e500slr

I recently sold an E55 supercharger to a guy who seems like a good, honest person. He asked me to take it to his mechanic for inspection and so I did.

He has a supercharger but apparently the car it came from took a big hit to the pulley and it's seized.

When his mechanic inspected it and turned it, put his ear on it and tested the clutch he said it was good. So I sold him the supercharger.

Fast forward 5 days later, he calls me and tells me the supercharger was installed, the car was started and it ran for 6 seconds before the supercharger seized and wouldn't turn.

This was suspicious to say the least. He is a seemingly nice person so I have him the benefit of the doubt and called his mechanic who told me the supercharger probably seized due to a "bad bearing".

What do you guys think. Is it a coincidence my supercharger, which they tested, all of a sudden fails and has the same problem as their old one?

I can identify my supercharger which I will when I go and pick it up but can they swap the internals with the bad one and still have the same shell?

It's so fishy because they said it was fine and now it has the same problem his other one had. Again, he seems like a good person and he's a nice guy but still......

What do you guys think?

sexyxe

Pretty unlikely. The sc is clutched so shouldn't really spinning for those few seconds on start anyway. Swapping the core over would probably be possible but a huge pain in the ****.

StarvingArtist

It is a pain to get out, but easy to work on. Buy some fresh oil, sealant for the ic joint, Upper and lower intake gaskets, and some blue locktite. I think that's it, you should be able to get the answer. Oh, and be careful with the sc gearbox gaskets. They are reusable and probably difficult to buy.

2000UZJ

the car was previously hit, it could of seized due to damage or lack of oil assuming the lower engine case was damaged. The SC rotors don't spin on start up since the clutch is not engaged. Tell him to remove the belt and try again...I'm guessing he did something to the engine and it did not like it very much

Minty Fresh

I don't see how this is your problem. It was a used piece, his own mechanic inspected it first, and he bought it. Something about his car or set up has now messed up two superchargers.

JoeJErnst

This is in no way your problem. You were kind enough to let his mechanic inspect AND APPROVE it BEFORE you sold it. There is no money-back guarantee when dealing with used parts, especially high performance parts.

Sucks to be him, but that's how it goes sometimes. (or he is totally BS'ing you) Either way I would let him know it's not your problem.

StarvingArtist

Or that.

dchl21

if you feel bad you can return some partial money ... or just tell him too bad... I wouldn't refund the whole thing tho..


point is that he did check it first.

Hulk

You had the part checked by his mechanic and his mechanic said all was good. Transaction done

BlackHammer

You never know...
Did the S/C you sold him have a serial # or something to identify it?

Elhonaz

Sure they do... the magnet spins(rotors spin) on idle but can be stopped by hand due to te fact that its not engaged

LNDMISSL

+1

cnterline

Walk away,his guy looked it over ,done

e500slr

I just don't like ripping people off. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some pushover but try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I figure it's always better to be slightly ripped off than be a scamming jerk.

The thing is, the supercharger came off a car with a big hit to the front but it clearly didn't touch the supercharger and again, they tested it. I mean, wasn't the whole point of the test to determine it's in working condition.

I just don't know the technicality of the supercharger and precisely how it could seize and what not.

At the end of the day if it was defective from my end, I would fully refund him as it is not his fault and even though you guys are right, that he's buying a used part, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes buying an SC that doesn't work.

I'm just suspicious because this apparently happened to his other one and now it's happened to mine. It doesn't take a genius to suspect that "my one" is actually his old one or has some component from it that is defective.

Regarding the engine, it's an SLK55 which he took out, took the pistons out and put in E55 pistons, rods and crank into the NA 55 engine to drop the compression. He apparently bought the SC and engine together from some wrecker and the SC turned out to be bad.

Really struggling with this and it's not about the money, it's about not wanting to be a scammer while also not wanting to be scammed as that would enable the person and teach them that's it's alright.

StarvingArtist

It is a simple device, once it is off the car and the ic is off, it should be obvious what is going on. Maybe they are sucking up chunks of something from his intake. It wouldn't take much to stop the rotors.

2000UZJ

I understand that. On immediate start up the rotors aren't spinning due to the fact there is no vacuum going through to spin them. Once the engine is fully cranked the rotors begin to spin under vacuum. If something was stuck in the S/C the engine would be able to crank until the SC clutch engaged and locked everything up.

03svtkiller

His mechanic inspected it before he bought it, so in this case it has nothing to do with you. You sold him a perfectly working sc, so if the buyer wants to blame someone he needs to blame his mechanic. I'd call it a day and walk away because as of now your sc is fu**** and he wants his money back lol I know if I was in this situation I would tell him good luck. He could of easily swapped over the internals of the supercharger people do all kinds of crazy sh** these days never know probably playing ya.

hayseed

iTrader: (2)

this makes the most sense - pull the sc cause its got to come off anyway and look for debris or shrapnel causing the jam -- they don't usually just freeze up, bearing noises or worst case impeller noises, -- you seem to feel guilty so throw him a couple of hundred bucks but your not obligated especially when his mechanic gave the thumbs up -- he may have bought an engine from someone who did him a disservice

kustom2k1

"I will when I go and pick it up"

Sounds like you already decided on a refund.

e500slr

It's not that I've decided on a refund but I can sympathize with the guy. However, 2 superchargers getting ruined is suspicious to say the least. Now I'm reconsidering after reading these comments because it makes sense. I gave them full access and all the time they need to inspect it.

So when the internal bearing goes, not the pulley but the one inside the supercharger, does it ruin the supercharger permanently like this and jam it? Forgive my ignorance on this, this is why I'm confused.

dchl21

I know you are a nice guy but be nice to yourself too bro... he is not using the sc on the right engine ... who knows what happened ..

Ls1toAMG

Here is one for you IF you do give him his money back ask for both super chargers to take a away the suspension. It was checked in working order so really I wouldn't refund unless you were there or it was a close friend or family. Trust no one

JoeJErnst

Excellent idea. That should determine whether or not he's trying to pull a fast one. I still say tell him to take a hike, but I also understand wanting to help a guy out. I agree with Ls1toAMG; if you give him any cash back walk away with both superchargers and you can do some forensics on them, just for fun.

LNDMISSL

+1

SICAMG

E500slr your beating this to death. Get your supercharger back, return his money....problem off your shoulders and gone...plus he will be happy. Check supercharger...resell it.Done. You will sleep better at night with bs like this gone!!