CHANGING SUPERCHARGER OIL CAN CAUSE DAMAGE?
 

I went to the Pontiac dealer today to pick up supercharger oil...I told the clerk I needed two bottles and was told I would just need one bottle just to refill if low..When I told him I needed both bottles because I was going to drain and replace the oil, they recommended me not to..One of the mechanics ask me what was the mileage.. I answered 94,000 miles, he advised me to leave it as is or I'll cause damage to my supercharger..He even joked with the parts clerk to put in a order from a new supercharger for me.
I was just hoping someone can clarify this before replacing the SC oil..Any advise will be appreciated.
Thanks.

He is a idiot. There is nothing wrong with changing the oil in it whatsoever. I bet they were just trying to bilk extra $$ out of you so they could do it themselves.

A dealer here got busted for doing "Supercharger Optimizations". All they were doing was changing the SC oil, cleaning the TB and rotating the BCA so the boost will come on faster. They were charging $169.95 for it and got BUSTED.

As a matter of fact it's one of the best,cheapest insurance policies ya can buy for your SC ;)

yeah, I would watch out for the know-it-all mechanics. Many of them only know what the manual tells them.

give them a card and have them sign up... i'd love to see them on here.

lol..I agree it is hard to trust dealer sometimes..He did mention it was ok only if I did regular oil changes to the supercharger before 94,000 but, not if this was the first oil change since zero mileage..He same goes for the transmission.

At least they knew it had it's own oil. The old Pontiac dealership near me told me mine runs on the engine's oil so it was changed every time I changed the oil.

Ok good, I do trust this site/club more than a mechanic ..I have learned a whole lot just by using the search/techinfo option typing in my problem and reading old forums.. It never fails me...Infact the first thing that went through my mind when told this was I have check the BonnevilleClub on this!..
However, what the dealer mechanic mentioned about same goes for changing "transmission oil"..I have heard this before in the far past..Is this a myth? I was just wondering, since next oil change will be my tranny oil.

That's funny.
The first time I asked my dealer for SC oil, they told me to just top it off with 10W30 motor oil. :roll:
.........I later found out it was because they didn't want to buy a case to sell me 2 bottles.

The trans fluid change is also a farce. Most people don't change/service their trans until there is an issue. At that point the fluid change doesn't hurt..but removes the dirty fluid that is keeping enough friction in the system to make it work on pure luck.

Change the fluid and filter at any time. There are detergents etc in there designed to help your transmission. Never a bad thng. I started changing mine at 133K when I bought the car. Drove it to 175 and then had the trans rebuilt because I wanted to.

I plan on changing it about twice a year now.

You know Paul, Funny you mention that..The first dealer I called he was honest and told me that he won't order a case just for two bottles.

Thank you Bill,
I plan on doing one of those transmission power purge/flushes that are advertised with I believe Aamco. I notice a slip/hesitation occasionally.

on a related note, would it hurt if i got a transfer pump and pump out the old SC oil myself? i took it to one of the big chevy dealers here last time to change it. id like to change it myself, but if thats not adviseable, ill just take it back there.

I use an old sprayer from a bottle of uh...scrubbing bubbles I think it was. Spray into an old soda aka pop bottle, cap and save for unsuspecting newbies that visit. (Or ya get Jim good and drunk and put it into a bottle that looks like Wren might use for beer :shock: ).

Some use a syringe and tubing... it's all a matter of what works best for you. I had a nearly empty bottle with a sprayer hanging around.

Thts the best one I have heard yet... I wonder if the guy has ever seen what the SC oil looks like after those miles... Not so pretty... and the trans fluid... It may be due for changing simply because the additives are most likely used up...

If I hadn't kept the fluid in my trans changed the way I did I don't think it would have outlasted my engine.. lol


Maybe some of the failures the guy saw were people who believed that yoju could run Mobil 1 in the SC and get away with it...

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:lol: good idea! an oil transfer pump woulda been expensive! ill try that.

I went to a different Pontiac dealer today to price a wheel well/skirt and asked about the changing of the supercharger oil and he said the same thing.. do not replace will cause damage just refill if low.
I'm just wondering if all New York dealers are trained to say this..Do dealers from your state/city go by the same quote?
Well, I went along and changed the supercharger oil today..It was dirty dark brown and smelled really bad.. compared to the new oil clear and odorless.

Thats like saying do not change the engine oil or trans fluid, just add when needed :roll:

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I wonder if any of these guys have a supercharged car. If so they probably think the rattling noise from their nosedrive is normal.

Pete, these are most likely the same people that would say Bosch Plugs and O2's are perfectly fine :lol:

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Can any one tell me the part # of this oil and a quick how to? I knew I had oil in the SC, but have yet to address this maint item:) How do you know if it is low?

#12345982 Is the PN for the Supercharger oil. It won't be low, unless you have a leak, you will change it because it's dirty. For you Kobrak, you will need 2 bottles.

The only way to know if it's low is to open up the fill plug (I can't remember the size of the allen wrench that fits though).

1) Open fill plug
2) Pump out old oil - I use the top of a spray bottle like Billboost37 as well.
3) Add new oil up to the bottom thread of the fill hole.
4) Reinstall fill plug


SUPER easy to do ;)

part number_12345982
I used a plastic syringe..I obtained this syringe at a night club. It had a shot of liquor in it, I kept it as a souvenir..Never thought I would use it for pumping out SC oil but, it worked great..I just put a hose from a fish tank at the end of the syringe to make it longer..It sucked out about 7 ounces of the dirty oil in about 5 tries..The syringe is part of my tools now.

Thanks a bunch gents! I'll investigate this afternoon!

http://www.intense-racing.com/Mercha...roduct_Count=8

1 Bottle of this is all you need :)

Just ordered from Intense!

Bunch of feckin WHINERS..... :lol:

Just did mu buddies today Figured I borrowed his car Might as well. I used 40W50 hahaha kidding I had some SC oil kicking around. I used to do my boat once a month

hmmm, I think I should probably do it to both of my SSEi's...

the '93 has MAYBE 15K miles on it since a brand new supercharger, and I don't know if the oil has ever been changed on the '03 :?

Moved to Forced Induction (where all supercharger related topics belong).

Supercharger oil changes are covered in Techinfo. Link at the top of the page.

I just learned the SC has its own oil. :shock:
where does it go, what kind, how do you check it, how often does it get changed? :cry:

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...e=article&k=56

Once a year should be fine. You will need only ONE bottle for a Series 1, but I suggest you buy two, or the INTENSE bottle posted above.

Attachment 43165

See that cover on the nosedrive end of the SC? Pull it off. See the bracket that supports the front of the alternator and is attached to the nosedrive? Look down from the top just to the driver's side of that. You'll see the plug in there.

Attachment 43166
In this pic, do you see the long bolt sticking out for the alt bracket? Directly below it is a shiny bright plug. Yours is black. Mine is an aftermarket magnetic plug But in the same location.

SuperCharger OIl
 

Sorry - only saw the other thread on this subject before posting my question. The answers are there already. Thanks!

OK - so in the last 2 weeks I've heard a bunch of stories about the SuperCharger Oil so I checked out this thread which tells me there's a lot of hooey around repair shops.

One repair shop tells me that the oil in the supercharger is part of the engine oil system and it's fine as long as you do regular oil changes.

I'm not comfortable with this information because the Owner's Manual says to Check the supercharger oil and has a picture of a plug on the supercharger (?) that leads me to believe that is the place to check and/or refill.

The Pontiac dealer tells me there's no way to check the SuperCharger oil (level or condition). Dealer says all you can do is drain it and change the oil.

What's a girl to do? Can someone advise what is best to do re: supercharger oil for a 2003 SSEi with 35,000 miles. Is the plug on the front of the supercharger the place to check the oil in there?

Thanks for any advice and information!

yes the plug on the front is the place to change your SC oil.
Recommended to change it yearly.

Rod, supercharger oil is made of animal fats. It cooks itself daily. That's why it stinks so bad (smells good to a dog though, trust me.....Bo likes it used, but prefers new).

Dealers go by what GM tells them. There stance on supercharger oil and repairs have changed due to 'company directives' several times over the last few years. It used to be they would only change the entire supercharger for a nosedrive coupler rattle. Now they stock nosedrives and are allowed to replace them seperately. In which case, you'd THINK they'd have to have supercharger oil in stock. :roll:

This is a picture of the plug on the supercharger for your 2003
Attachment 40024

Thanks very much guys. I'll give this a try.