Mine is making a quite a lot of noise these days. Probably a bearing. I have an email in to Tone but wondered if anyone else has delt with this issue.
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Mine is making a quite a lot of noise these days. Probably a bearing. I have an email in to Tone but wondered if anyone else has delt with this issue.
just at idle or always? The older versions do make a rough sounding noise at idle.
Happens at idle but also when accelerating or going up hills. I thought it was an exhaust leak but my mechanic believes it is a bearing in the SC. Does anyone know the warrantee that Alpine gives with these SCs? I'm sure it's been too long for me but tearing down the nose sounds like an expensive process.
I had the early noisy bearing. Never any problems other than it sounded like you owned a POS.
I purchased the newer quiet nose from Alpine and swapped it in about an hour. I remember it being about $400, but not sure. They didn't keep it in stock, and I waited about 8 weeks to get it.
John C.
Have you checked the ERG nut. The aluminum block that comes with the kit is notorious for backing the nut off and letting exhaust gas flow by making noise. I ended up putting locktite on it and that lasted 2 years without a problem.
I was going to change to the new nose cone a lil while back and it seemed like a $200+ item, cant remember for sure. The nut could very well be the noise you hear, sounds alot like a exhaust leak under acceleration.
Also have you changed the s/c oil, how did it look?
I had my mechanic who installed the SC use the car for the morning. He verified that the noise is in the SC. Reported that it sounds like a bag of marbles and the noise in random but most noticable under load. He set the parking brake and manipulated the throttle in order to get a good listen. I've been trying to talk with someone at Alpine. Can't wait to get it fixed. BTW, I thought it was an exhaust noise too.
Jay,Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Dunford
Absolutely, that was the first thing I thought when I heard the noise but that nut was on good and tight.
Didn't want to start a new thread, so here are a few ???'s concerning the S/C:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruflyf
- Speaking of oil, what oil have you all found to be to the liking of Alpine? Also, the fill/drain pot, I suspect, is on the front of the bell near the nose, correct? Documentation/schematics are nil on this thing and the install directions are flaky, at best.
- Has anyone found a sparkplug that works best all around with the S/C? Definately upgrading the plugs.
- Has anyone gone with braided hoses? Thinking of going this route eventually, but will use the supplied hosing until I know the S/C is up and running and broken in.
In all, I hope to get started in a few weeks. Weather is getting much better, my tools are dying to get the dust blown off of them, and after 4 years of this S/C sitting idle in a box in the basement, it's simply time to do it. I have installed 1000 T/Cs, so I am looking very forward to installing this S/C, considering this will be the first blower I will have ever installed on a street legal car, hahaha. This one is quite tiny compared to the ones I have done before, many years ago (one person can actually list this one alone!). :)
Any advice is appreciated.
My advise....put it on Gary.
Oh, I am. Currently in the garage tearing it down. Playing hell with the fuel injector wiring. Little bastages arent the easiest things to unplug.Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottinMA
Looking more into it.... the documentation states NIL about the throttle body and accelerator cable. Looks like when it comes to that, I am gonna need the assistance of my complete NASCAR loving gearhead of a brother-in-law.
Taking my time on it so I have nothing but time. Sure beats being lazy and getting a shop to do the install for $800. Feels good to be under a hood again. :)
You are correct, the drain/ fill plug is on the front. From what I've read, a syringe with a small vinyl hose attatched will get most of the oil out.
I think GM supercharger oil is recommended.
I ran into a jam. I have contacted Tone but I am not sure he can help me with this issue since the kit has been in my possession for 3 years, untouched until now. Basically, I never recieved an extended cruise cable and bracket. So, I am probably gonna have to fab my own bracket and spline my own cable. In any case, I have a favor to ask.... can someone with the S/C please snap a shot of the rear of their S/C, preferably giving me reference to the throttle body and it's relation to where the cruise and accel brackets mount on the bell housing? I am interested in seeing where the brackets mount and how your cruise and accel cables are tucked away behind the S/C. Thanks in advance.
BTW, I am still playing hell with the injector harnesses. I did them once before.... now I can't remember how in the hell I got them off. :mad:
Alpine can supply you with the correct bracket and cable - it is pretty complex with rollers to properly route the cables.
Oil should be changed by removing the hex bolts at the front of the charger (not the nose cone ones) and catch the fluid with a rag. Then reseal and refill .
Pull out the blue clip on the injector clip and then use a small screwdriver to depress the plastic locking tab on the injector plug - pull gently.
Thanks Tone. When you say "route" the cables with rollers, are you refering to in the engine bay or the process of actually creating the new extended cruise cable? Please excuse my confusion. :confused: Is the cable something I should deal directly with Alpine or is it something I can aquire through your services?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tone
As for the injector clips, ya, that all sounds familiar and I have been doing just that which you said. I will try again when it isnt midnight and with a doberman pulling on my ankle.
Thanks for the response.
my kit didnt have it either and im still waiting for it (4 months and counting). i can tell you what i am doing in the mean time. im assuming you have the regular throttle bracket that goes on the back of the s/c. i went to auto zone looking for a flat metal bracket of some sorts. i ended up with a "super chrome alternator mounting bracket" or whatever. it was like $4. it was thick enough. so i took it home and beat it flat. it already had holes in it so that was a plus. the cables have a part with no threads that is thinner than the rest. you need to chisel out just enough to where the this part of the cable can slide into the bracket. that way, once you slide it back it cant fall off b/c the threads will be thicker than what you chiseled out. the washers are for spacing as the cc cable must be closer the the throttle body. i would take a picture for you but im not in the country. so i give my awsome ms paint rendition. alpine told me the guy that makes them isnt there anymore. but they would send one as soon as they made one. this seems to work fine. and you can make one with a spare peice of metal, a drill and a hacksaw ;) just get the Throttle body on first then kind of eye ball it to line up where the cc cable should mount do have a straight shot at it.
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...bs/bracket.JPG
Oh man, dont say that. When it !@#$ing rains it pours when it comes to my luck. I sent an email to Alpine concerning the bracket and the cable since I was at work but havent heard back yet, so I guess I am gonna have to step out of work and make a call tomorrow instead. I hate to have to fab something on my own.
I have the original accel bracket so I am just gonna have to go with that for now. I cant afford to have the VX camped out in the garage all damned spring waiting for a part that may never come. I guess the joke is on me for waiting 3 years to install it.
AAARRRGGHHH!
As The owner of the first VX ever supercharged( Factory installed), I can tell you of the many issues resulting in noise & eventual failure of nose cones rear bearings etc.
On 5/5/05 I decided I had done all I could do in trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear & sent the SC out for overhaul to
www.superchargerTech.com
Supercharger Technologies
26988 SE Hwy 19
unit 47 Old Town Fl. 32680
352 542 0147
SC came with a 2 year warranty at a total cost of $490 ( exchange)
Result was awesome everthing replaced, nose cone, bearings etc every bearing including rear housing bearings replaced. SC is after two years still as smooth as butter with no noise or any other issues.
Bob F
Bob, glad to see you still bopping around here!
Hey hey, look, it's Dragon Bob! Good to see ya lurking around. Hope all is well.
Found I had to order a new throttle body gasket last night. The existing one was so unusable, it was hardly even visible. Something got the better of it. So, a new one on order from isuzuparts.com (they love me now.... I think I keep them in business). In the meantime, while I wait for it, I guess I will just clean and polish up everything from the throttle body to the EGR. The EGR isnt in the best of shape either, but, if it aint broke, dont fix it. I think my VX is clearly allergic to winter salts here.
Slow progress is still progress. About 2 hours a night in the garage. I dont recall my previous S/C installs having so much damned hosing, heh. Of course, those were not fuel injected vehicles though.
Question about polishing: The fuel rails and the EGR mount.... those who polished these, any advice?
I used some Flitz metal polish, a cotton rag, & lots of elbow grease...a buffing wheel on a bench grinder would have eliminated the elbow grease thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by WormGod
Also, plug all orfices in the fuel rails with scraps of rag to prevent any metal polish residue from entering the rail.
Another tip to make your install easier...cut some "U" shaped shims out of sheet aluminium (available @ most hardware/hobby stores) about an inch square, with a 1/4" slot in the middle to aid in alignment of the fuel rails.
On mine, the rails were slightly mis-aligned when tightened onto the existing (on the Alpine manifold) mounts causing some binding issues with the injectors. When the rails are tightened to the mounting lugs, you should still be able to rotate the injectors back & forth with moderate hand pressure.
Use emery cloth to slightly enlarge the beveled edge where the injectors go into the fuel rail & ample silicone grease on the upper & lower injector O-rings to keep from tearing O rings, as clearances are VERY tight.
Good Luck !
I actually had no issues installing the injectors into the rails. Very mild lubing of the plenum ports and very minor lubing of the fuel rail ports. Then some slow but constant twisting of the injectors as you apply pressure to put them in the plenum. Getting them in the fuel rails was alittle trickier but not so bad really. I laid the rail over the injectors and lined up the ports to them. Applying a little pressure to the rail while slowly twisting the injectors a little at a time and they worked their way into the rail. The rail mounted up right to the plenum with a perfect fit.
I assumed I was gonna have trouble getting them in since i played hell getting them out of the OEM fuel rail, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was the opposite. In all, the o-rings were still in great shape (only a couple years old) so I didnt have to use any of my new ones. Good to have regardless.
My only issue this weekend was getting the nut off of the crank pulley. I hunted all over for a crank holder. No shops nor any of my tech friends had access to one (found one that fit various Fords, but no luck on my pulley). So, I ended up using the serpentine belt. I did the old wrap and fold of the belt around the pully and cranked the nut in the opposite direction. Worked like a charm (with some shop gloves that is.... hard on the hands). It's a risky tactic if you want to re-use your belt, so I suggest only doing this if you are replacing it. In my case, I was replacing all belts and gaskets so I had nothing to lose.
Looking over some stuff at quitting time last night, I was checking out the wiring. Does anyone recall what harnesses, if any, they had to splice and lengthen? Looks like there is gonna have to be some extension for the wiring to reach the new throttle body location.
MAF & IAT
Bob...what was the length of the turn around for the overhaul?Quote:
Originally Posted by Green Dragon
Gary, from experience email rarely gets answered at Alpine. Call them directly. I've been talking to a fellow named John who is "trying" to be helpful.Quote:
Originally Posted by WormGod
Me again, day #10. Progressing slowly but surely, a little at a time. Was actually having fun until last night when I finally found myself with hammer in hand. Getting the plenum to seat correctly with the EGR mount and the EGR exhuast piping proved to turn into a 1 hour nightmare. Something simply didnt mesh up properly so I had to get a little rough in some areas with force. It's all in place now, but I am hoping that I didnt harm the EGR mount in the process. There were mahy loud and lude words being heard from in my garage last night.
Anyways, just about everything is on place. Tested my fule lines and after one extreme spray from the rear fuel rail by the EGR (DAMJN! always, with the EGR.... what a cursed area!), I tapped all fuel leaks and am on business. The garage smells grand with 93 octane hovering about. Belts in place, spark and fuel wire harnesses connected, plenum tightened down. Ready to roll some more.
My question is this however.... I may be missing something, but the original manifold housed a bracket enclosing the fuel pressure regulator. There is no mention of this on the S/C. It has a wire harness connection and 2 hose ports, both of which connect to the rear of the original manifold. On the S/C, the fuel pressure regulator connects to the small brass hose port on the rear of the plenum, just behind the fuel pressure regulator housing, if I am correct. But this leaves out the original bracket, which has 2 hose ports and a wire harness. Where does this fit into the equation?
Also, wire harness extending.... never been great at wire work, but I get by. Any advice on what wire gauge is best? I want to get it right the first time, so I plan to solder and shrink tube before wrapping it up.
:)
Reiterating a question from my last post concerning the fuel pressure regulator, but with pictures this time to try to get my point made more clear. Basically, there is a protection bracket (so the workshop manual calls it) surrounding the regulator that houses a wire harness connection and 2 small ports.
http://www.wormgod.8m.com/Images/Ebo..._pres_prot.jpg
(2 and 3 below point to the 2 ports on the protection bracket w/ wire harness port)
http://www.wormgod.8m.com/Images/Ebo...eg_bracket.JPG
Besides getting the right length hosing to finish the install and figuring out where this bracket and these ports fit into the S/C equation, these are really the only things holding me back from finishing. Any out there that installed their own S/Cs got the answer I am looking for? :confused:
S/C installs were clearly more simplified on PRE fuel injected cars. :(
IIRC, & it's been a while...I removed the bracket from the vac. controlled mechanism & put a piece of vac. hose between #2 & 3 in pic 7. Then just zip tie it out of the way.
I think those lines had something to do with the small cannister over by the cruise control/ ABS module which is abandoned also.(not the ABS, but the small cannister) I put a piece of vac hose between the two ports on the cannister to keep things clean in case I ever want to go back to the NA setup.(not likely ;) )
I have a diagram of the vac hose routing if you need it.
Gotta love the incredibly vague install instructions from Alpine. :rolleyes:
Oh dear god that diagram would be extremely appreciated!! I understand the majority of the hvac hosing, but the smaller lines have me a little confused. Especially things like that which you mentioned that were "left out" so to speak. That diagram would rock Ldub. I hope to document ALL of this information from my build into the S/C install thread that I started for any future S/C installers or repairers so they dont have to ask as many questions as I am. God knows, if you do a search on here about S/C issues, it turns up more threads than eadlight gaskets and power window issues, haha.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ldub
Thanks Ldud! :cool:
I'm not sure if this will be of any use, it's a little more vague than I remembered (big surprise, It's from Alpine :rolleyes: ), but it helped me get it right.
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...ac_routing.jpg
Actually, that is GREAT. On the bright side, that is exactly how I figured the fuel reg was supposed to go, but it's a good reassurance. Odd that there is no S/C "plan" for an alternative for the sensor on the protection bracket, but, like you said, that's Alpine for ya. Thank you very much. Just need to aquire my vacuum hose now. Hopefully this weekend.
I hope you won't mind if I use that pic in the ref guide I am compiling? It will be a good help for anyone in the future. :)
Be glad to help, I got it from Tone & assume that he got it from Alpine.Quote:
Originally Posted by WormGod
I just realised last night that my fuel hose from the passenger side fuel rail banjo was resting against the EGR piping (below the EGR and mounting block). Granted, I havent had the VX out since the install except to drive around the block and run in the driveway for some tweaking, so no damage done.
My question.... this pipe generates some healthy heat, so is it safe to say I should re-route the hose further away from the EGR piping? I am not so sure how hot the EGR pipe gets and if it is going to be damaging to the hose. I don;t know why I didnt think of this when installing.
Afterall, fuel and heat.... really good friends when trying to create chaos.
I found a fairly safe place to re-route the hose. Behind the EGR is a bracket for some other lines. It took removal of the fuel rail but I was able to undo the banjo and push the fuel line back behind the S/C again and run it back through BEHIND that line bracket and reconnect again. It's pretty much flush with the firewall now and out of EGR harm. Hopefully, this is the last minor issue I come across. She is going out for a good run tomorrow. It's the moment of truth, heh.
I'm glad your going through all this, and documenting everything. I'm in the same boat as you - bought the Alpine SC from Tone in that very first group buy, and it's been sitting in the basement, still crated, since. I'm lining up a friend to help with the install, but the problems you've been having will probably crop up in my same install. I've yet to get the longer cruise cable and bracket and CARB sticker - I'm also going ahead with a 5 LB pulley and polished nose. Did you ever call John directly? Can you post his number?
-- John
No, I had some email swaps with Ldub and Tone and just randonm posts on the forums for issues. Tone and Ldub were very valuable assets to the install.
All work completed, I took her out today for her maided voyage. Felt good with that mild trademark S/C whine getting up to speeds. I ran into an issue about 10 miles down the road though. My temp gauge went through the roof. Totally overheated and I had to pull over into a school parking lot. I didnt see any fluid leaks and no smells but the temp gauge told me otherwise. Popping the hood, you could have cooked an egg in there. I let it cool and got it back home by driving with the cabin heat on full blast. Some issues on the way home, but not as bad. It seemed to rise fast when I gave the accelerator a little more than a feather touch or if I was sitting at a dead stop. Driving at speed, it would descend to normal.
Fluid levels all looked good later when I checked. I am suspecting a failed thermostat or waterpump at this point. Both of which I did not touch during the S/C install, which is odd, but they both also did sit for about 3 weeks fluidless, so deposits could have settled or there is some sticking. I put an email into Tone to see if he may have some idea. I am fully prepared to replace either or both the thermostat and waterpump, even if I am tired of getting my hands dirty now, heh.
I bought an extra thermostat - there was a thread about an install with some advice to go ahead and replace it while the plenum was off...
-- John
Arrrrrgh!...that's no good. Sorry to see she's giving you problems so soon. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by WormGod
With no visible leaks & fluid levels topped off, all indications point toward something restricting flow.
I know it's a long shot, but you didn't plug a heater hose or other hose with a rag or something (to keep things clean)?
Another possibility might be a kink in one of the coolant hoses.
Also, grab a flashlight & look under the intake manifold with the engine running, in the general vicinity of the t-stat. I guess without any antifreeze smell, it's prolly not a leak though. :rolleyes:
In any event, good luck finding the prob.
Heres an odd one for ya....
I drained her down again today. Topped her back off with the same fluid through a straining funnel and then squeezed the lines by hand to get the fluids through them. Another cup of "water" to fill up the radiator and then gave it a start. I let it sit for about 20 minutes running at idle in the driveway. I kept my eye on the engine and the gauge the whole time. Never did the temp gauge exceed over 1/2 way. The coolant resevoir bottle never filled back up again either. No smells, no leaks, nothing. The overheating just did not happen. I even tried turning on the A/C to see if that gave it a boost but nope. I didnt take it out for a drive to see whathappened since I was pressed for time though. Hopefully I can get around to that soon.
So.... I am even more baffled than I was before. The only change was putting in an extra "cup of water". *shakes head*
maybe you had an air bubble in your radiator lines? my buddy had his radiator flushed in his A4, about halfway home his temp gauge went way up, all the way to the H, he called the shop they said that happens from time to time and they towed it back to their shop, re-flushed it and all was good and has been for about 40k