Thread: Report: Motor Oil In The Supercharger Snout

Well I got to drive the car back and forth to work today because I wanted to make sure all the electrical stuff worked after all the work I did over the weekend. My heat still isn't very warm at all so I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to change out the heater core.

However, this isn't about all that. As a matter of habit, when I get home I pop the hood and check the oil. I normally leave the hood open in the spring and summer months so that things cool down better, but in the winter that isn't such a big deal. But I get home this afternoon from driving abut 36 miles one way between 75 - 80mph until I get in the city and then it runs about 40 - 45.

Well after I checked the oil, I was just curious and decided to lay my hand on the snout, expecting it would be too hot to hold as it normally is. To my surprise, it was very cool, just slightly warm an no where near being hot. The blower casing itself was hot, I could touch it, but not hold or touch it for very long before it got too hot to the touch.

Now I have grabbed that snout in the past and it has always been a bit too hot to handle.

I had put in some fully synthetic 0W-20 motor oil in the snout a couple weeks ago. I was going to change it out again to try and get any remnant of the old fluid out which I may do this weekend and then I'll run the 0W-20 for a while and send in a sample for analysis and see what the report is.

If its running that cool, I cant see it being anything but good for the bearings and seals. I'll try and keep everyone updated as I go along.

very interesting

i was kinda curious what else we could put in there.

Very interesting.... the heat issue could be air in the system, (before you tear apart the dash)

I should have figured this actually. I have seen as much as a 25* drop in oil temps from switching to a synthetic from vehicles Ive serviced. Which it makes sense really, your reducing friction. I need to buy me one of those infra red thermometers and take an actual temperature reading and then put some of that stinky GM stuff back in there.

I dont think I would run anything else in there though, like a gear lube. At least at this point I dont think I would. I need to do some research first and see if there is any overlap in any of the gear lubes and motor oil and go from there. I dont mind experimenting a little, I have a spare snout if it came down to it.

Interesting find on the snout.

Normally the snout will get warm regardless of whats in it, gets warm from heat soak from the main case mostly, and the over all heat of the engine bay.

Wanting a new and improved version of GM's SC oil...just wait, something is fast approaching the market. Currently its going through some R&D though a well known company.

Secrets sucks...don't they.

~F~

You know, Im really beginning to dislike you...

Nice find Scott
Can't wait to hear more about this also..

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

You know, Im really beginning to dislike you...

Scotty dooooooooooooooooon't!

So I think I might try this also along with you, since I am in a different area and slightly different climate. I know we had this discussion a while back about how it would affect the s/c internals and that we should try it to get real results. Good to see you actually are trying this, maybe I should try it w/ 5w30 like we discussed previously in the what oil to use thread I started.
-steven-

If you have any means to measure the temperature of your snout before you change out the oil that would be fantastic. I had a 5W-30 in there before I put in the 5W-20. i figured the thinner oil would be better since the GM stuff doesnt seem all that thick. I would make dang sure that you use a fully synthetic motor oil. That stuff turns pretty fast and I would not want to trust it to anything else.

But I think you would be okay with the 5W-30. I would just be curious as to what the temp. differences would be. Can you grab hold of your snout after a long vigorous drive in this colder weather without it burning your hand?

I would be half tempted to come hug and kiss you if you could get me proof of that or the document stating that.



Wait, thats not going to motivate you. How about Id be super duper appreciative if you would.

Oh thank you so much. If its in PDF format, you can email it to me or I'll pay for a copy to be mailed. I just want a hard copy at some point so I can refer to something when I am asked.

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

If you have any means to measure the temperature of your snout before you change out the oil that would be fantastic. I had a 5W-30 in there before I put in the 5W-20. i figured the thinner oil would be better since the GM stuff doesnt seem all that thick. I would make dang sure that you use a fully synthetic motor oil. That stuff turns pretty fast and I would not want to trust it to anything else.

But I think you would be okay with the 5W-30. I would just be curious as to what the temp. differences would be. Can you grab hold of your snout after a long vigorous drive in this colder weather without it burning your hand?

I have an infared temp. checker would this be accurate enough for posting results? I figure since I drive about 25 minutes to work at around 60 mph consistantly. I would figure tht would be the best time to test it, right after arriving at work. I think tempature outside would have to be within at least a couple of degrees of each other to get a fairly accurate results.

As to grabbing the snout, I can but not for long it is uncomfortably warm to the touch.

Originally Posted by s1795so2

I have an infared temp. checker would this be accurate enough for posting results? I figure since I drive about 25 minutes to work at around 60 mph consistantly. I would figure tht would be the best time to test it, right after arriving at work. I think tempature outside would have to be within at least a couple of degrees of each other to get a fairly accurate results.

As to grabbing the snout, I can but not for long it is uncomfortably warm to the touch.

Yes, that would be accurate enough. Much better than human touch. I agree temps would have to be close but depending on how long it is before you can change out the oil in the snout, we may have to either take several readings over several days or just note temperature drops.

But if it were where you could drive home, then take a reading and then pull out the GM oil and put in some fully synthetic (has to be fully synthetic) motor oil and go back out on the same route, that would be ideal.

Oh, when take the temp. readings, get one of the snout and case and write them down if you can and point the infrared reader at the same spot.

Scotty, always tinkering with something under the hood....