When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Recently, I picked up an 05 E55 with 117k miles and was having issues finding out what is causing the noises coming from the supercharger. Namely at first it would make a sort of grinding noise from the supercharger, and without the belt on (fixed sc pulley) I would be able to turn it nearly 360° before it feels like it gets stuck and needs decent force to continue spinning. After a few more tests and start ups, the issue seems to have migrated to a sort of screeching / whining noise coming from the supercharger. Now however the supercharger seems to spin freely without getting stuck whatsoever. My assumption is a contaminant made its way into the supercharger but now has passed the rotors. Any help would be gladly appreciated, thanks.
I would pull the SC, check for contaminants(vacuum it) and replace the bearings, lube them, and renew the SC oil.
Very rarely does the SC go bad to an unusable state.
And yes, if they are contaminants inside the rotors, they will have a hard time spinning.
Even something as simple as bits of rubber gasket maker can make it hard to spin.
Assuming that is a non-clutched aftermarket pulley, the rear bearings are dry. DIY available here on the forum. The rear bearings being pre-greased but not in an oil bath is why I will not install a non-clutched pulley on my car; the supercharger spins continuously and one has to replace the rear bearings much sooner compared to the intermittent operation of the stock pulley.
Be advised you may have to order the bearings out of Australia; they are custom made and the last run was a couple of years ago. Multiple folks went in on a batch run from the manufacturer with a six to eight-month lead time.
Thanks for the insight, I'll have the supercharger off shortly and share some photos of the condition on the internals, fingers crossed that its just bearings.
Hey, just an update for anyone that has a similar issue, it was definitely a contaminant that made its way and got stuck in the charge air cooler. The genius that owned the car before me must have left a shop towel somewhere near the throttle body and well the rest is history. Clearly there is some scarring/scuffing on both rotors, with one part of the teflon rotor gotten completely wiped away.
Out of curiosity, would the supercharger still be viable if rotors were cleaned and all contaminants within the charge air cooler got cleaned out? Also, the scarring on the rotors tells me that the shop towel might not have been the only contaminant, as I can't imagine a shop towel scuffing the rotors like that. I'll leave some pics attached.
Hey, just an update for anyone that has a similar issue, it was definitely a contaminant that made its way and got stuck in the charge air cooler. The genius that owned the car before me must have left a shop towel somewhere near the throttle body and well the rest is history. Clearly there is some scarring/scuffing on both rotors, with one part of the teflon rotor gotten completely wiped away.
Out of curiosity, would the supercharger still be viable if rotors were cleaned and all contaminants within the charge air cooler got cleaned out? Also, the scarring on the rotors tells me that the shop towel might not have been the only contaminant, as I can't imagine a shop towel scuffing the rotors like that. I'll leave some pics attached.
Wow some peoples children ..... this is why there are some that should nvr work on a car!!!.
The damage looks minimal but thing to do is clean it out and get all the crap out of it an then reinstall an see where the boost is at make sure its still working good. Im sure it may not be as efficient or make as much boost as new but i dont think the loss will even be noticable.
07-17-2019, 10:07 AM
