Within the last week I started hearing a "whining or whirring" type noise when I start the car. It is very noticeable so when I had it at the dealer yesterday for another reason I had them check it out.

The tech said it's coming from one of the idler pulleys and is most likely a bearing going bad (these bearings have over 20k miles). He is pretty sure it's not coming from the blower itself (which is also my feeling). Has this happened to anyone else? I'm worried that this bad bearing is just going to lock up at one point and cause some real damage. The jackshaft pulley appears to be the one under the most stress since it's turning the cog belt but the smooth ilder pulley also has the belt wrapped all the way around it (see attached pic). Am I on the right track here?

I called Vortech and the pulleys with bearings included are pretty cheap... jackshaft pulley is $75 and each idler pulley is $34 so I'm only looking at $177 to replace all 4 pulleys. Now the question is, how difficult is it to replace these 4 pulleys myself?


PLEASE don't turn this into an off-topic'ing turbo vs. vortech vs. stillen thread ... I'm looking for advice from Vortech owners that may have run into this issue before.

 

Would have to hear the noise you are talking about. Mine whirs/whines and it varies with RPM. But I think it is the usual impeller whine. It is also loudest when cold until the oil warms up and quiets the blower. The loudest component on mine is the pulley "clacking" sound - Gets real loud under load (sounds a little like noisy lifter sound).

 

Yeah it's hard to describe in words. But I do know it's not the same as the sound of the impeller drawing air because you can still hear that along side of the noise that I think is coming from a pulley bearing.

The only "clacking" noise I've ever experienced is the typical Vortech "gargle" at idle (650 RPM's) but that is no longer an issue since I raised my idle to 750. Under load the only thing I usually hear is the whistle of the impeller drawing air. Mine actually gets quieter under load because the bypass valve (BOV) is closed and not releasing boost pressure.

 

my idle is currently 950-1000 and that made it a bit quieter. I'm going to get it raised up higher with a intake bypass idle fix - like what JWT makes and see if I can get it up to 1100-1200

 

Well I stopped by a shop today and listened to each pulley under a stethoscope and it is undoubtedly the top grooved idler that is making the noise. You could also tell that this pulley had somewhat of a "shimmy" to it as the bearing probably has play in it. The jackshaft was pretty quiet as was the smooth idler on the compressor side of the mount plate.

I think I will replace the 2 grooved and 1 smooth idler pulleys (w/new bearings) so they will all be fresh. I'm going to leave things alone on the supercharger side for now.

I'm kind of disappointed that bearings would only last ~21k miles but they're cheap to replace so I'm not as worried about it. I would tend to say that the tension placed on those pulleys is excessive in order to prevent slipping of the belt.

 

Well after replacing all 3 idler pullies on the front of the mounting plate the noise was still there. Next I removed the cog belt yet to hear the same loud whining noise. Luckily this meant that the supercharger assembly itself wasn't the culprit making the noise and left only one thing ... the jackshaft assembly.

I called Vortech this morning and ordered the 2 large bearings (p/n 7S250-200) for the "extended drive". They were only $15 each but I tacked on another $25 for 2nd day air shipping. Hopefully this will take care of the problem. Until then I will be driving N/A :cry2:

I posted a video of the noise it's making but for some reason it won't play for me. It might still be encoding...
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/D09C14A3-DA0F-4E12-9F53-2CBCFD728006.htm

 

wow... what a horrible noise... that right there just made me reconsider my possible vortech plans... i would love to hear your vortech after you replace those 2 bearings.

 

Yeah it sounds pretty bad but in the end it will cost me very little to fix it, I would say that is a good thing. One of the tech guys at Vortech mentioned to me that they have seen a jackshaft go 300k miles with no problems. It's probably because all Vortech setups for different cars don't put as much stress on the jackshaft based on how the drive belt is setup. This jackshaft has about 21k miles on it so not a very long life span.

If everything is ok after I replace the bearings then the $30 in parts won't hurt too bad

 

so was it the jackshaft?

 

Yes it was the jackshaft bearing, the drive-belt side one to be specific. I replaced both jackshaft bearings and the noise went away. Now I hear a little bearing noise but it is normal and I am a little over-aware of it now... I will post up a more detailed write up of what I did soon and post some pics.

 

Part #'s for the grooved idler pullies? I'm going to replace mine.

 

Moog, you realize that you just bumped an ancient thread right?

 

yes I do because I talked to Beerviper about this on the phone last week...told me to look for his old thread for part #'s but didn't find it.

 

Gotcha. Sometimes people bump a thread and don't realize how old it is.

 

Part # 89003 I confirmed works and I've replaced it a couple weeks ago. Judging by the Dayco info sheet and pics I'm going to assume the ribbed one I'm looking for (heh ribbed..) is # 89009