So there has been an increasingly loud noise coming from the blower (yes, I've checked [& found two potential problems]).
At 2k rpm, there comes from the blower/blower area, the sound of a bearing that has too much play in it. I don't know how else to describe it. At that constant rpm, the noise will intermittently start and stop. More start than stop, mind you.
I couldn't tell if it was the blower, or one of the pulleys, so I whipped out the trusty mechanics stethoscope & also removed the s/c belt.
Here's what I found:
With the belt off, I tried moving the s/c pulley forward & backward, inward & outward. There is the noticeable, though still slight, play which you can hear and feel when you change the direction of rotation. This would lead me to believe that the s/c coupler is in need of a replacement. There is also, ever so slight, a touch of in/out play.
And...
Anything listened to through a stethoscope is really loud.

Now, operating under the assumption that it is both the nose cone bearings and the coupler that are in need of replacement, I too a look at the Intense page & found that I could source what I think are all of the parts for just under $100.
...that is assuming that these things are what ail me.
Do these sounds/symptoms sound about right to you?
I don't think that the s/c has been replaced or repaired before & it's running somewhere around 220k miles.
Oh yes, and I was wondering...does anyone think that using anything besides the GM s/c oil could have caused/contributed to (what I believe may be) the nose cone bearings wearing out? I ask because my car was in in the beginning of November and I got a call from the mechanic asking if I wanted them to replace the s/c oil to which I said, "How much?" they said that the Mitchell book said that it could take motor oil and that it wouldn't be much/it would be less than the dealer's special oil and they had regular motor oil IN stock. I had him double check and he told me again that it was OK in the Mitchell book, so I said sure.
Hope I didn't screw meself!
Hmm, do you think that I could be getting the bearing-like sound because the replaced s/c oil is not of the correct viscosity?
Lastly, I was wondering, assuming that the coupler and bearings need to be replaced, what could I expect to be charged for this repair in a shop? I don't have access to a bearing press or any of that neat stuff.

-edit- It doesn't seem to start until things begin to warm up.

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1996 Bonneville SSEi
- Stock Is A Bad Word -
3.6, FWI, 1 Range Cooler, and Energy Endlinks couldn't prevent a spun bearing.

I dont think motor oil is ok to be used, but others will chime in.

_________________

Yeah...I'm certain of that.

..and I'm growing more uncertain of motor oil being a suitable substitute, as I've just done a search here for anything like that and only come back with;


*dang*.

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1996 Bonneville SSEi
- Stock Is A Bad Word -
3.6, FWI, 1 Range Cooler, and Energy Endlinks couldn't prevent a spun bearing.

Wait. You put Motor Oil in your Supercharger? Not good. Has this all happened since then? If it has, then your mechanic is to blame, and shouldn't be trusted ever again. The "special" oil is special for a reason, and is the only oil designed for that purpose. You did screw yourself over, to put it in your terms.

You're going to have to replace all the bearings in the nose, where the oil is. You'd probably be better off sending in your S/C to a place like ZZP if you don't have access to a press, and either having them rebuild it, or send you a rebuilt unit and take yours as a core. Take a look at http://www.3800supercharger.net , willwren's site. The stuff posted there is almost identical, and what you'd have to do.

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

Balls.
Yeah, I've had a look there, at Bill's page.

So I suppose my next question would be - who thinks I have a chance charging this to the mechanic? And how would I do it, especially if I approved the work based upon the information that he rendered unto me?

Suppose I could pull the s/c belt off.
If I don't will the s/c grenade, or just seize?

Thanks.

_________________
1996 Bonneville SSEi
- Stock Is A Bad Word -
3.6, FWI, 1 Range Cooler, and Energy Endlinks couldn't prevent a spun bearing.

Anything's possible I guess. From what I've heard you're fuel mileage will drop significantly if you remove the belt, but have no personal experience.

I don't know if you have any standing against the mechanic. Definitely call him and tell him what happened, and see what he says. Maybe he'll offer to fix it, if not, don't take him your business ever again.

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

Bonnie & Beast, thanks for chiming in.
I'll have a look again tomorrow & see what folks have had to say, but for now, I'm going to call it a night.
Cheers,

Mike..

_________________
1996 Bonneville SSEi
- Stock Is A Bad Word -
3.6, FWI, 1 Range Cooler, and Energy Endlinks couldn't prevent a spun bearing.

It's not going to grenade in short order, but the more expensive supercharger oil is used because the engineers believe it is better. I have a feeling the motor oil would be more likely to make it's way past the seals.

_________________

WHITE WHINE - 1992 SSE Supercharged 236.26 ci (.040 Over) 15.090 at 90.2 MPH on old engine w/ slipping trans & melted O2 sensor - Gen 3 M62 and matching TB, Gen 2 Pully, Zillamotorsports Ported LIM, YT 1.72 Roller Rockers, SII FPR & Injectors, Hypertech Thermomaster chip w/ 160 Thermo, TransGo Shift Kit, Infinity/Pioneer Speakers & a 10" Alpine Type R Sub, all the watts, 140 amp Alternator, Ricepipe CAI w/ heatshield, Pilot Angel Eye Foglights, Clear Corners, '02 17" Chrome Bent 5's, Magnaflow F-Body Muffler and Hi-flo Cat, Ceramic Coated Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Fan Override, Monroe Reflex struts, red calipers
2009 G8 GT - Sport Red Metallic, loaded, SOLO Axlebacks, Rotofab Intake, Tuned, autodim mirror, removed intake manifold cover, HSV GTS triple gauge pod, two tone red-hot shifter and HSV SuperSport steering wheel, GXP rear sway bar and diffuser, 3.45 diff and various Camaro suspension bits, LED Taillights

We had documented cases of nosedrive failure on the old forum due to the use of motor oil AND gear oil. There was a debate about using synthetic oil, but it went nowhere, as nobody was willing to risk their own supercharger to test it.

Ultimately, you need to give us a better description of the noise you're hearing. Or a video or sound recording.

_________________

Click here for mod list for both cars
93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

Thanks, I appreciate everyone's input.
I'm going to call the mechanic tomorrow morning, and I'm sure that they'll want to see it.
I'll see if I can't make a short video of it - I'll probably have it up by lunch tomorrow.

willwren - If I may ask, how did the nosedrive fail in those vehicles? Was it as J Wikoff had speculated, that the oil had made its way past the seals? If so, did it usually go out by the pulley, or other end of the nosecone?

_________________
1996 Bonneville SSEi
- Stock Is A Bad Word -
3.6, FWI, 1 Range Cooler, and Energy Endlinks couldn't prevent a spun bearing.

Bearing failure in the two cases I know of. Heat combined with the wrong type of oil left burned carbon on the bearings.

Supercharger oil (the right stuff) will not break down thermally, will not foam, and is the ONLY oil approved by GM or Eaton (who makes the superchargers for GM and other companies) is the ONLY thing to EVER use in these things.

_________________

Click here for mod list for both cars
93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

SC oil is synthetic oil. It has very specific properties to be able to withstand the high temperatures it sees.

Motor oil will break down very quickly.

The first time I took by new Bonne to the dealer he wanted to top off the SC with plain 10W30 and insisted it was OK to use it because they didn't have any proper SC oil in stock at the time.
I ordered some after refusing to let him tough my car.

_________________

2000 SSEi - SilverBullet - 78,000 kms, 4" "straight shot" custom headlight ram air inlet, TOGs, 1.9's, Lsd, 2.9-3.4"MPS 10-15 psi, Ported GenV, EGR eliminated, OR pushrods, oil volume kit, trani cooler & shift kit, Titanium retainers, 90 lb springs, 160 Stat, 42# injectors, Fuel pump voltage increase, Wideband O2, 3" to dual 2 1/2" Magnaflows, Snow Meth/water injection, after SC temp gauge, 255/50WR17, timing commander set 15-18*@WOT, 2 speed Fan over-ride, disabled DRL, Solid motor mount, Meziere Electric water pump, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, Drilled & slotted rotors/ceramics, GXP sway bars and STB, Upgraded and rebuilt transmission with ZZP 2500 rpm stall TC, Pioneer Bluetooth stereo with sub and 800 W amps, PB 13.5 quarter, (April 2014 car of the month)

Doesn't S/C oil have animal fat in it, which is why it smells so bad?

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

Yes, SC oil does contain animal fats. It is not synthetic oil. It's petroleum based with animal fats added.

_________________

Click here for mod list for both cars
93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

Mechanic is readily passing the blame on to Mitchell & AllData - but still wants to check it out tomorrow. I am, at this point, just hoping I can do the "I'll pay for parts if you do the labor." If not, I'll try elsewhere now, and in the future.

The audio isn't great and I don't think that you can make out the bearing noise over the general motor noise & power steering pump, but if you're interested, the urls are:

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m33/bucketf uck/Bonne/?action=view&current=NoseConeP2221067.flv

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m33/bucketf uck/Bonne/?action=view&current=NoseConeP2221068.flv

Oh yeah, you've got to piece together the urls for obvious reasons.

-edit- I corrected one of the urls.

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1996 Bonneville SSEi
- Stock Is A Bad Word -
3.6, FWI, 1 Range Cooler, and Energy Endlinks couldn't prevent a spun bearing.

We might be getting off track debating the unknown properties of whale blubber.

Check your alternator.

You're making the same noise mine did when the rotor was clashing with the internals.

I thought for sure it was the nose cone bearings but when I let it get bad enough by driving 500 miles back from WCBF08, it was obviously the alternator!

Keep driving it and let it get bad.

_________________

2000 SSEi - SilverBullet - 78,000 kms, 4" "straight shot" custom headlight ram air inlet, TOGs, 1.9's, Lsd, 2.9-3.4"MPS 10-15 psi, Ported GenV, EGR eliminated, OR pushrods, oil volume kit, trani cooler & shift kit, Titanium retainers, 90 lb springs, 160 Stat, 42# injectors, Fuel pump voltage increase, Wideband O2, 3" to dual 2 1/2" Magnaflows, Snow Meth/water injection, after SC temp gauge, 255/50WR17, timing commander set 15-18*@WOT, 2 speed Fan over-ride, disabled DRL, Solid motor mount, Meziere Electric water pump, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, Drilled & slotted rotors/ceramics, GXP sway bars and STB, Upgraded and rebuilt transmission with ZZP 2500 rpm stall TC, Pioneer Bluetooth stereo with sub and 800 W amps, PB 13.5 quarter, (April 2014 car of the month)

Silver-B: How would you propose I check the alt?

The noise is most obvious after the motor has been run for a while and thoroughly heat-soaked.
I don't know how apparent it is from the vids, but it sounds like something, a tricycle wheel for example, one of the rear ones, that you've intentionally spun as fast as you can with your hand, and the wheel won't spin fast or true because there is no true bearing, it's just a plastic wheel spinning quickly on a metal "axle." There is no force pushing down on it to keep the axle on the inner part of the plastic wheel to the ground, or any other direction. The plastic wheel is not balanced so it will quickly display that unbalanced quality on the fixed axis until it slows to a point that it will not matter if it is weight balanced.

I am curious to explore other options such as the alternator.

Presuming the noise had nothing to do with my nose cone, does anyone thing that draining the s/c oil and replacing it with the right stuff might not be a bad idea? I've already detected play in the coupler, so why not get the Intense coupler kit, yeah?

Thanks.

_________________
1996 Bonneville SSEi
- Stock Is A Bad Word -
3.6, FWI, 1 Range Cooler, and Energy Endlinks couldn't prevent a spun bearing.

If you tear it that far, I'd suggest having the nosecone rebuilt with new bearings. The oil probably damaged them. It wouldn't hurt to try and change the oil, but don't be surprised if it doesn't fix it.

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

It's normal to have a little bit of backlash in the SC nose because there are gears in there.
A worn coupler with be very noticeable.

Remove the alternator and bring it into a shop for testing. I couldn't tell by simply removing the belt and spinning it by hand but you might.
Mine also only made the noise when the engine was warmed up.

It wouldn't hurt to change the SC oil.

_________________

2000 SSEi - SilverBullet - 78,000 kms, 4" "straight shot" custom headlight ram air inlet, TOGs, 1.9's, Lsd, 2.9-3.4"MPS 10-15 psi, Ported GenV, EGR eliminated, OR pushrods, oil volume kit, trani cooler & shift kit, Titanium retainers, 90 lb springs, 160 Stat, 42# injectors, Fuel pump voltage increase, Wideband O2, 3" to dual 2 1/2" Magnaflows, Snow Meth/water injection, after SC temp gauge, 255/50WR17, timing commander set 15-18*@WOT, 2 speed Fan over-ride, disabled DRL, Solid motor mount, Meziere Electric water pump, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, Drilled & slotted rotors/ceramics, GXP sway bars and STB, Upgraded and rebuilt transmission with ZZP 2500 rpm stall TC, Pioneer Bluetooth stereo with sub and 800 W amps, PB 13.5 quarter, (April 2014 car of the month)

I thought places like napa and pep boys could only do a load test. Or is it that you're thinking more of total isolation from the rest of the noise of the motor?
Any issues with realigning the alternator during reinstallation? I've never pulled it before.
Thanks.

_________________
1996 Bonneville SSEi
- Stock Is A Bad Word -
3.6, FWI, 1 Range Cooler, and Energy Endlinks couldn't prevent a spun bearing.