Supercharger noise...nasty noise

[Mac077]

It appears that our supercharger may be going out on us?? It sounds like horendous at best so I would like to take the belt off and see what it sounds like. Can that be done without hurting anything else?? It has fluid in it but using a stethascope it sounds like things were being ground up inside!! Anyway, we started hearing the noise this afternoon and were 120 miles away from home so......yes we had to drive it that way!! We made it home but it sounds like crap!! Any help, as usual, is greatly appreciated!!

(edit) Will the car run without the supercharger belt?? May be a stupid question but there it is...

[yourgrandma]

Car will run fine without the belt. Its an excellent limp feature.

Sounds like your coupler broke. Not too uncommon.

[Mac077]

Ok, tell me what the coupler is?? and where? Maybe the cost of repair if I can do it myself?

[00Beast]

http://www.3800supercharger.net/diagnosing.html

[Mac077]

Ok, how much am I looking at for a rebuilt nosedrive? No time to do the work myself accept for maybe removing and installing new nosedrive! Thanks for all of your help!!

[Mark Fahey]

The same amount of work is involved in replacing the coupler as replacing the nose drive. If you do just do the coupler, it's a great time to replace the oil as well.

[redzmonte]

if its the coupler then the coupler is easy to replace.. you can get a upgraded coupler from ZZPerformance and a few other places. You will need the coupler, sealer (to seal the snout to the case), SC fluid (2 bottles GM or 1 Intense), a large suringe (to suck out old fluid). remove, clean (not brake cleaner), repalce coupler and re-assymbol.

S

[01bonneSC]

I got my coupler kit from Intense.

[Mac077]

Ok, just pulled the supercharger belt and the noise still exists...guess that means it is the harmonic balancer huh?? That being said what am I looking at for $$'s for the part and how difficult is it to replace?? I am really thinking that it may be time to cut and run!! Thanks for any help you all can provide!

[myfirstbonnie]

It is not that bad to do. The worst part is getting the bolt loose and then using the puller to pull it off. The HB itself can be a little pricey. If you are not up to the challenge, you could always check with a few local garages and see if they will install your part.

[Mac077]

Ok, how confident can I be that it is in deed the HB and not something else? I don't want to get into it just to realize it is something else altogether! Is there any way to test it to be sure?? Thanks

[redzmonte]

its all by sound. i would check the idler pullies and tensioner. you should be able to spin thoes by hand with the belt off and feel a bad bearing or hear a bad bearing noise if they are bad. if you have a stethoscope you can tell what is bad, most people dont have one on hand.

[myfirstbonnie]

Pull both belts off and see if the noise is still there at idle. Then bimp the throttle and see if it goes away. If so, it will most likely be ths HB. Just do not run it a long time without the belts.

[Mac077]

How long is to long in this case? Did you mean bump the throttle??

[myfirstbonnie]

With the sc belt off, the noise was still there, correct? When reving the motor, does the noise go away? Does it sound like it is at the bottom on the passenger side? If so, then take the other belt off and see if the noise goes away at idle. If so, turn off the engine amd then see if you can turn the outer pulley by hand.

The issue with the motor running without the belts is overheating because the water pump is not turning. Just run it long enough to hear for the noise.

[00Beast]

He means rev it a little bit. At idle there is enough momentum to allow it to clank, when revved it's being forced one way.

I'd say a minute is plenty. Remember, you don't have a water pump or alternator with the belt off.

[Mac077]

Yes, when I took the SC belt off it still made the noise and it did go away when I revv'd the engine. i will need to get it running for a while to get to a normal idle speed then take off the other belt and test for noise. Without the other belt, if it still makes the noise, then that pretty much seals the deal don't it? Make sense anyway...if it doesn't make the noise what am I looking for when I turn the pulley? Thanks everyone!!

[myfirstbonnie]

Trying to turn the pulley by hand is another confirmation it is bad. You should not be able to turn the pulley at all without the crank moving.

[Mac077]

gotcha...also makes sense! I hate it when that happens...common sense is not very common you know :-)

[myfirstbonnie]

Not sure what the shipping would be, but I could send you one from one of my donor motors.