whatisreal7

First off, I did a search on the forums, and couldn't make heads or tails, or please don't flame me and say "do a search" =)

I have a 2002 C32 AMG with <80K miles. There is a grinding noise that has been coming from the "supercharger area" (see attached picture) for ~20K miles, and I figured it is time to take care of it. It is loud at idle, but goes away when you get out of low gear. My mechanic says I need to replace the supercharger/compressor clutch, which will cost me several thousand dollars. I've also read on this forum via my searches it could be 1) bearings, 2) pulley, 3) belts, 4) combination there-of.

Can anyone chime in to help me narrow down the combinations?

I don't come on this forum frequently, so kindly email me at allenytsai at gmail dot com.

Thanks ahead of time for any advice/wisdom you can impart.

silverjimm

I would say its the bearing in the supercharger pulley, or idler pulley.

Newzchspy

+1, prolly the idler or the SC bearing. The clutch wont make that kind of noise you describe.

dansamg

Search the E55 211 forum. ( there is also a DIY sticky there)

Tons of threads on supercharger clutch bearing noises.

I personally had the noise and a wobble.
I bought a new bearing from a member instead of spending $2K at the dealer for a new supercharger clutch pack.

Your car will absolutely benefit from a new clutch, but I changed the bearing myself in just a few hours with basic tools. The hardest part is removing the retaining bolt.. All I can say is lots of heat and an ipact wrench will be your best friend.

We have different platforms, but it looks like like a very similar clutch set up.

Take a look and if you want help PM me.

Newzchspy

Actually there's a ton of posts on the C32 forums on this as well and I believe he has a C32??

Also, no one has asked BUT is your car modded and are you running a crank pulley??

whatisreal7

Newz, the car is bone stock...

Thanks for the feedback folks. I'll see if I can get the mechanic to check those things out first before advocating to replace the whole damn thing.

whatisreal7

And at the risk of sounding whiney/lazy...can anyone point me to where I could get said bearings? And are they factory or after market?

splinter

From one of your Bay Area brothers…https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...-replaced.html

gtr886

I had replaced the whole super charge clutch when i purchased the car. I found out the hard way after reading the forum. It was just the pulley it self that needed to be replace.

I later purchased the C3 pulley for performance upgrade. So I have the new original pulley that came with the new SC replacement. The pulley ran less than 300 miles on it.

PM me if you want the original pulley for your replacement for $250 bucks. If things does not work out you are welcome to send it back to me.

Budget Baller

Yup I had the same problem. Replaced the bears and all was good. The sound was loud (could easily hear it with the trunk closed) horrible! Bearings fixed the problem

Newzchspy

+1 !! In addition, think about getting a PSK (Pulley Saver Kit) from Needswings if you mod later. Particularly if you go with the EC Crank pulley 181 or 185.

I believe that Needswings also has the bearings you need. Look at the current bearing you have and Google the # off of it; you can then Fleaby it or some forum members have the stock bearings too. I seriously doubt its the SC clutch or the SC itself. Go for the most obvious first and that's the pulley bearings/idler bearings.

msheredy

What were you doing in there LOL!

Budget Baller

heh heh, my girls into that type of thing

Typo correction: hood

arekux

replace ur supercharger bearing and idler noise should go away i had same problem.

supercharger Bearing - $54 http://www.needswings.com/Supercharg...scBearing.aspx

order idler from dealer around $50. part # 112 202 0119