1st Gen "How To" Supercharger Oil Service + Oil Pan Gasket

I'm glad somebody revived this thread - I think Aaron posted this DIY while I was off the forum for a while. It's awesome. I'm swapping my SC sometime soon, and had a bunch of the gaskets and such already, but this reminded me of a few other things I needed, as well as pushing me over the edge to replace hoses and the thermostat housing while I was at it. So, after ordering parts 3 or 4 times over the past several months, I think I'll finally have a full parts kit for the project.

 

Thank you! I just left them both on. Should be easy to get the dipstick out now!

Well, I have the back off. There was definitely less than 2 ounces in there. When I spin the pulley I hear the blower scraping a bit inside there but all the other internal parts on the back look ok? Are the gears worn down at all? I haven't had the front off yet. It is way over tightened..

Thanks for any help here guys!


The connection between the water pump and the SC look fine but are these gears warn down?




Does "it" look like I need the rear gears replaced? Thanks everyone for your help!

 

Those look lovely.

This is what "worn" looks like:

 

Wow! That is what I was expecting.. Car was making the rattle sound so I stopped driving it. Not sure if this is where the rattle was coming from now. Local shop said it was coming from SC so not sure. I cleaned out the front and flushed it with a bottle. came out pretty brown both times.. trying to figure out where the noise is/was..i'll edit this post if I find something productive to add

 

No not worn or in need of replacement.

Rotate the supercharger pulley a half turn in both directions, the lobes should move at the same time, if there is any play, a nose gear is damaged. Remove the supercharger output duct, if large patches of coating are missing, most likely a bearing is bad. In either case, replace the supercharger.





Look at the weep holes on the waterpump, one is in the side, the other toward the input key, if either show signs of leaking fluid, replace the waterpump.





A fun fact, a supercharger with great lobe seal will inflate a bag with just a few rotations of the pulley by hand, and hold pressure for several seconds; poor sealing lobes will not.

 

^ That's cool!

 

^this +1

Also if the idler pulley is loose, that can produce a rattle, too.

 

maybe my "rattle"

Thank you for that insight and tip. I want not characterize my sound as a rattle, but a "jingling." Only hear it when the car is accelerating (clutch in, regardless of speed, no jingling). I have been under the car and see nothing loose and it sounds like it coming from the left forward region of the car. that would put the mystery sound in that vicinity.

Short of taking it to a shop with a "car treadmill" any suggestions how I might verify this at home? Would the tensioner assm. be loose enough to move around or would it take the torque of the belt to get it to move?

Maybe an extremely difficult question to answer. I appreciate any tips. Thank you!

 

hey guys...my name is Mike and i have a 2003 mcs with about 95k miles on it. Like most others, I didn't realize there was an issue with the supercharger oil situation until it sounded like there was a tin can flapping around in my engine. My mechanic told me it was coming from the supercharger, so following arron's how to, I just pulled off my supercharger. The waterpump gearbox was dry and the small spur gear was fried. There is also a lot of coating missing from some of the compressor blades (I will try to post pics)

Does this equate to a fried super? and if so, what is your opinion about the sprintex upgrade?

Thanks,
Mike

 

Mike - sorry about your SC, that really sucks. Hate to see it when these do this.

Another excellent MINI/BMW "lifetime" fluids / lubrication story. :roll eyes:

Truth in advertising - the oil in that supercharger was "good for the life of the supercharger".

Dead supercharger, no need to change the oil. Just like MINI said.

I know, I know... the problem is the seals, not the lube. But still... I hate this engineered obsolescence and "green" total-lifecycle waste reduction crap. If BMW/MINI would have recommended service intervals that treated the car as it it was designed to last 500,000 miles, then it would. Instead they treat it like it's disposable, and it is.

Grrrrrr.

 

ok...so new supercharger time...Since I have everything apart I think I am just going to do some mods/preventative maintanance. Here is the list I am thinking about, please give opinions.


supercharger replace (either a rebuild or the spintex upgraded super)
waterpump + housing
thermostat
baffled oil pan + gasket
serpentine
radiator hoses
tesioner assembly
15% pulley on super (was on my old super...didn't know until I took it off lol)
cool air intake
clutch (if needed for the extra hp)
possibly the crankshaft pulley (lightened)
better brakes
rear sway bar
new shocks
get it retuned on a dyno

I am also wanting to clean the engine (oil is everywhere, hopfully from the super or the oil pan gasket...fingers crossed)...any tips on that?

Thanks alot
Mike

 

tks for the post

Hi, I have a 2005 MINI Cooper S stock, noise from under the hood, worried that the supercharge might be dry w/90k - purchased at 67k miles- I did some research and learned of the undocumented oil service. Though it might be some other noise... It's nice to the post live - the pictures a really nice and helpful. I'll get back to the post when I get started - maybe this winter. tks. Tim

 

No Sprintex. They run hot and have been known to blow engines up

 

If the sound goes away when the clutch is disengaged then this jingling is coming from the transmission not the SC or the belt or the tensioner, etc. Fluids like the OEM MTF-94 or Redline MTL are relatively thin (i.e. 75W80) and can cause some transmissions to be noisy, this is normal. It can be remedied by simply changing out the lube with fresh, if what you have in there is old, or by replacement with a heavier weight gear lube something like 75W140, this will 'cure' the transmission jingling. I am presently running RP Max Perf Gear Lube and it keeps my tranny quiet.
We have other threads with more discussion on this topic.
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