Forced Induction Superchargers | Turbochargers | Intercoolers
View Poll Results: Has your supercharger head unit failed?
My head unit has failed.
9
18.00%
My head unit has NOT failed.
41
82.00%
Voters: 50. You may not vote on this poll

Supercharger reliability?

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Old Jan 22, 2006 | 08:06 PM
  #1  
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Default Supercharger reliability?

Well, I tried searching for a similar thread, but no luck. I basically want to know if you have a supercharger, has the head unit failed on you? Pretty simple!

If you had a failure, please specify what went wrong, and the make of the head unit. Oh, and perhaps the number of street miles until you had trouble.

Also post up if you had had zero problems, with the same info as above!

Thanks!
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Old Jan 22, 2006 | 08:54 PM
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Nothing but speed here!
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Old Jan 22, 2006 | 08:58 PM
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No issues here and I run 14 lbs with my DS1C Vette and I got 2k since install and it is only putting down 731 rwhp/645 tq
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Old Jan 22, 2006 | 09:02 PM
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70k miles on the whipple on my '02 Silverado and still going. Only 8#'s of boost, though.
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Old Jan 22, 2006 | 09:43 PM
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20k on my D1sc.
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Old Jan 22, 2006 | 11:01 PM
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wow, great to hear some good experiences. keep'em coming!
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Old Jan 23, 2006 | 09:01 AM
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hey - someone did have a unit fail...do you want to stay supersecret? PM me perhaps?

Last edited by Grimes; Jan 23, 2006 at 09:12 AM.
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Old Jan 27, 2006 | 07:20 PM
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head units with vortech and ATI are pretty uncommon.

As long as they're maintained and oil is changed they should last and last.
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Old Jan 28, 2006 | 02:10 PM
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Why does the poll only ask about head-units? What about idlers, belts, tensioners, etc..

Mark
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Old Jan 30, 2006 | 11:33 AM
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I had a vortech fail on me and and ruin some of the lower end. Also when the blower locked I saw had the intake side of the housing basically explode.
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Old Feb 5, 2006 | 02:52 PM
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6k on a D1SC, with no problems..
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Old Feb 5, 2006 | 02:55 PM
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P-1SC Unit Failed 2 times due to the following..

1st time was IMO, ATI's fault.. They designed this chincy Plastic inlet hat before the blower. This unit under Hot/cold/hot/Cold conditions and virbrations, the plastic got brittle quick, and failed and the blower started to suck in raw air, along with some of the plastic of the inlet. My car is lowered and the blower stucked up something and hit the impeller blades as well I believe.. I sent in the blower along with the faulty inlet hat and they only charged me 100 bucks for the rebuild..

2nd was my fault.. I had a COGS setup for my blower and I spun that P1SC hard to provide me boost.. I spun her to 64,000 impeller speeds a lot! Also my blower was constantly under emense pressure as I did not have a surge valve that opens under VAC to bleed off some pressurized air. I had a Turbo type BOV that only opened when the car was seeing a lot of boost and the motor was under strong VAC. This eventualy lead to the seals to fail internaly for the P1SC. I started to get ATI oil in my Piping and intercoolers, and more leaking from the head unit itself. It got worse and worse over time. The unit still supplied me with 10psi of boost but sounded wierd and I had to add ATI oil more often than I liked to. So when my motor was down, I had ATI rebuild it to a D1SC, and I changed my blower setup to a dual BOV setup, one the older BOV and a new Surge valve that closes at 0 vac but under vac blows off air to the atmosphere.

Now seeing 14psi max and loving it..

So did my unit fail on it's own? no.. It had help, 1 from ATI and 1 from my dumb ***..

I have also seen 2 other blowers blow up..

Another D1SC Procharger, but the impeller was being spun to 70,000 rpms, and the inlet tube failed.

Also I saw a G-Trim Vortech fail from spinning too hard, though he took it to the max, but not over..

Clint
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Old Feb 8, 2006 | 08:08 AM
  #13  
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Ive kicked the **** out of who knows how old A-Trims, S-Trims and T-Trims for years, never had a problem. Keep good oil in the motor and change it regular and dont overspin too often and you will be golden.
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Old Feb 8, 2006 | 10:54 PM
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11psi through my D1SC no head unit problems at all... Stock bottom end is also still alive!
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Old Feb 12, 2006 | 07:27 PM
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wow, let this thread linger, but thanks for the in depth reply hugger. That's the kind of info I was looking for. Thanks to the rest who replied also!
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Old Feb 13, 2006 | 05:26 AM
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Out of all the ATI ProCharger units we have installed, we have never seen a faulure of the head unit. We've had to replace idler pulley's, but that is about the extent of it. Bob
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Old Mar 8, 2006 | 10:23 PM
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I had to send my F1 back after a week, The round seal behind the pulley came loose and kept popping out. Sent it back and within 3 weeks i got it back...
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Old Mar 9, 2006 | 01:12 AM
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My original Vortech V9 failed... It commited suicide.
It had a tendancy to throw belts every once in a while, just never could get it right. The last time it threw a belt, the belt came around and popped the oil feed line and made a mess. I replaced the oil line but the car kept leaking oil and I couldn't figure it out. Well after dropping some UV tracer into the oil I discovered that it was leaking from behind the pulley via the input shaft. The bearings were starting to get loud and I knew this wasn't going to be good. I sent it back to Vortech to have them take a look and sure enough, the input shaft was tweaked and it had started to wipe out the bearings... It required a complete rebuild and warranty wasn't going to cover it because the damage was caused by the the thrown blower belt. DAMN IT!
$2k later they rebuilt the entire head unit and it has not given me any trouble since. Not even 1 thrown belt either. I'll bet that the input shaft was already bent and thats why I had trouble keeping belts on it.
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Old Mar 15, 2006 | 04:54 PM
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20k on my vortech. I hit something in the road once and shredded the belt. Ive burnt a few clutctes too. Everything else is all good!
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Old Mar 15, 2006 | 06:47 PM
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A very modest 5K on my Vortech V-2 SQ S-trim. No problems - awesome performance!

I'm running an Earl's -6 filter right before the blower, and removed the small screen attached to the Vortech oil nozzle.

Shell Rotella T 15W-40 oil.

Jim
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