Hello,

I have a chance to purchase a 1993 Bonneville SSEI SuperCharged with 189,000 mile, original transmission (was told it does not have any problems), in good shape (very little rust I am told -- looking at it today), but the SuperCharger is bad. That is all I am told about it. I do not know much about SCs and I am not sure how to tell what is exactly wrong with it just by running it.

Can I get some help from someone here as to what I should be looking for?

He wants $500.00 for it.

Would that be a good price?

He claims it has good engine oil pressure.

Anything else I should be looking at?

I am willing to put money into it if I will have a good Bonneville after I am done doing so.

Thanks for any advice.

Pete W.

We need to know the symptoms, and specifically how he diagnosed the supercharger as being bad before we can even begin to hope to answer you.

First we need to determine for certain that it is the SC that is bad, and then we need to determine what about it needs repair/replacement.

At that point, we can make some pretty good ground on your request.

Sounds like a good deal. I bet there is nothing wrong with the SC, I bet it is the coupler (take the belt off the pulley and wiggle the puley back and forth and check for play), and transmission wise, that is kinda high for a L67, so if you plan to mod at all, I would suggest a tranny rebuild, otherwise it could crap out on ya. But otherwise, that is a very good deal.

Good enough ... I will get more details this afternoon and pictures and post back to the group.

Thanks,

Pete W.

Thanks for the input ...

I paid $400 for a 93 SSEi with 91K with a blown motor, broken fender and damaged bumpers. also leaked water. Sounds like a decent deal, but like will said, more info would help.

Well, this is what I found out:

Rust is very very little … none on the inside door lower corners, none visible in the seam just outside of the trunk, the under side has no really visible heavy areas of rust … for 1993, under the hood things look pretty much rust free.

No dents on the outside of the car, paint is faded though.

Back lights have water/moisture in them … I guess this is to be expected … it is a Bonneville.

The interior is the worst of the whole car as far a cosmetics go. It is in very rough shape. Driver’* seat is torn and crack, all the buttons on the dash and counsel are full of dirt and crud … very ugly. I am told that all the buttons work except for the Traction Control on the counsel … the light is always on.
AC no longer blows cold air. The mates are so dirty I am wondering if they even exist.

Now he did start it for me, what I listened for was first the engine and if it had a second or two of knocking … just until the oil pressure got build up... It did Not. It sounded good. Was only able to run it for 10-15 second though … the Super Charger sounded bad … grinding or crunching from within the center part of the Supercharger, see picture SSEI_Eng2.jpg, the arrow points to where the sound it coming from. I didn’t have him run it very long at all as I didn’t want more damage done. That pretty much sums it up since I didn’t want to run it very long. The Supercharger does still turn though.

Pictures can be view at:
Here
http://www.pennswoods.net/~luke1027/Gallery/index.htm

He will sell it to me for $350.00

With all the features on this car … I would think if things do not work, it may be expensive to fix-up.
Like the suspension … does this thing have computer controlled suspension?

I looked at the Oil on the Dip stick … the oil looks like it is Over Filled by about two or three quarts.
The transmission looks like it is Over Filled by at least 2-3 pints….very dark red … more approaching brown color.

What do you guys think?

Thanks for any advice.

I am willing to put $1000.00 - $1500.00 into it if I would have a good car when I am done.

Thanks

Pete W.

Looks like a decent deal if the tranny works like it should. SC can be replaced/rebuilt for $200-ish. The suspension is not computer controlled, but the rear does have an auto leveling feature and judging by the pics it'* not working (could be a fuse, leak, bad sensor or bad compressor).

Moving to general.

This isn't a good sign. It'* an indication of problems within the lower part of the engine.

This indicates a very uncommon failure. This SC will not be rebuilt by you or I if this is true. What you're hearing is rotor clash, meaning not only are the needle bearings shot, but the bearings in the rotor plate itself. This is not a typical DIY job at this point. Your best option now is www.canadiansupercharger.com for about $600 US with core.

No, that option became available for the first time in 94, and you don't want it anyway. Trust someone that has it on one car and not the other. Be happy it'* 'not'.

These are also very bad signs. Oil could be high due to water or plain ignorance. Trans fluid is just plain ignorance and is an indication that there may be other serious problems.

Pete, the SC will run you half your budget right away. And that doesn't leave much if the bottom end of the motor is failing as I suspect. It shouldn't knock AT ALL.

I ment to say ... it DID NOT Knock ... in the first few seconds ....it sound Good.

Sorry about the typo.

Pete W.