SSEi Bonneville

[GTSR00]

Ok Guys, need you help on this one. 'm notto familiar with how superchargers work. About 2 weeks i was going to an event and drove my car out there, and everything worked fine. Turned the car and it was never the same. When i came out, about three hours later, got in, turned my car on and put it in drive. From that point on my car never ran the same. when exelerating the engine runs fine, but when the boost meeter gets up to around 0 thats when the cars started sputtering. there is a loss of power almost like the supercharger is not even there, But the boost meter still shows that it has boost. any idea's are more then welcome. Right now things are looking twards a $1100 new supercharger!
Thanks

[Scott 02]

Awww not good, so is that how much them superchargers cost?

[Rhythm Angel]

This may be absolutely unrelated but I just bought a '93 Bonniville.... W/ supercharged engine.... I was told by more then one person that burning regular (low octane) fuel in these engines will cause this sort of sputtering in the higher stage of throttle or when the supercharger reaches it's mid point.... Mind you I've only had mine a couple days now and have had no such issues....yet.... I will burn premium fuel in hopes of avoiding any issues like this...

Just a thought! I'm no mechanic though....
Good luck!

[Scott 02]

Yes, I usually run the Plus fuel or Premium in my GTP. I do use the regular unleaded fuel ( the cheapest) and never had a sputtering problem. I just use the Plus or Premium b/c I been told to many of times. It makes the motor run to its full potential I guess.

[alyscio]

Before you spend $1100 on a new supercharger, I'd give some serious consideration to a rebuilt. As a quick sense check , there are some new rebuilts on E-Bay going in the $400 range.

As for the sputtering sound and the connection with premium fuel. It has to do with engine knock. The higher the cylinder pressures (ie: high compression, or supercharging...) the more sensitive the engine will be to lower grade fuels. Most modern engines employ a knock sensor that detects this potentially damaging occurance and the engine management system makes adjustments to protect the engine. During this, you will hear kind of a rattling sound. If you hear it, buy better gas.

A lot of folks will tell you that the premuim gas will get you better performance or better mileage in any vehicle. In my opinion 9 out of 10 times this is not true. In a supercharged engine, however I'd spend the extra 15 cents on premium. The manufacturer do not like to make the premium fuel recommendation so when they do, it's for a reason.

[Michael_S]

To go with what alyscio said:

If you're curious about the way this stuff functions, you can read at howstuffworks.com.

In a nutshell, if you use higher octane fuel than your car needs, there is absolutely zero added benefit to your vehicle performance or engine longevity. On the other hand, if you use lower octane fuel than your car needs, you can do serious damage to the engine.

[BryantGTP]

Have the car scanned for knock retard. If you have any knock, the computer will pull timing and you will notice a severe drop in performance. It does this for the safety of the engine.