Does your EATON supercharger make a rattling sound, sort of like rocks rattling around? Is the noise very distinct during idle or low speeds and then soften up as you drive your vehicle?
As long as your supercharger is not leaking oil the chances are your coupler is worn and needs to be replaced.
Since the supercharger coupler is made of plastic, over time the holes on the coupler become worn out. Once the supercharger coupler wears out your supercharger will start making a rattling sound mostly at idle or low engine speeds. If you continue to drive for a long period of time with a warn out coupler, it will cause your bearings and seals to go bad and then you will need a rebuild of the supercharger.
Where in the supercharger is the supercharger coupler located?
The Eaton supercharger has a front nose cone and the main supercharger body. Between the two pieces is a supercharger coupler, which is a little plastic round part with several holes in it.
Supercharger Coupler
The purpose of the supercharger coupler is to connect the front nose to the gears of the superchargers so that it can allow the internal parts of the supercharger to spin together. The supercharger coupler prevents the supercharger from gear damage by absorbing the shock load that can be caused by increase throttle, and it forces the flex of the supercharger coupler rather than breaking the teeth on the superchargers gears.
How long does it take?
These supercharger couplers are very simple to replace and are very inexpensive compared to a supercharger rebuild. All together the replacement of the coupler will take around 1-2 hours complete.
What do I need to change out the supercharger coupler?
You only need a handful of common tools like a Standard Wrench, Allen Wrench, and a Spray Bottle or Syringe to get the old supercharger oil out. You will also need a supercharger nose cone service kit, which includes the special supercharger oil, the new supercharger coupler, gasket maker, and a new oil fill bolt.
How to get the oil out of the supercharger
You want to make sure you drain the old oil out of the supercharger. Since these Eaton superchargers do not have an oil drain plug, you normally will have to drain the oil from the oil fill hole. We find that using an old spay bottle works very well and since most people have them laying around the house it does not require you to make a special trip to the store. You can also use a syringe or a baster depending on what is available to you.
Most superchargers have around 4-6 ounces of supercharger oil inside of the supercharger.
How to take the nose cone off?
Now that the supercharger oil is drained, you can begin to undo the screws that hold the supercharger nose cone to the main body of the supercharger. Most Eaton superchargers have around 6-8 bolts that will hold the supercharger nose cone onto the body.
Replace Supercharger Coupler
Once all the bolts are taken off you can now pull apart the supercharger nose cone from the main supercharger housing. The supercharger coupler will be located right on the pins of the supercharger. Just take out the old coupler and replace it with the new one.
Once the coupler is installed you will want to make sure the supercharger nose cone and supercharger main body is clean of any silicone. Make sure to clean the surface and apply the new gasket maker onto the housing. And then put the supercharger nose cone back into the main supercharger body and tighten the bolts that hold the two pieces together.
You will want to torque these bolts to around 18-20 foot-pounds to torque.
How to fill up the supercharger with supercharger oil
You pretty much are almost complete with the coupler change. All that is left is to fill up the supercharger with the special supercharger oil. Be careful and do NOT overfill the supercharger with oil. If you over fill the supercharger oil beyond the recommended oil requirements, it can cause the oil to expand and leak out of the supercharger seals. If this happens you will need to get a rebuild performed.
For proper oil level please see the oil chart.
How often should I change the supercharger oil?
We recommend changing the oil at or around 100k miles depending on usage. Please make sure you do NOT use any other type of oil, including synthetic motor oils. These will cause failure. Only use Supercharger Oil made specifically for Eaton Superchargers.
Hello guys ,my issue is a bit different , mi 99 lightning rattles when I hit the gas on It and White smoke comes from the exhaust pipe . The mechanic said is due to a failure with the supercharger , what do you think. ?
I have not seen the supercharger cause white smoke, depending on the mileage of the unit the rattle could be the nose drive coupler, or the rotors.
Lightning Rebuild Service
My 03 xttera super charger makes a high whistle under load and a burnt candle smell occasionally ,seems to come from driver side not in exhaust but will come through heater…any thought about what is going on?
Hi ..
My supercharger used to make intermite sound when cold .Removed the and found thecoupler have play .I have changed the needle and snout bearing also.
I have started car it become now worst .It sound like countinous ratteling at idle .
Any idea please .Can wrong oil cause such rattelling ..or i have install the coupler in wrong way
What oil did you use in the supercharger? The incorrect oil can cause bearing failures.
Quite informative! I just bought a factory supercharged ’97 Buick Riviera with only 64,000 miles and it seems to have the telltale coupler rattle at idle. You say if this rattle is allowed to persist it will damage the bearings and seals; I am ordering a new coupler but I’m just wondering, How bad is it to drive the car a bit before I replace the coupling… does the damage occur in a hundred miles, a few hundred miles or a few thousand, or what?
Thanks!
You should replace it as soon as possible.
Hi Brian,
Could you confirm whether or not the oil in the Jaguar F-Type AJ133 V8 Eaton TVS / R1900 and Jaguar F-Type AJ126 V6 Eaton TVS / R1320 superchargers can evaporate or burn away over a period of time?
I ask this because some F-Type owners are reporting that when they are extracting the old oil from the supercharger (without removing it from the car), only 80-100ml is coming out.
Jaguar stipulate that the F-Type supercharger is ‘sealed for life’ but many disagree with this. What is your recommended time and mileage interval for changing the supercharger oil?
Thanks in advance
The oil should never burn off, it could leak, however that would be evident upon inspection. The only way to get the oil 100% out of the supercharger is to remove the gear cover and drain it. “Sucking” it out with a syringe will not get every last drop of the OLD oil out. Oil has an approximate 150K service life, changing it before then is not required.
The units are sealed, however we do have a complete kit with sealant to replace the oil.
Thanks.
If the supercharger oil change is done without removing the supercharger from the vehicle and no leaks are evident upon inspection, should you only refill with the same amount of oil as that which is extracted with a syringe etc to prevent overfilling…..e.g. 100ml out then 100ml back in?
I think the same as you about the oil not burning off but this (link below) F-Type V6 owner’s car was 5 years old with 65k on the clock and he says he removed the Eaton TVS / R1320 supercharger and tipped it upside down in all directions to fully empty the oil. He only got out 65ml with no leaks reported? He was then advised by another member to refill with 5.1 – 5.2 fl oz.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f-type-x152-72/supercharger-oil-change-extra-project-symposer-removal-240551/#post2333412
Some websites are recommending that the Jaguar F-Type supercharger oil should be renewed no later than 65k? As this is way below the oil’s approx 150k service life that you mention, would you say those websites are incorrect?
Forgot to say that I was referring to post number 16 in the link I provided above.
Hi,
my mercedez c200 w203 m111 superchanger. i have changed inside 4 pieces bearing but there still a big noise when i start the engine.
is it have to change the superchanger oil?
or still need to change something else?
the problem is the big noise
can you email us a video of the sound? sales@superchargersonline.com
Soon doing a project on my 2016 Land Rover LR4 that requires supercharger removal.
I have purchased the supercharger oil from you – thanks.
I am thinking about replacing the coupler.
So, when it goes back together, you state 18-20 ft lb. Is that from the manufacturer or is that best professional judgement – and is that specification actually available from the manufacturer?
At reassembly, you state above to use gasket maker, but what are those exact specifications?
Thanks!
18-20 ft lbs is the torqe spec for those M8 bolts. Loctite 510 or 518 is used to seal the gear case cover.
I have a jackshaft TVS2300 in an F-Body with a strange clacking at idle thats almost intermittent and only at low idle or low idle surge. It only has maybe 7000 miles on it.
can you email us a video? Sales@superchargersonline.com