Play in supercharger pulley.

vaprobe87

Registered User
I have had a noise in my supercharger and noticed that it looked like I had some slack in the tensioner for the supercharger. I thought the tensioner was bad so i went ahead and bought another one. Im just waiting for it to come in so I can change it. Today I took the supercharger belt off and noticed there was some play in the pulley. I think it may be the coupler that has the slack in it.

I have a extra supercharger that came with the car when I bought it and I was planning on getting rebuilt. I was wondering if it would be ok to take the coupler from the extra supercharger and put it in the one on the car just to get me by untill I can get the extra supercharger rebuilt.

Also how hard is it to remove the supercharger?
 
I have had a noise in my supercharger and noticed that it looked like I had some slack in the tensioner for the supercharger. I thought the tensioner was bad so i went ahead and bought another one. Im just waiting for it to come in so I can change it. Today I took the supercharger belt off and noticed there was some play in the pulley. I think it may be the coupler that has the slack in it.

I have a extra supercharger that came with the car when I bought it and I was planning on getting rebuilt. I was wondering if it would be ok to take the coupler from the extra supercharger and put it in the one on the car just to get me by untill I can get the extra supercharger rebuilt.

Also how hard is it to remove the supercharger?

Does the coupler turn smoothly and then spring back? If so, it's normal. The stock coupler has a damping spring in it. Not a problem. It could still be worn out, but it's not necessarily so.

The noise could be from the supercharger bearings. There are bearings in the snout (nose drive), the front of the rotor pack, and at the back of the case. You can get them all changed out for something like $600. I would strongly recommend it.
 
The pulley turns freely and does not spring back. I already took the extra charger apart to get the coupler out of it and did not see and springs unless i am calling the part i am talking about the wrong name. The part I am talking about is a little plastic ring. It has a large hole in the center surrounded by six smaller holes that slide over the pegs on the gear in the case and the pegs on the shaft in the snout to conect them together.

I found a new bearing and seal set and coupler on another website for around $100. Can i just buy that and change the bearings myself? Is it as simple as to take the old bearings out and press the new ones in? The reason I ask is i cant afford to pay someone to change them right now. I dont even have the $100 for the bearing set LOL

I was hopeing,this would be a simple fix since this is my only car. Is it safe to continue to drive it like that untill I can get it fixed? I would have sawpped for the extra supercharger but I found out it is leaking oil around the pulley.
 
You can press the snout bearing in, replace the rear case bearings, the coupler, and change the supercharger oil yourself. However usually with the higher mileage super chargers the rotor back bearings need to be replaced if there is slop in the rotor pack and that can be very tricky as the timing is very difficult to get right. There is a guy on here who is rebuilding superchargers with the better seals and bearings and the thread can be found here http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114075&page=6 I know you don't have the funds for now but something to consider. As for driving it as it is right now it really depends on what is wrong but if it chews up the super charger you can pick up used stock ones fairly cheap.
 
That piece you described with the holes in it is the coupler. Sounds like an aftermarket part that you would get in a rebuild kit. That in itself will make the blower noisy, sounds like a rattle. The springs in the stock coupler were there to dampen the pulses from the blower and stop the gear train from rattling. It won't hurt it to run it like that, it just doesn't sound very pleasant.
Alan
 
That piece you described with the holes in it is the coupler. Sounds like an aftermarket part that you would get in a rebuild kit. That in itself will make the blower noisy, sounds like a rattle. The springs in the stock coupler were there to dampen the pulses from the blower and stop the gear train from rattling. It won't hurt it to run it like that, it just doesn't sound very pleasant.
Alan

I have seen rattles show up after switching to a solid coupler ... But I think the rattle is usually from the rotors clacking together because the front rotor bearings are worn out. I figure, if that blower is old enough that someone opened it and swapped the coupler, the rotor bearings are probably fairly loose by now.

The blower can still work that way for a long time. But at a minimum, you need to check the snout oil frequently. If the rotor bearings are worn, the rotor seals are probably really worn, and the snout oil gets sucked into the blower under high-vacuum cruising conditions.

The solid coupler could still be worn out. But it shouldn't be, unless it was made of a really poor quality material.

As for blower removal, it's annoying the first time. The easiest way is to disconnect the upper intercooler tube from the intercooler and leave the tube and blower top attached to the blower. Loosen the supercharger belt. Remove the intake tube. Disconnect the throttle and cruise control linkage from the throttle body. Pull the PCV tube out of the valve cover grommet and disconnect the vacuum line that branches off and goes to the EVAP canister. If the coolant tube through the throttle body is still connected, disconnect it. Remove the BAP sensor bracket and move the sensor out of the way. Disconnect the vacuum line from the boost bypass valve. Disconnect the medium-sized vacuum line between the intake and return plenums. Then loosen the hose clamps at each end of the silicone coupler between the intake and return plenums. Then remove the three bolts holding the blower down. Move all the wiring out of the way. Then ... I think the blower should be free from everything holding it down. With the help of a buddy (if at all possible to find one!), you can lift the entire assembly of the blower, upper IC tube, intake plenum, and throttle body right out of the car. As you lift, you need to rotate the front of the blower up and the passenger side of the blower up, to allow you to pull the stubby pipe from the intake plenum out of the silicone coupler. You need to go slowly and avoid forcing it, in case you missed a connection somewhere. And you need to be careful that you have cleared the fuel rail, as the side clearance between the blower and the rail is tight. Installation is the reverse of removal, but again, you can really use a buddy, as it is harder to get the blower down in place and connected to the silicone coupler without hanging up on the fuel rail or wiring.

This method may seem goofy, but I have done it several times and this is my favorite way to do it. There's less hassle in getting to inaccessible bolts, and fewer ways to screw up the sealing on re-installation.
 
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Thanks for the resonses. The coupler i described came from the extra supercharger that I have. Now that I think about it, it may have been rebuilt. Everything inside of it was very clean and looked good. That and it looks alot better than the one on my car. Maybe I will put the couple back in it and fill it back up with oil to see how bad the leak actually is. The way I had it stored it was tilted snout down a little bit and had been setting there for a few months. I cant remember how much had leaked out if though but I dont think it was much. If the leak isnt that bad I may just swap them out.

The previous owner never gave me any info on the extra supercharger when I bought the car so he may have had it rebuilt or bought it that way but never got around to changing it. It turns easy and does not make any noises.
 
You know, you can swap the snout seal without removing anything but the pulley. So if it is leaking there, it's not a big deal.
 
Removal of old snout seal/bearings...

I am going to being changing the snout seal and the 2 bearings in
Bearings in the snout....

What's the first to do..to get out seal and how does one push
out the shaft from the snout?

Thanks!
 
Supplied by Rickbybird

Blower Nose Seal Replacement / Pulley Replacement



Scope
The purpose of this procedure is to guide you through replacing the M90 Eaton blower pulley and Snout Nose Seal on a 1989, 90 Thunderbird Super Coupe or Mercury XR7 with a 3.8L v6 Super Charged Motor (other years may or may not apply). The parts and tools listed below could be substituted with similar items but if you plan on doing it the way specified I suggest that you do NOT substitute the puller for any size larger then specified.

Tools
1.A Three Jaw Five Inch Gear/Pulley Puller with the pivot points located in the middle. The pullers fingers, drive bolt and diameter should be no more then five inches..
2.One 18mm socket with half inch drive.
3.One long breaker bar half inch drive.
4.One 2-3 inch ½ driver extension.
5.One inch and an eighth boxed end wrench slightly offset.
6.A small hammer and one nail about 3-4 inches long.
7.Two small self tapping screws with the number two Philips Head.
8.One flat head screw driver
9.One number two Philips Head screwdriver.
10.One thin wood shim about a sixteenth inch to and eights inch thick.
11.A freezer.

Parts
1.A replacement snout seal. One of the following will do. (These are Chicago Rawhide part numbers)
Part Number 7965 (fair)
Part Number 7966 (ok)
Part Number 7967 (better)
Part Number 7968 (best) and recommended for areas of high dirt and dust.

NOTE: These seals are hard to find items at local part stores and if they can source them to a “National” part number you’ll be extremely lucky. You may have better luck getting the seal from a local Bearing/Seal reseller.

2.Pulley (optional). The replacement of the pulley is your choice of the same size, 5% or 10% undersize. Undersize pulley are available for these blower on many performance auto parts locations on the web. Caution:please insure you have modified your exhaust system adequately before going to an undersize pulley.
3.Super Charger Belt (optional). You should be able to use the same belt with the same size pulley or 5% undersize. If your belt is worn or old I suggest you invest in the new rubber to drive you blower. It is recommended that you go to a smaller belt when doing the 10% undersize pulley and/or go to a slightly larger (and better) steel idler pulley.

Consumables
1.One can of Brake Part Cleaner.
2.One can of penetrating fluid or wd40.
3.A roll of paper towels.
4.Some cotton swabs or cotton balls
5.Super Charger Fluid.
6.A small sandwich bag.
7.Rubber Gloves (for your protection)

Procedures

Super Charger Belt Removal
1.Attach an 18mm ½ drive socket and small extension to a two foot breaker bar.
2.Attach the socket to the super changer idler pulley and rotate clockwise until you can slip the belt off the super changer pulley.
3.Position the belt away from the super charger pulley so it does not bind when you release tension from the idler pulley.

Super Changer Pulley Removal
1.Make note of how many threads are showing on the end of the threaded area of the super charger before removing the 18mm nut.
2.Spray the 18mm nut on the end of the super charger pulley with penetrating fluid and go for a bathroom break, have a beer, or smok’em if you got’em.
3.There is a fixed 1 1/8 nut which is part of the super changer pulley. Position the boxed end wrench for leverage onto the nut. While standing on the left side of the car near the passenger headlight and holding the wrench in your left hand, using your right hand position the 18mm socket and breaker bar onto the supercharger front nut. Turn the nut counter clockwise (pull towards your chest) until it loosens. Remove the nut and set aside.
4.Spray the front and rear of the super charger spindle around the pulley with penetrating fluid so to insure it penetrates the inside diameter of the keyed hole. Go for a bathroom break, have a beer, or smok’em if you got’em.
5.Attach the three jawed pulley/gear puller and position it onto the pulley so that two of the jaws are just under the coolant outlet tube. Insure the draw blot is up against the super changer spindle bolt end. Tighten the draw bolt by hand with no leverage until all three jaws lips are snug around the rear outside pulley lip. Check the position of the puller to insure it’s just under the coolant tube and will not engage it as you back off the pulley.
6.Using the super charger spindle bolt threads and a gage, using an appropriate leverage tool (boxed end wrench, adjustable wrench) slowly back off the pulley by turning the draw bolt on the puller clockwise. As the puller tightens, insure the pulley is moving towards the front rather then the lips of the pulley bending inward.

Seal Removal (optional). If it’s leaking you should replace it.
1.If necessary pump out some of the super changer fluid from the super charger. (most of the time this isn’t necessary)
2.Wad up several sheets of paper towels and position them just below the super charger snout.
3.Remove the retaining clip from the snout and set aside.
4.Note: In this step once you slightly puncture the bearing seal with the nail, stop and do the other side the same way. Being careful not to damage the super charger bearings, using a hammer and long nail make a small hole at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions on the old seal of the super charger snout seal.
5.Using two self tapping sheet metal screws, install the two screws and snug so they won’t pop out when prying.
6.Using a pad (a thin wood shim works) and a prying device (flat head screw driver works) position the pad under the pry tool and on the face of the super charger snout outlet. Pry each screw evenly until the seal pops out.
7.Being careful not to get any fluid on the plastic engine parts, clean the snout seal with brake fluid cleaner. Using swabs, cotton balls, and paper towels clean all residue out of the housing and repeat as necessary.
8.Cover the snout with a plastic bag and tape if you plan to store for a long period.


Seal Installation
1.Using a plastic sandwich bag put the new seal in the bag and soak in a solution of lubricant (wd40 works). Put in a freezer for about an hour.
2.Insure the snout is clean and not damaged.
3.Install the seal with your fingers as far as it will go until it’s just past the retaining clip ring.
i.If the seal will not go on using your fingers, get it started evenly and work it using the super charger pulley, 1 1/8 wrench 18mm nut. Mine only took a few turns of the nut to get it started.
ii. Pull off the pulley with the pulley/gear puller and verify that it’s installed. You should now be able to work it past the retaining clip grove with either your fingers or a wooden dowel.
4.Install the retaining clip so that it’s seated in the clip grove.

Super Changer Pulley Installation
1.Position the super charger pulley onto the spindle so the keyway grove aligns with the keyway and install by hand as far as it will go.
2.Install the 18mm nut hand tight.
3.Using the 1 1/8th inch boxed end wrench, 18mm socket, extention, and a long breaker bar tighten the 18mm nut until tight but no more then two treads show on the spindle threads.

Super Charger Belt Installation
1.Insure the belt is clean and free of cracks, rips or tears, and is the right size for the type of Super Changer pulley you’re going to use.
NOTE: If a 10% Super Changer pulley was installed, either a smaller drive belt or larger idler pulley is required.
2.Map the belt around the drive pulley and tension/idler pulley.
3.Attach an 18mm ½ drive socket and a small extension to a two foot breaker bar.
4.Attach the socket to the super changer idler pulley and rotate clockwise until you can slip the belt on the super changer pulley.
5. Insure everything is tight and top off the super charger with fluid.
6. Start the car and check for leaks.
 
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