I've had my Vortech v-2 on my 2000 rousch mustang for just a little over a year and know she seems about dead! The charger started making a god awful noise about 2 weeks ago, but as i was about to take it to the body shop for a new stage 3 front bumper and to get my side skirts repainted i decided i'd take it to the performance shop once it was out of the body shop. so after 2 weeks getting everything thru the body shop i picked it up and drove the 5 miles to my buddies performance shop (the only miles its had since the noise began- had it roll backed to the body shop, although i wasnt in an accident). after taking the supercharger off it seems that it needs about everything is fcked. i need all new bearings, which is absolutely ridiculous for a charger thats barely over a year old, the impeller shaft was not aligned properly which caused it to dig an 1/8 of an inch rut into the housing, and then on top of it all the mechanic says something else must be wrong with it to have caused the bearings to go bad on such a young supercharger. so my buddy (the owner of the shop) called vortech and after talking to them they suggested i ship the unit to them ($$$$$ ) my buddy asked about the warranty on the charger (3 year/ 36000 miles, which i am well below on both) and he told him that absolutely none of the damage to my charger would be covered as it is all regular maintinance! now i can understand the bearings being a maintinance, but if an internal defect in the unit is causing my bearings to go bad as they say, and a misaligned impeller is digging into my damn housing i saw that should be a warranty issue! alright, pretty well done venting, but ya know a 4,000 dollar system that a year later looks to be on the verge of costing me another 1000 bucks or more really gets me thats alot of skin for a full time student!

 

One question.... when it started to make a noise, why did you continue to drive it?

 

My V-1 S-trim (original A back then) is still on my 93 mustang 15 years later and it went back for a leaky front seal at 11-12 years, 90K + miles. Its got many 1/4 mile and street passes on it and is pushing 12-14 pounds of boost. You may have sucked it trash or your oil line may have clogged up starving the bearings. In general, if used under max impeller speed and oiled good they are bullet proof. Maybe Vortech will find something wrong with machine work or assembly and replace it. Good luck.

 

the only time it was drivin after the noise started was from the body shop to the performance shop. i would have had it rollbacked over however with my new front bumper installed + the lowering kit it wouldnt fit without destroying the bumper.

 

How can they say bearings in the supercharger, or any such parts are regular maintenance, when the only people they say can do it, are Vortech themselves ??

They refuse to sell any parts, or offer any advice for fixing damaged units, other than return it to them.



But to be fair...if you continued to drive it after noticing a noise.....no doubt the damage will be a lot worse than it could have been, which will be partly your own fault, even if the initial problem wasnt.

Ive had a few bearing issues with mine, first time they were replaced under warranty. They said damage was due to overtensioning the belt....quite possibly true.

The 2nd time...I doubt that. They wanted me to return it to them to fix, which was just stupid given the distance involved, and the fact only the low speed bearings were damaged.
They wouldnt offer any advice, or help with parts....they said only they can repair them.


So I took it apart and sourced new bearings myself, and so far, they have given no problems. Although I have kept an eye on them, and replaced them whilst apart, just in case.