Tried Rebuilding My Supercharger, Nope

"CodyVella" (codyvella)
02/21/2016 at 21:12 • Filed to: None

So, the bearings inside the Eaton M62 Supercharger on my Xterra are shot, and I recently bought a rebuild kit to rebuild it. Turns out the pulley isn’t coming off in one piece, so it’s getting a reduction pulley! I’m going down from 2.64" to 2.4", the smallest pulley you can safely run without upgrading a bunch of other stuff. So the supercharger went back on the engine without being rebuilt, until the new pulley comes.

But while it was off, there were a bunch of other things we needed to take care of. The knock sensor had to be changed, which requires removal of the entire intake system anyways. Both valve cover gaskets leaked, which also required the removal of the intake anyways, and the valve covers got painted Chevy Blue, because we had some high heat stuff left over from a recent Chev 230 rebuild. The Xterra does not have a pretty engine bay. Then again, the VG33 isn’t a pretty engine to begin with. When the pulley gets here next week we’ll try again.

DISCUSSION (21)

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:21

What does the pulley size do? More boost?

Sweet Trav > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:22

what brand are the bearings?

CodyVella > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
02/21/2016 at 21:23

The smaller the pulley, the faster the supercharger spins, which increases the boost. factory boost is 5psi, the 2.4" pulley pushes it to 7-8psi. Approximately a 30hp gain.

CodyVella > Sweet Trav
02/21/2016 at 21:24

The rebuild kit comes with SKF bearings and AC Delco supercharger oil.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:25

Do you know what power it makes?

Sweet Trav > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:26

good. sometimes rebuild kits come with no name garbage bearings, but skf bearings are just fine

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:27

M90 time!

Birddog > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:29

The Vg33 may not be pretty but the whole first gen package (especially with a blower) is pretty sweet.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:37

These are non-intetcooled I’m guessing?

It doesn’t require any computer retuning?

CodyVella > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
02/21/2016 at 21:40

Factory ratings for the supercharged motor are 210hp and 246lb-ft of torque. The NA motor was around 170hp and 200lb-ft of torque I believe. There’s actually an abundance of simple performance modifications for this motor.

CodyVella > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
02/21/2016 at 21:42

Non-intercooled. There are companies that make a water injection system for it. But just a mild pulley reduction requires no ECU tuning. They do recommend relocating the catalytics further back in the exhaust. The stock cats are bolted directly to the headers. Under high boost loads this causes a massive buildup of heat, which cooks the head gasket.

CodyVella > Birddog
02/21/2016 at 21:45

It is a pretty sweet engine. The whole VG family of engines is fantastic. There’s a wild idea being tossed around right now, that when I buy a new truck, some of my engineer friends want to try shoehorning turbos under the hood of the Xterra, effectively twin-charging it.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:45

I’d love to find a supercharged xterra but they are getting harder to find

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:45

I’ve had the data logger hooked up to the Mustang to read things. The O2 sensors have seen 1700 degrees. I wonder what it was before I put the blower on.

CodyVella > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
02/21/2016 at 21:46

Not on the stock engine! It has over 300,000kms on it now. If it ever gets a rebuild, maybe. Just the reduction pulley is pushing it.

CodyVella > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
02/21/2016 at 21:48

I had to scrounge pretty hard for this one. It’s on a salvage title from flood damage 15 years ago (5 days after it was bought brand new). Fortunately it’s made it 15 years without showing any signs of flood damage.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:48

What kind of mileage do you get with the supercharger?

CodyVella > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
02/21/2016 at 21:51

I have a code reader which reads the full data log system, and gives you real-time monitoring. I’m going to be keeping a close eye on things until the exhaust is re-done. Moving the cats a bit further back, putting Doug Thorley headers on it and eliminating the stupid “T-Joint” in the exhaust.

CodyVella > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
02/21/2016 at 21:54

525-550kms to a 73L tank. Same mileage as the NA, but the SC runs on 91 Octane. I’m averaging the same mileage as my buddy’s 03 Ranger with a 4.0L.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 21:55

Yeah a quick search of cars.com shows the nearest one to me being about 2 and a half hours away. Which isn’t so bad if I was actually in the market for a new car haha

grammarNaziBurner > CodyVella
02/21/2016 at 22:09

Chuck Testa