Oil Leaks, Superchargers, etc.

[istara]

So I finally tore in to stop at least 2 of my oil leak sources this week. I still seem to be seeping transmission oil at the driver side axle, so that'll have to wait for another weekend.

What I did do: oil pan gasket, sealed the crank position sensor, Detroit Tuned BPV, and changed the supercharger oil. This isn't a full blown how to.. but got a good amount of pictures to maybe help some people out along the way.

Step 1: Put the front end in the air, remove bumper cover and bumper, and remove the front crush tubes (2 subframe bolts on each side). If you haven't done this before, it's not hard, so I didn't document this bit. Search around. You may want to take the front wheels off, by the way. Because all my clips/pop-rivets in the fender-wells have long since been destroyed by me out of frustration, I left the wheels on.

Step 2: Remove the modular front end. Also not too hard. Coolant will need to be drained so have what you need: more coolant / distilled water / water-wetter.. whatever formula you usually use. (Note: because I was doing the bypass valve at the same time, I went ahead and removed a lot of other stuff like the throttle body, etc, in these pictures that you don't really need to worry about. Instructions for replacing the bpv are already easy to find and very comprehensive, so I didn't feel the need to repeat them here).

Disconnect the air intake tube and make sure everything is unplugged from each side (fog lights, horns, radiator fan, etc), and get the wires out of the way.


2 small bolts take the A/C condenser off (you can see them above). Pull it out of the way. I also unbolted the bracket for the radiator plug and hard ac line, which you can see at the bottom of the picture below. The only thing left to disconnect should be the upper/lower radiator hoses and, if you're cool like me, make lots of mess with coolant splashing everywhere..


Step 3: Removing the compressor, the alternator, and the supercharger. (If you're just doing the oil pan, the only thing that has to come off is the compressor. Alternately, if you're only doing the SC, the compressor can stay on).



Remove the serpentine belt. Hopefully you have the tool, because I wouldn't want to go without it. Also take off the intercooler cover and intercooler if you haven't already.. You're also going to want to drain the oil if you're doing the oil pan. The sooner the better so it won't be dripping on your head in the meantime, so be thinking about it.

The compressor comes out with 3 bolts. 2 in the front and 1 long horizontal one across the back. Set it out of the way as best you can with those pesky hoses still attached.


Tada! 1 down:


The alternator is even simpler with 3 obvious bolts holding it on from the front (don't forget to unplug it):


Now remove the dipstick. 2 bolts, easy enough..
One attached to the SC:

One next to the crank position sensor:


Wiggle it out and plug the hole so nothing falls in. If you're dropping the oil pan anyway, not a huge concern, but still a good idea.

So.....

9 bolts to worry about (IIRC.. I hope I remember right!): 2 black ones just below the horn, bolt on the left going horizontal through the tensioner, long black bolt in the center next to the pcv hose, one on the bottom (already removed in the pic), one small one holding on the black intake pipe, and 3 on the right side (horizontally) which connect the water pump to the SC.

And off it goes.. drain and refill.

My oil looked quite clean. Water pump side was barely tinted, pulley side was a little darker (see above) but still looked pretty good. No glitter, so pretty happy at 83k miles.

While it's all apart, don't forget to take a look at/RTV the crank position sensor.. especially if yours looked anything like mine did (ewww!)


Intallation is the reverse of removal

Step 4: Oil pan time..
Unplug and remove the power steering fan (2 nuts) and then remove the engine mount bracket (4 bolts):

Then there are 3 transmission bolts which need to come out. Number 1 and 2:


Number 2 and 3:


Now on to the oil pan bolts. These have a specific torquing order as you might imagine, so (if you haven't already), make sure you pull out the Bentley manual at some point.


Down we go!


My old gasket was stuck to the block by the little clips on it. Easy to remove, just don't forget to.. putting it back together with 2 oil pan gaskets would not be better than one.

Enjoy some engine porn while you're in there:


New gasket!


Aaand... surprise surprise.. installation is the reverse of removal

I'm sure I'm forgetting things. This is just off the top of my head what I did. I also disconnected the battery first (thinking about it now), etc. Use proper jack stands.. general disclaimer: it's not my fault if you try this at home and break something. But I'm happy to edit and fill it in with things I'm sure I've forgotten and answer any questions anyone has. Happy wrenching..

[bee1000]

Wow!

[BThayer23]

Very impressive and instructive. Where did you source the supercharger oil? Is there a way to check the water pump while you're at it? And how robust does that oil pan look? I'm considering an oil temp gauge.

[Nitrominis]

Nice write up!

I like the last picture with semi clean toes!

[imspencerwithanr53]

Props to working shoeless. I bet it's nice being in warm weather

[Boxcars]

WOW
very nice write up, thank you.
is there a symptom to listen for? (for the supercharger, that is)
or is this regular maintenance and at what interval?
thanks
boxcars

[istara]

Originally Posted by BThayer23

Very impressive and instructive. Where did you source the supercharger oil? Is there a way to check the water pump while you're at it? And how robust does that oil pan look? I'm considering an oil temp gauge.

Supercharger oil comes from any GM dealership. Part Number: 12345982

I also followed much of the advice here: North American Motoring - View Single Post - Rattle : Supercharger / water pump
as far as quantities, etc. (Link to complete thread)

As far as robust, I wouldn't be able to compare that to anything off hand. My car is considerably low to the ground and I haven't managed to crack it yet despite my best efforts, so it must not be too bad!

As for symptoms.. I just did this as regular maintenance. 83k or so on the car, I figured I might as well take a look while I had the front end off anyway. I will probably change it again in another 20-30k or so. Rumor has it, there is a wonderful grinding/rattle sound that you'll hear by the time it's too late.

Sorry about the toes

[BThayer23]

Thanks again istara for posting this online. I did similar work to my car over the past few weeks, and this how-to was a great supplement to the Bentley manual. Whenever I got stuck, I'd fire up the computer and sure enough, the photos in this thread illuminated the problem.

One supplement: I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the crank sensor, so I unscrewed the sensor from the block and took the whole thing out. I've never seen this kind of electrical connector before. There's a red plastic insert in the connector with a small arm. You have to use a small pick to push a small arm over and slide the insert perpendicular to the connector about 1/8". I took the insert all the way out, but it doesn't have to. To reassemble, push the insert in to the slot on the female end of the connector only one click. Connect the harness to the sensor, and slide the insert the rest of the way in. I took a picture of the male end of the connector (sensor side) and the plastic insert from the female side; light gray female side not shown.



Also note the squared-off bluish o-ring that was leaking.

[Dr Obnxs]

FWIW, the coil connector has the same locking mechanism.

For the SC, the grinding sound is the gears for the water pump drive self-destructing. While filling may prolong the life of the gears, the root cause is the seal to the SC is failing, and it's sucking the lube into the intake when under vacuum. fixing that will require a rebuild.

Matt