Ratte Sound from Supercharger... Help!

Hey guys !

I had what I thought to be a valve rattle for some time now, I always thought it was due to the vanos seals. Today, I once again opened the hood to make sure the rattle was coming from the engine head\vanos cover zone... It isn´t. I´m still not 100% sure, because the rattle only appears when I give it some throttle and I can´t be as close to the engine as I need to when I have to accelerate the engine myself, but I´m very positive that the rattle is coming from my TM-12, rattles when I give some throttle and then fades, when the rpms come down again, near 1000 rpms I can hear it again, and stops as soon as the supercharger stops, I know this because I could see the supercharger spinning from behind the hood. I can also hear it sometimes when driving I can hear it when I step on the throttle more firmly.

Is this a possible noise from a supercharger ? Should I try putting some WD-40 around the supercharger shaft or maybe some kind of paste ?

Thank you !

I hope I can help you a little here.

Here is the sound of a bad bearing on a Vortech supercharger; does your vehicle have that higher pitched rattling or tapping quality? (Hope not)

^ that made me cringe.

Performancenut: No, the sound isn´t nearly that bad. It´s just around 1000-1300 rpms, and really sounds like valves, but it doesn´t come from the head cover so it can´t be. Should I just try some oil\grease on the supercharger shaft, or not ? Anything else around that area that can cause this kind of sounds ?

Thank you!

Here you go guys, made a video...

Spray or grease around the shaft of the s/c would not make any difference as it is a closed/sealed unit. Bearings in other engine parts could conceivably make that sound (such as accessories, tensioner pullies, etc.)

You could try to localize the sound with a mechanic's stethescope; valvetrain noise is still possible.

i had that same sound a while back. thought the bearings in the asa blower were screwed as well. but i realized the sounds only happens when its on idle and only when i blip the throttle. and that hit me that its the clutch unit as the charger spins fine at full throttle and the sounds only comes out when the rev is going down to the point where the clutch disengages. found out it was a dirty clutch and rusty assembly.

anyway, just take out the pulley, and clean the clutch unit with brake cleaner. also check if the tensional spring that holds the clutch is no hanging loose. my clutch springs were rusty and that trigger the noise. i pry the clutch out with two flat head screw driver, wd40-ed the springs and some sanding did the trick. reassembled and its been problem free since.

lefortez: How do I remove the pulley ? I think I know how to do it, but never did anything like that before and just wanna be sure. Should I just remove the four screws that seem to hold it on place like I would remove any "normal" screws ?

Thank you !

sweet upside down

Originally Posted by ZachB12

sweet upside down

Gotta try to inovate somehow!! Nah, just kidding... didn´t notice I was filming it upside down, but all that matters is the sound anyways

that video is portugastic!

Any more ideas on what this rattle could be ?? I´m gonna try lefortez idea though, but meanwhile, any other input would be appreciated.

When you mentioned 1000rpm to 1200rpm, I can think of the pulley clutch. Maybe the springs or the shoes are worn? Call ASA and talk to Christian. He's very helpful with diagnosing issues like this.

Originally Posted by Mr Paddle.Shift

When you mentioned 1000rpm to 1200rpm, I can think of the pulley clutch. Maybe the springs or the shoes are worn? Call ASA and talk to Christian. He's very helpful with diagnosing issues like this.

Yes, I´m going to try to clean the clutch, if that doesn´t work I´ll try calling ASA. Thank you!