I saw my destroyed blower today

[Jim M3]

It was an ugly sight, my Vortech seized on the inner bearing. The result was all the impeller blades got sawn off. The blades were inside my aftercooler. Thank goodness I had an aftercooler. No core damage Phewww. I have a very fine dust that made it through the core. So they have my manifold off and the cleanup begins. All new oil going in and filter.

I really hope this is the last of the major components failing on my car. My mechanic seems satisfied that the dust most likely burnt up in combustion in the car but I am changing the oil and then changing the oil in another 1k miles.

The moral of the story is get your blower serviced regularly with new bearings and gaskets a seized blower could be catastrophic to your engine, especially if you don't have an aftercooler.

[SergeK]

When a blower seizes... wouldnt the belt just keep spinning, since it cant turn the pully? Why would the blades get ripped off? Can someone explain a little further?

[themadhatter]

When a blower seizes... wouldnt the belt just keep spinning, since it cant turn the pully? Why would the blades get ripped off? Can someone explain a little further?
the lesser of the two forces gives way. in this case, the belt was stronger then the blades of the blower. evidently, the belt had a pretty darn good grip on the pulley.

[54ODell]

hm, so what is a typical service schedule for a Vortech unit?

[bimmeracer3]

hm, so what is a typical service schedule for a Vortech unit?

anyone?

[Jim M3]

Depends on what they do. My blower was toast and not rebuildable, the case was shot. If your doing seals and bearings it is around $450 or higher. If they are replacing the impeller around $700 or more.

There are also rebuild shops other than Vortech that build them for less. Check E-bay. Personally it is worth it in my mind to have Vortech do it.

[pbonsalb]

Any chance that your bypass valve was insufficient for your boost and flow and that the blower was still being shocked by surge and that this extra stress played a role on the bearing failure? What does Vortech say about running 11 psi peak boost with just a one inch Bosch style valve that has sufficient spring pressure for that 11 psi? The brand does not matter so much -- the Bosch, Forge, Stratmosphere, etc all flow about the same and come in versions with similar spring pressures; the advantage of the aftermarket ones is that they are rebuildable.

Philip Bradley

[///MDex]

You bring up an interesting point Philip :

How can we be sure our bypass valve is sufficient for our boost and flow? Is there a spring pressure that is perscribed for 11psi?

I'm running Stratmosphere Hyperboost HX Compact Diverter Valve, but the spring pressure is not listed.

[5mall5nail5]

You bring up an interesting point Philip :

How can we be sure our bypass valve is sufficient for our boost and flow? Is there a spring pressure that is perscribed for 11psi?

I'm running Stratmosphere Hyperboost HX Compact Diverter Valve, but the spring pressure is not listed.

MDex - anyone using a hyperboost or vf engineering, bailey, etc... are fine. Porsches run these bypass valves at like 20 psi, which is far more relief than our <11 psi blowers need.

[pbonsalb]

The aftermarket valves come with a couple of different spring pressure options. Even the lowest is fine for our supercharged cars that run less than 15 psi (and any Bosch ending in -108 or higher can handle 15 psi). However, these aftermarket valves can wear over time and the wear does not always show up as complete failure like the Bosch valves. Test with a Mityvac to see if it is holding pressure and vacuum.

My concern is more with the flow. Prosche and Audi use the bosch with up to about 400 hp, but they use two valves. Sure, they also have two turbos and this may just be a simplicity of plumbing issue. But maybe it is also a flow issue. I don't know. When I had my Powerdyne rebuilt, I was told that one common problem leading to failure was insufficient bypass valve ability. The gear drive Vortech is sturdier, but also flows more.

Philip Bradley