Okay gang.... owned the car 2 days and have 3 active posts. No so good so far!

There is a rattle (slight) in the engine... I used a stick to listen to the various pumps and cylinder heads to isolate the noise. I'm pretty sure at this point that the rattle is coming from the Supercharger. I believe the Supercharger is still performing fine... if not, I can't imagine how strong she might run with it workiing right! There is a particularly louder rattle / grind / clunk that occurs when you turn off the engine. Don't know why I didn't hear the noise when I test drove the car.....

Anyway.... Is this supercharger making "noises of death"? Is there anything I can do about it? How much is a replacement Charger going to cost me? Can I do it myself with moderate skills?

Thanks,
Mike

As the supercharger is the most likely suspect, I'm moving this to Forced Induction...

Now, do two things:
1: grab the serpentine belt (with the engine off ) can you move the belt so that the pulleys rotate some? That would point towards the harmonic balancer

2: take the SC belt off and turn the pulley by hand both ways, and try to move it left/right up/down and see if it has any play in any direction you can get it to move. Rotational play points to the nose drive coupler.

The coupler itself isn't too bad to do. Since you have a Series II, you can remove just the nosedrive. A lot of people (like myself) prefer to do the nose bearings at the same time. I recently did bearings and coupler with great results in the noise department. For more specific instructions look for willwren'* ULTIMATE GUIDE TO REBUILDING SUPERCHARGERS. You'll be able to find a link somewhere around here.

Thanks for the reply! It'* dark here now and I'm san-garage. I'll have to check the pully'* etc. tomorrow evening after work, and I'll post the results then....

By the way... how hard is it to take the belt off?

Mike

You'll find a spring loaded tensioner on each belt path. Put a ratchet with the correct socket (15mm on mine, not sure about yours) on the tensioner, and push or pull. The belt will lift off.

Its a T-45 Torx.

That'* what I suspected, but couldn't remember for sure.

Actually.

T47 fits exact. 45 is close and will work.

Actually... it was the 15mm socket.... and by the way.... we should all find out who came up with the design for that spring loaded tensioner and buy him dinner. Each of us should buy him dinner. The dude should have dinner for the next six months. 'Cause that is just the best damn thing I've seen since the cordless drill!

Now... on to business. I can't move the pulley'* with the belt on. I took off the belt and the pulley seems solidly in place, with no movement side to side or up and down. It does, however, have rotational movement... about a quarter inch turn on the pulley before anything inside the unit moves...... I guess you'd call it rotational play as you mentioned. Once the inside parts start moving along with the pulley, it turns rather freely and without much noise, though I can hear a little noise from within.... nothing that seems odd, however.

So... is this the aforementioned Coupler? Where can I get precise instructions on fixing it? How much are the parts? How long can I drive it as is before something lets loose? Will it cause baaaaaaaad thiiiiiiiings to happen if I drive it for a while the way it is?

Lots of questions, I know! Thanks for all the help!
Mike

It won't bother anything if you drive it like that. If you plan to replace the coupler.... do you have any car repair experience?

I've rebuilt a couple engines.... done brakes and roters, a little patchwork on an exhaust or two. Also wired in a computer black box to track your teenager'* driving habits.... that was a little complicated, but I pulled it off. If it doesn't require a press or other heavy duty equipment, and I can get my hands on very precise instructions, I'm usually pretty good. The last complicated thing I did was take apart and service a 24" Wide Epson Plotter / Printer.... now that was complicated... but I had great instructions with photos of every screw.

So I can really drive this as is without causing any major harm? The car runs like a beast as she is.....

Is there a nose / coupler rebuild kit available? Is that even what I need when I do it?

Mike