Ok so my car was making a noise in the front end when i first bought it they looked at it and said it wasnt anything with a warranty i bought it and now the noise has got louder so i took it in and after 2 days they have concluded that i have a broken sway bar and a "bad supercharger" as they said...$3100.00 my warranty is i pay half however the salesman remembers me saying there was a noise when i bought it and the service department wrote it down like they said they would so he thinks his manager is going to cover it..i just cant believe its the surpercharger and not sure how warrantys go and if i have to go through them or can i take it some place else?

it may just be the coupler behind the nose drive thats bad...not the entire blower assembly...I think its time for a second opinion.
If you do have to wind up replacing the blower, Ed Morad can fix you up for less than they want for half your warranty cost...I really believe its most likely the coupler.

well if they cover it then they can put a new one on but if not then i am going to look at other options but for now he claims its the supercharger..they gave me a loaner 08 trailblazer omg what a gas hog!!

A supercharger doesn't really go 'bad'.

The parts in it can get worn, but I don't see how it can possibly total up to over 3k. Definitely get a second opinion, that guy sounds like he's pulling crap out of the air. Besides, even if it is covered by warrant, I would never trust someone that doesn't seem like they know what they're talking about to replace my supercharger. No way.

From what you're describing, I have to agree with Tbat, it sounds like a worn coupler, which is a 40 dollar, do it yourself fix. That's weird that it would go bad with so little miles on it. They must not have ever changed the s/c fluid.

Sway bar, time for the Handleing kit...

S/C... Coupler


money saved by NOT going to the $tealer$hip: $2950.00

If it's a rattling sound, it's most likely a worn coupler; here's a write-up on replacing it: How to replace an M90 snout coupler

You can get an M90 at any junkyard for around $300.

If I went to a place and they told me what they told you, I would have busted a gut and been rolling on the floor laughing.

Even if your ENTIRE blower is garbage, $300 for a new one + what a $30 gasket and 6 injector O-rings, you can fix it.

I'm not sure what $tealership pricing is on a sway bar but in ALL honesty, $3k is way way way too much.

Heck, you could do it yourself really. Simple socket set would suffice but it's a somewhat involved process and the blower is kind heavy.

But

personally, i would talk to them again, and find out why they think the supercharger is bad. get all the information you can on what their reasoning is, and what they think is wrong. then let us know what they say so we can determine if theyre blowin smoke.

also, find out for sure what your warranty covers. if it will cover it, well then piss on it and let them replace whatever they want to.

i would find out as much as you can before you go in there and tell them "a bunch of guys on an online forum said your wrong". although most of the guys on here know probably as much if not more than the mechanics. let us know what they say so we can give you more help. a "bad supercharger" is pretty broad lol.

Oh, you know what. Now that I think about it.

They may pull crap on you just because you're a girl. People have done it to me before, so watch out for that, too.

Some mechanics will assume that something with boobs couldn't possibly understand anything about a car, and some of them will try to fasttalk you.

yeah it sucks i have had the car for less then 2 months and this already. i really dont think its what they are saying i will know in the morning if they are covering it or what

that still happens, huh?

good thing I aint female. Id have a lot of prison time pending for me by now.

Chicks who dig cars = hot.

It does kind of suck that people still sterotype women in this specific area.

But then again, you gals can really pull a fast one on some of those guys that think girls don't know cars.

Or know how to race... The thought of a guy getting smoked by a girl, expecting to win simply because she's a girl, amuses me. I know a couple friends like that, actually, and I can picture their faces after a loss.

You have plenty of options and if you're SC IS BAD and they wo'nt warrenty it check out 3800 performance you can buy a fully ported SC for $695. or try e-bay I picked up a used SC for about $100 bucks .Chico(pops)

Yeah, it still happens.

The last time I ever got lazy and had my oil changed for me, the guys there tried to tell me I needed a new fuel filter and that my oil was dirty so I needed some engine clean thing. The guy (read: guy) before me with a big dirty old truck got out of there without a word of that kind of stuff from them.

The fuel filter was brand new. Seriously. Slick knows, he was there, showing me how to change it THE DAY BEFORE. And of course my oil is dirty, it's been in the car for seven thousand miles. The guy talking to me started stumbling after that.

Unfortunately my mom is an easy victim for these people, so she's always asking me what to do when she has to have something done. It does happen, a lot. To the point where I don't have anything done to my car that myself, HACGP or Slick can do/help me with. Adding gender discrimination onto the usual DUR DUR DUR of most shops is just too much for me. I digress, however, every so often there will be a parts place or a random mech that will see things for what they are and give props and they're the ones that make it even the slightest bit worth it.

.. It's funny. I feel bad when any of them try to go into it with me, because odds are they're going to get ****ing owned.

I just wrote a book!

Thanks for the lesson, Arc. I honestly thought from the legislation and "enlightenment" of the US in past years that this wasnt a problem anymore.

Mandee, hope the SC thing gets figged out.

It's unfortunate that sort of stuff goes on; Meineke Muffler told my cousin Sandy she needed 2 front struts and an alignment ($1100.00 :rolleyes: ). I told her to leave immediately, and I'd take care of it for her. I put in two complete strut assemblies for less than $400, and sent her to a tire shop I deal with for the alignment. She was quite happy!

okay so just talked to the manager he told me he is peronally picking my car up from the service department monday and taking it some where else to be checked out he said if it is the supercharger he has a couple options for me one being to pick out a dfferent car
:-( i dont want that though i love my car..he seems to be anxious to make it right with me stating he isnt like other car places, he is knows it was pre existing.... i kept stressing how much i want to keep it..he also told me he personally appraised the car when it came in and it was an one owner owned by an elderly man who wanted a truck.. so i have to be patient it just sux not knowing....and in reply to the post about chicks racing i get that alot from guys thinking they will beat me or just bowing out.. i have no limits before my dad past away i remember him telling me that..

i know a lil about cars and definetly have common sense to know not to just hnd over 1500.00 which would be my part without getting more opinions and even then i wouldnt go through them if i can bypass it and keep my warranty..

Just so ya know, we've got an edit button. It's in the little header thingy at the top of every post



Saves some clutter.

Let me get this straight. Your warrentee has deductable of half? So a $1,000 repair will still cost you $500? Now I see why changing a S/C and sway bars is est. at $3,000. Because by the time you add in dealer parts costs (over inflated to start)and labor at about $80-110 your looking at roughly $1500.

But unless your S/C was empty of oil and the bearings are fried. Slim chance. Even if the oil was never changed 98% of the time the nylon coupler is bad and needs to be replaced. $50 for parts (including oil)and about on the high side two hours of labor. But very easy DIY job.

I hope I got the wrong idea on your warrentee or you didn't have to pay for it cause that is one of the lamest I've seen.

i havent paid anything yet..the used car manager is picking my car up from their service department and is taking it to another place for second opinion...my warranty is half tho..

I assume when they were talking a bad supercharger, that when they said that that would be like chinese to you, even if they didn't know what was wrong, probably the coupler. Figuring if we say "bad supercharger" she'll just say "Ok" fix it. I bet half or most them don't even know what the hell the coupler fix is anyways.

Half of 3000 is still way too much to pay, in my opinion.

Half of half of half of half of 3,000 will put you in the ball park range, and that is still high, at $187.5 DIY.

i completely agree and i am scared they wont fix it and just want to throw me in a different car just gotta wait till tommorrow

That sucks... I hope it all works out for ya.

Btw... What kind of noise is it making? Just curious because depending on the type of noise it could be easy(coupler) or hard(bearings) to fix.

why not just get a new blower from ed morad? im sure there are some local guys around that could replace it for free.

Why we don't even know exactly what it's doing. Chances are just a coupler. How many times have we heard on here before dealer says S/C is bad need a new one when all it was was the coupler?

Quite a few.

ok so the noise it is making is when you turn the car on after about 5 seconds you hear a sort of grinding noise once you put it in drive it stops but then again after 10 seconds you can hear it again BUT not as bad however the noise isnt really loud even at its loudest... the used car manager made an appointment at another shop for tomorrow he drove it today and couldnt hear the noise but anyway i will know more tomorrow keeping fingers crossed because i really really want to keep this car

The noise going away while actually driving is a symptom of a bad coupler, if I remember correctly.

Idling is when you here it most!

i hope thats all it is

sounds to me like this "warranty" is simply designed for them to infate the heckout of the price so that the half you pay pretty much covers their butt...the nerve these people have is unreal...asking you to swap cars in my opinion is admitting they are incompetent.
I had a GM "certified" used car and I never took it back to the dealer.

well actually the used car side has to pay the service department so the used car side wants to take it some place else cheaper which they did today so now i have to wait again..he also said they could write me a check for half and i do it on my own i said i want to wait this is nerve racking though and i have paid out 90 bux in gas into the loaner since thursday..about to be fed up!!

stick with it and wait for the GTP to get right. Eyes on the prize, Mandee.

thankyou it helps hearing that

Yep, just stick it out and see, I bet they will probably say the s/c needs to be replace.

My friend has a 2002 gtp and a year ago he had a rattling noise as well and it was his coupler and replace it and never had a problem with it again. Everytime on this website usually someone says its a coupler and that be the end of the problem for the s/c and nothing but smiles.

Lets us know the details of it.

ok soooo the outcome of my car is............. they say i have a bad tensioner pulley and the bearings inside the snout are ratteling soo they want to replace the pulleys they claim the bearings can last forever that way but suggest i fix it while my car is still under warranty (which is half) they said to replace the pulley and snout is 700.00 so i pay 350.00 WELL i came home got on this website i was told about www.intense-racing.com and saw the bearings are just 19.99 so i am going to call the shop that the dealership took my car to and ask them why cant they just replace the bearings...is it hard or what???i dont understand...i get to pick my car up tomorrow because they claim it will take a week for the snout to come in from California...i am confused hope you guys arent please give me some opinions asap

I'm surprised they suggested replacing the snout. Eaton states that the supercharger is non-serviceable and the whole unit must be replaced. Not parts.

i dont get it then why do they sale the parts for it???lol

because even though Eaton says it's not servicable, anybody knows that if it's got bolts, it can be fixed, repaired, or replaced.

If it's the tensioner pulley and the coupler, why don't you try doing it yourself? It's MAYBE $60 in parts and then some basic hand tools are all you should need. Well, you'll also need a turkey baster or something to suck the S/C oil out with, although you could just remove the snout w/ the rotors attached and just replace the coupler off the car. That way you could just drain it over a bucket or something.

Unless the actually MEANT the bearings and not the S/C coupler. If it really is the bearings, I think you need a press to install those bearings.

But if it's just the coupler...
http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/products1.php?id=155

$30 + the install instructions are right there.

And IIRC, a tensioner puley is a $30-50 part at any parts store and only requires a socket set to replace.

its the bearings not coupler i made sure

That's funny the bearings failed before the coupler and they didn't even pull it apart. They want $350 from you.

Is there some one in Ohio that can hook this girl up?

Bingo!!!!! coupler.

Have em change the pulley's that's for sure. Don't let them touch the S/C unless you want to throw them your cash.

Remember they tried to get you for $1500 you called their bluff. Come to think about it I bet the pulley noise is making them think the bearings are shot and to cover their butts on the initial diagnosis they still claim it's the S/C and still trying to get a good chunk of cash out of you.

How did you make sure?

Did you take the s/c apart and see for yourself?

The tensioner pulley is easy, just requires some man-strength. *cough* 20-30 bucks. The M90 is serviceable, it's just that the bearings are something of a pain in the ass to repair, and most people will just say f* it and replace the whole snout.

I honestly would start small and just replace the s/c coupler with the one from ZZP. If it still makes the noise after that, then it's the bearings, and you have a good s/c coupler that won't soon wear out like the GM one. If the noise goes away, you just saved 300 dollars.

Herc made a good point, you stood against them on the 1500 BS and they backed down and said it was something else, still expensive.

Odd, no?

Well, in conclusion, you can change the pulley yourself, and if you want to throw away your money without seeing for yourself what the real problem is, that's your choice, but if they're lying and you get screwed, remember that it was your choice.

can somebody explain what the coupler is??i promise im not a airhead but really when it comes to superchargers i know ZERO......all i know is there is rattling and grinding...they said the pully would take care of most of the sound but heck that alone would cost me 150.00 there are no other symptoms with my car only noise

A pulley should not cost 150 bucks. Seriously. Talk about price-gouging. I think the tensioner pulley would squeal more than it would grind, anyway? I know my idler pulley did, I wouldn't think it would be much different.

Let me see if I can find the FAQ for a coupler fix.

Edit: Found it. http://www3.sympatico.ca/aepa/blowerinstall.html

no i didnt take it apart i asked them like 3 times if they was sure if thats what it was..this isnt the dealership i bought it from the used car manager took it to a different shop this guys has a car with a supercharger in it he said and has 32 years experience behind him BUT i know how these places work and i already got ripped off from a different shop on a different car where they said they rebuilt my transmission and come to find out they only replaced seals and took 1300.00 from me

Lemme see if I can find some pics...

Maybe I'll draw one.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/aepa/blowerinstall.html

That's the install guide, pics and all.

Couldn't show it better myself.

Agree with Herc..it's the coupler, and the tensioner pulley isn't hard to replace either. I left the coupler write up link for you on the first page of this thread..

Here ya go: Replace Coupler

hmmmm ok this is sooo messed up i mean seriously to go through all this bs to get a car fixed the warranty obviously was the joke on me thankyou all for helping

Just don't want to see you get gouged by the $tealer$hip for a relatively inexpensive fix..
Our shop would do warranty work all the time, because our customers didn't want to pay the higher labor rates at the dealer. Makes me wonder if the previous owner traded this car in because of this..

yeah and to be honest either way i probably will get screwed because i will have to take it somewhere i have no tools and wouldnt know where to start but may try anyway...lol my dad did all this for me but hes dead now must do it myself darn it

Try Ohio ClubGP.

http://www.goclubgp.com/

I bet Greenie or someone wouldn't mind helping you.

maybe you should invest in a small tool set?

It's really going to be needlessly expensive to have ANY car place replace that coupler, in fact, I don't think many places will.

A REALLY basic tool set would suffice for this project.

Plus, it's something you could keep in the trunk for emergencies or even at the house for household repairs.

very true!!im going to try my boyfriend will help and he has tools

Here's the coupler and the GM S/C Oil (You'll need two bottles)

anyone with any real mechanical skill at all can do a coupler replacement. your boyfriend shouldnt have any problems.

This is also a perfect opportunity to get to know your fellow ohio GP owners

Maybe you should trade your BF in for a gearhead guy JK ,as far as SC repairs most shops do'nt do many so they just do R&R as mentioned above replace the coupler first and then we'll see.Chico(pops)

If it's more of a rattling kind of noise I'd call coupler. There are several people around your area from ClubGP that would more than likely be willing to help.

Greenie is in Columbus if I remember correctly and there are several people in Cincy. I'd trust Greenie and a few others with anything on my car.

I'm in Cleveland and would be willing to help, but I almost never have a nice block of free time.

its more of a grinding i would say but talked to the guy at the shop today replaced 3 pulleys and 2 belts i am picking it up tomorrow going to drive it and go from there to replace the bearings only i have to buy them and labor is 150.00 so??? and he said he would put the coupler on if i bought it..soo i think i am going to buy the coupler and put it on and go from there...this has just became to much with this dealership..

If you take the belt off the supercharger, turn the pulley left to right real quick. If you feel play, then it is a bad coupler.

Honestly, the cheapest route would probably be to get a snout and ported blower case from ZZP. Both come with new bearings and are a fraction of the cost from a dealer.

are the snouts hard to replace at the shop where my car is now not the dealership but where the dealer took the car he wants 4 hundred for parts and labor on the snout only so my half would only be 200.00 the website www.intense-racing.com they want 49.99 for the snout but i have to pay 170.00 then they refund a core charge once i send the old one..i havent ever bought car parts online so not sure how it works

400 to do the snout is a joke. you could buy a plane ticket to my house for cheaper than that and i would replace it for you. seriously, you can get a snout for cheap. its like 8 or 10 bolts and it slides out with the rotors.

you can get the whole m90 setup for less than 150 bucks used from ed morad or in the clubgp classified section.

Your best option is to buy a used SC from Ed Morad and you could sell your old one for about a $100 problem solved .Chico(pops)

well got my car back!! let them do the pulleys and 2 belts noise isnt as loud but you can faintly still hear it if everything is off but motor standing with hood open a bit of rattling coming from supercharger....i am ordering the coupler hope it fixes it you all seem pretty positive it will!!!!

ding ding ding we have a winner.

ok i am almost positive you guys are sick of hearing about this sorry.....i am ordering the coupler now and was wondering will i need the gasket maker stuff should i get the kit or just the coupler and 2 bottles of s/c oil thanks

Get the kit, that way you don't have to hunt down a syring or silicone. Make sure you use the silicon because that oil can leak out, had it happen about a coupler install. Because the supercharger gasket will break off from underneath the housing and likely stick to the snout part. So you need to use the silicone and don't peel the gasket off, just leave it, and silicone it up and around the snout before you bolt it back up.

I siliconed mine when I put it back together. I used a really thin bead of ultra grey, same as what I used for the intake corners and tstat gasket.

hmmm ok well thank you guys alot for all the advice

Will the coupler ever fail because I think mine is going bad too and I can't replace it for awhile

Maybe. there are 6 holes in it. And the holes, circular, become eliptical and that is what causes the rattling. Some go 1,000s of miles while it rattles.

It'll take quite a bit before it will fail. The annoyance factor will become pretty large as it wears out though.

If you're worried about it, then you can pull the S/C belt and run around in a slower than GT GTP.

It's more of an annoyance then anything. If it does fail the only thing that will happen is the rotors won't spin and you'll be as slow as a 3.1 SE.

:rolleyes: hey now be nice

you men are silly lol

might wanna watch it with the SE comments or drummerboy and I are going to need to have a word with you when he get's back

thanks

What SE?

Oops! I forgot the sleepiest GP SE on the site! My bad.

What do you mean what SE? drummer has a '97 SE and mine's a 98.

I was referencing Herc's comment on a GTP w/o the s/c belt being as slow as a 3.1 SE.

I was just poking fun. :p

oh lol! sorry.

I'm kinda tired right now. Y'know, the kind of tired where you can't really think straight and when 2 things are happening at once, you can't pay attention to either of them...

a easy way to get the s/c oil out is to use the top off a spray bottle. Just stick the tube in the s/c and spray away. works much better than any syringe

well got the coupler on and it took me three hours lol but the sound was coming from the gears so i put the new coupler on and used litium grease and now the sound is GONE!!!FINALLY i was so excited!!! and still am.. a little 50 dollar part and some grease took care of it and saved me alot of money! THANKYOU all honestly if it wasnt for you all i would have just gave them my money to do it.. so thanks alot!

I was in no way involved with the fix or advice, but glad to see you gettin it fixed and happy with yer car again.

Good to hear it's all better now.

Sometimes we know what we're talking about.

Sometimes.



Glad to hear it fixed it! We don't like for people to go spending money on things if they don't have to.

Thats awesome! Now time to start modding!

And it didn't cost you $3500.. :rolleyes: That's money better spent on mods and Christmas presents!

yeah my son wants everything under the moon!! i just put tires on my car and alignment and think im getting my FWI put on this weekend YEA!!!!

ide hold off on the FWI get yout son lots, i used to have a little girl and the look on thier faces when they open those gifts is priceless, i really miss that.

is FWI better then CAI

good question, i myself cant answer it because i have cai and never had the fwi, i would imagine it would be about the same, i could be wrong though

That topic could run seven more pages...

good point, im sure there is another thread about it

Usually an FWI makes the supercharger louder, but that's the only real noticeable difference.

People have run dynos with FWI vs CAI and there's not really a clear winner. There are arguments for both, but in the end, it just means you have more options.

for ease of cleaning that filter, I'd say CAI, since performance data is purely anectodal at this point.

oh, and marking 100 posts on this thread! yeah, I had to.