSO56]

Is 95 different from the later or ,are you guys just leaving the A/C off . If I take the SC belt off I lose my air conditioning.

cso56

[jrn1023]

Originally Posted by CSO56

Is 95 different from the later or ,are you guys just leaving the A/C off . If I take the SC belt off I lose my air conditioning.

cso56

Don't leave the SC belt off on a 95 Riv. I did that initially, after reading some posts on this site, and the engine overheated. That belt, on a 95, runs the water pump as well. I finally replaced the coupler to fix the rattle.

[plathegame]

why not just replace the supercharger and run the car like it was meant to be??? just wandering, because they arent that expensive anymore

[regalfriend]

97 and up have a separate belt for the S/C....96 and down have a serp belt and cant be removed....Best bet for pre 97...fix the problem w/ S/C

[trapped]

Just to add my 2 bits, the 96 and up S/C motors can be run without the S/C belt, but you won't really have the VIN-K motor power... The Supercharged motor, just like any forced-induction motor, has a lower compression ratio. I do agree, however, that the main blower is seldom the problem. The 'snout' with the bearings that have to deal with the belt-tension, and the drive gears, is what wears out. This is an 'on-car' job that costs from zero to about $350 for the part. And I can't stress enough the importance of keeping that S/C Oil fresh... When it comes out of the bottle it has no smell, but as it wears out you can really smell the rotten-cheddar odor of the fatty acids in the mixture. For $14 bucks for 2 bottles of GM oil, plus a few bucks for a nice Kragen suction/replacement-syringe, you can't go wrong changing that oil at 30-40 thousand miles! I'm still running my original blower silently at 74K...