Questions about supercharger reliability

[S52 Mcpe]

So...I am considering buying a supercharged car with about 6,000 miles on the supecharger and 44,000 miles on the car.
1) Is this a wise purchase since I will most likely have tis car for close to 10 years...?
2) What damage does a supercharger do to an engine?
3) Can superchargers cut any number of years off of the life of an engine.
It has an AA supercharger on an S52 engine and is running 8 psi of boost most of the time.
Also,
4) I do not and have and never have had a supercharged car, what should I look out for?
5) Would this be a risky purchase for someone like myself who has never worked with a supercharged car or is it just another learning process?

Thank you so much for helping me out. I did a search and couln't find anything so any help/advice you can give me is much appreciated.

Feel free to add any questions with answers to them to better expand my knowledge.

Matthew Thompson

[S52 Mcpe]

bump...

[Croak]

1. Depends on your goals and how much the car will be driven. 10k a year, 20k a year, etc. 10 more trouble-free years is a long time to expect out of a car that's at least 6 years old already, supercharged or not. Count on spending money if you plan on keeping it 10 years.

2. The SC itself does NO damage to the engine per se, it's akin to the damage an air conditioner does to a car, just increased drag on the engine. If the tuning is not right, then running boost of any sort can damage the engine internals.

3. Yes, the SC will cut down the lifetime of the engine (or parts of it). Partly because of the drag, partly because of the effects of increased power output and heat, and partly because if you have it, you'll want to USE it. ;) How much it'll cut down depends largely on the owner (driving style, maintanence, etc)

4. Make sure the car is not detonating (pinging) when WOT or part-throttle. Detonation is BAD, the number one killer of any forced induction motor, and is a sign of either improper tuning or something in the fuel or intake systems not up to spec. Have somebody check the air-fuel ratios if the car doesn't already have a wideband (most dyno shops can do this for you, and know how to interpret the data). I'd say do this before you buy it. Make sure the SC is putting out close to the advertised boost levels. Make sure there are no vacuum leaks (rough idle is one possible indicator of this).

5. It doesn't have to be risky, check out the car just like you would any other used car before you buy it. Maintanence on the SC itself involves nothing more than keeping an eye on the belt (more important on an AA SC'd car since it shares the belt with the water pump and power steering), making it a habit to check all the clamps and hoses on a semi-regular basis, and making sure that the SC oil supply is full, and changed as often as Rotrex recommends.

As for normal maintanence, you'll probably need to change spark plugs more often, and get used to changing engine oil every 3k miles if you don't already. Synthetic or not, if you want ten more years out of the car, 10k oil changes won't get you there. Keep an eye on the cooling system, you'll be stressing it more than a NA car, and be needing it more as well. Finally, you MUST run 91+ octane in the car, or risk severe engine damage (low octane=much greater chance to ping=much greater chance to break).

And here's a bonus tip for you...

Make friends with a smog inspector. Seriously. It's an OBD2 California car with an "illegal" non-CARB certified supercharger system that will NOT pass visual, even if it blows clean. At the very least that is going to be a problem for you every two years (and a problem for the seller at the time of sale since he has to get it smogged before he can even sell it).

[S52 Mcpe]

Wow, all of that was extremely helpful. i would be putting about 15,000 to 20,000 miles on the car per year. If I buy this car, I will definately have to spend more time in the FI forum and learn everything I can about it. And I know I would DEFINATELY want to use the extra power. I already change my oil every 3k miles, so that shouldn't be a problem, but would 91 octane suffice? I already only put 91 in my 328 because 89 isn't good enough but the only thing I can get my hands on, which is better than 91, would be 100 octane (sells for about $5.75 a gallon). If I would need the 100 octane, that could be my downfall with this car. Thanks again for all the help!
Just remembered I should say that this car would also be my daily driver...does that mean that I should steer away from FI or would it still be alright?

[xatlas0]

You don't get 93 in california? I can't get 91 around me. The octane ratings usually go 87 normal, 89 mid, and 93 premium in the gas stations I've been to locally. Sorry if it's a n00b question, I'm simply curious. Also, that price for 100 is outrageous! For me, it's like 4-5 per gallon. I know gas prices are higher on the west coast, but jeez! My sympathies to your wallets.

[S52 Mcpe]

well thanks for caring about my wallet:). Gas prices are rediculous and 91 is less than satisfactory...but that's all I have to work with. It's a shame...maybe I should buy a gas station and get some 93 octane in there!


If I only had the money

[maxell0405]

For long term purposes, I would also recommend upgrading your cooling system, especially as you live in a hot climate with a lot of traffic. I've heard on these boards that the S54 radiator will fit (?), and there are the all-aluminum models, too, like the Fluidyne. I put in a lower temp t-stat and aux fan switch, the aluminum t-stat housing, a new fan and fan clutch and some water wetter. I would also expect that you will need to rebuild the blower at some point. 10 years at 20k will wear out most any moving part, especially those at 90k+rpm!

[paul e]

So...I am considering buying a supercharged car with about 6,000 miles on the supecharger and 44,000 miles on the car.
1) Is this a wise purchase since I will most likely have tis car for close to 10 years...?
2) What damage does a supercharger do to an engine?
3) Can superchargers cut any number of years off of the life of an engine.
It has an AA supercharger on an S52 engine and is running 8 psi of boost most of the time.
Also,
4) I do not and have and never have had a supercharged car, what should I look out for?
5) Would this be a risky purchase for someone like myself who has never worked with a supercharged car or is it just another learning process?

Thank you so much for helping me out. I did a search and couln't find anything so any help/advice you can give me is much appreciated.

Feel free to add any questions with answers to them to better expand my knowledge.

Matthew Thompson

Matt, this should give you some confidence. I bought my '99 M3 new in June of 1999. Just 5 months later, in November '99, I had the dealer install a Dinan stage II Supercharger kit. That was at about 6000 miles on the car. 2 yrs later, I performed a 3 psi boost bump operation, pushing it to 11 psi. That was at about 30k miles. Today, I have over 64k miles on the car.. Thats about 60k Supercharged miles, and I kid you not when I tell you the Supercharger system has been the most reliable part of the car; that and the engine.

Assuming your not going to keep the car over 300k miles, which I doubt youll see even in 10 yrs, I dont think youd even detect any increaesed engine wear from the supercharger. And, as for the supercharger itself, I think rebuilds arent likely to be needed at less than 125k miles. And if they are needed, I think they can be done for a few hundred dollars.

>>It has an AA supercharger on an S52 engine and is running 8 psi of boost most of the time.<<

Realize that when a sc has a peak boost of 8 psi, 'most of the time', its operating at much much less. Most of the time when you drive your supercharged car, your running in the vacuum, just like an OE car. Youll be in the 8 psi boost level at less than 1% of the time.


>>5) Would this be a risky purchase for someone like myself who has never worked with a supercharged car or is it just another learning process<<

Its not risky.. My Dinan Vortech kit was the first sc kit Id ever had also. Prior to that, I had a '95 Volvo 850 Turbo.. that was my only experience with forced induction prior to my Dinan kit.

So, I say go ahead with it. YOull be happy you did.. The only drawback with the AA kit is that unlike with Vortech based kits, its not upgradeable with regard to its max boost level. I dont know if AA is making trading up to the bigger head unit feasible or not. But it is some thing to consider, seeing that almost universally, once folks get a taste of FI power, they start wanting more. The way you get more power with a SC is to increase the boost. .The way you do that is to change the pulleys that drive the supercharger... Superchargers have max rpm limits beyond which you should not go. The Rotrex model AA uses is already at its operational peak; the Vortech models our kits are using generally have another 3 psi worth of boost left in them before we start having to worry about exceeding their operational limits.

[S52 Mcpe]

Paul,
That certainly does give me confidence. Thank you very much for that piece of information! I am really going to have to consider this ca now.