Premature supercharger bearing wear
Premature supercharger bearing wear
I've owned my car for about a year now and have put 20k miles on it. The guy I bought it from had a UPD 5 idler pulley set installed and the 83mm supercharger pulley installed. Also had a 5mm shorter belt.
Roughly around 12k miles later and I noticed the supercharger bearing was making an awful noise. I ordered a new bearing from VRP and installed it. Noise was and it was fine until about 8k miles later I have the same noise. This time I've also noticed the supercharger belt tension pulley bearing is bad and it's wobbly.
I'm trying to figure out why the bearing is going bad so fast. I assume the bearing from VRP is legit. I check the supercharger pulley gap and it seems to be fine, I'll check it again tomorrow. I am thinking maybe the tighter belt is putting too much tension on the bearings so I bought the stock size belt and also bought a new bearing from the supercharger pulley and tensioner pulley.
Roughly around 12k miles later and I noticed the supercharger bearing was making an awful noise. I ordered a new bearing from VRP and installed it. Noise was and it was fine until about 8k miles later I have the same noise. This time I've also noticed the supercharger belt tension pulley bearing is bad and it's wobbly.
I'm trying to figure out why the bearing is going bad so fast. I assume the bearing from VRP is legit. I check the supercharger pulley gap and it seems to be fine, I'll check it again tomorrow. I am thinking maybe the tighter belt is putting too much tension on the bearings so I bought the stock size belt and also bought a new bearing from the supercharger pulley and tensioner pulley.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2012
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From: DownEast Maine
CLS 55 AMG E500 ML320
Good quality bearings have to be deliberately hunted down. There are many cheap copies out there. Good bearings often have a reddish orange seal, and cost more than $10. You need all the belt tension you can get to minimize slipping. Call a bearing supplier and give them the #'s off your bearings and see what they can do.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,428
Likes: 288
From: New Zealand
I seem to recall VRP sells good ones. I know there were issues with premature UPD kit failures and the colour of the bearing seals changes or they have metal dust caps so you can't see them. I am also interested in peoples up to date experiences as I have a tiny tick when spinning the idler and my tensioner pulley is rusted.
The small idler and accessory tensioner are both affordable OEM so it doesn't make sense to get aftermarket replacements, just the supercharger tensioner and idlers are very overpriced.
The small idler and accessory tensioner are both affordable OEM so it doesn't make sense to get aftermarket replacements, just the supercharger tensioner and idlers are very overpriced.
