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Questions on 1997 Supercharger, bearing going bad....

M

Mad Bohemian

New member
As the title says, my 97 GTP supercharger has a bearing going out. Now is the WORST possible time for this to happen with everything going on in the world (like there's ever a good time for car troubles?! lol)
I do ll my own car repairs, just got done changing the front hub assembly on this piggy so I have tools, but tuning/diagnostic tools, with that being said...

I feel like there are two (possibly 3 ) options...
1) Replace the bearing

2) Replace the supercharger

3) ?!? Bypass the supercharger?!?

So I'll start with #3 (cheapest solution) is this even possible? Would the car run? Keep in mind this is my DD and I soft pedal it all the time to get the best gas mileage since I drive 45min one way to work, so I'm not really worried about acceleration performance :D Is this even an option??

#2 - I see I can get a rebuilt on Ebay for $600 ...good idea/bad idea? any other 'hidden costs' that would crop up with this ?

#1 - How involved is this, is it possible with just hand tools, has anyone ever done it.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and wisdom guys!! :D
MB
 


Option 3 is as easy as removing the SC belt. The car will run, and you'll merely feel reduced power because of the lack of charger.

Option 1 is IMO easy to do. There's some write ups on this subject around the 3800 communitys. I've done it on a few. You need a NPT tap, the proper drill size for the tap, NPT pipe and grease gun. Once charger is off you pull the snout and rotor pack out. Flip charger over and drill out the two holes behind the bearings (visible from underside of charger). Tap them, screw in your NPT pipe and hook it to your grease gun. Pump grease in and the hydraulic pressure will push them out. You should also put a few rags etc in the charger to catch the bearings in case they pop out with force. Clean the grease out, install your new bearings with the right sized socket and a press. Clean the charger up and put the rotor pack back in, use the proper sealant for the snout and refill with 8oz of sc oil. Time to go back on the car.

If you are prepared, you can pull the charger, fix it and have it back on and running in 2-3 hours.

Option 2: $600 is way to expensive. You could convert over to a Gen V Sc for less than $600.
 
Thanks Bill! I may go with removing the belt for now, who knows, with all this covid-19 stuff going on I may get some mandatory down time to do the repair proper. Do you have a part number for the replacement bearing.. I don't trust Autozone geniuses to get the right part without double checking.... especially after I had 2 guys tell me the drive shaft nut was a 34mm when it was a 35mm ... :P
 
Another thing to think about, when my coupler only my old 98 was bad, it sounded like a turban can full of marbles. Have you checked the coupler to see if that’s the issue?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Not sure what the coupler is, but I took it to a mechanic, we did the solid rod stethoscope test on various pulleys and the snout of the SC. The snout was really the only thing making grumbling noises...
 


The coupler connects the snout shaft to the rotor pack. Theres three pins on the shaft and three more on the gear of the rotor pack. The coupler itself looks like a 3" ish round piece of plastic with 6 holes in it to connect the two sides.

Easy way to test it is to pull the belt and wiggle the supercharger pulley clockwise and counter clockwise. If you feel slop, it'll be the coupler. It's a pretty easy fix overall.
 


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