Vortech oil change

[Pete]

I changed my oil & the oil in my blower today and took a few pics to share.

My engine bay, you can see my borla headers peeking out under the blower.



There is a steel line located at the bottom of the blower that is zip tied up out of the way, I snipped that off and let the line hang under the car.





The line is just long enough to hang clear of the bottom of the car by a couple of inches.



I used a 13mm socket and an adjustable wrench to open the valve at the end.



It's a thin stream, but the blower drains in just a few seconds. Maximum capacity is only 4 ounces of oil.




I passed the line back up in front of the airbox, where I ziptied it so I can reach it in the future.





Refilled the fluid very slowly, checking the level periodically.



It's important not to overfill the blower with oil as gem discovered for all of us on the track. In Houston we have been filling to the center of the grid on the dip stick. I did overfill it at first and I had to drain a bit out twice, but eventually I got it just right.



I changed my engine oil and filter at the same time, the whole process took about 45 minutes. It was easy to do, I am positive I could change the blower oil without getting under the car at all, just pass the drain tube through one of the holes in the skid plate.

[Dezoris]

Thanks for posting this, its the only thread of its type.
I used the dip stick hole to fill the oil, I don't think it matters?

Also I almost shit my pants when I broke the screw loose on the stainless line and the oil was pouring out around the fitting and the hole. I thought I broke the line. I assume yours did that too?

[F1point4]

Thanks @Pete. I may need to drain mine a little. I filled mine so it leaves one hash untouched cold.

I also found the wrench sizes to be 9/16" to hold the line and 1/2" to loosen the nut. American company, go figure.

Originally Posted by Dezoris

Thanks for posting this, its the only thread of its type.
I used the dip stick hole to fill the oil, I don't think it matters?

Also I almost shit my pants when I broke the screw loose on the stainless line and the oil was pouring out around the fitting and the hole. I thought I broke the line. I assume yours did that too?

Yeah I filled mine using the dipstick and yeah fluid came out from behind the fitting when I got the bolt loose.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Dezoris

Thanks for posting this, its the only thread of its type.
I used the dip stick hole to fill the oil, I don't think it matters?

Also I almost shit my pants when I broke the screw loose on the stainless line and the oil was pouring out around the fitting and the hole. I thought I broke the line. I assume yours did that too?

LOL, yes the fluid came out around the top of the fitting at first, I also thought I broke it for a second when I got the drain bolt loose.

I don't think it matters which hole you use to fill it, they both go to the same reservoir right?

[charged86]

I would assume yes. So who said fill to half way on hash marks also how many miles did you assume is on your blower. (I actually forgot mine). I also did not drill into body to mount the drain line.

[DJCarbine]

I filled though the dipstick hole on mine, no problems. They all go to the same place.

The only thing I did different was use a vacuum pump to suck the oil out of the supercharger drain line, but I use it for topside oil changes as well so its convenient

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by charged86

I would assume yes. So who said fill to half way on hash marks also how many miles did you assume is on your blower. (I actually forgot mine). I also did not drill into body to mount the drain line.

Its not in any documentation, from Vortech just like the drain line mounting and oil change. You have to search the forums to find out that Gem had a problem with his unit and the reason was due to filling the SC unit to full after his oil change. Since there is stil oil left in the blower after the oil change filling it to full can cause and overfill.

So now to prevent it, fill it half way.

Now Vortech says to fill halfway instead.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by charged86

...So who said fill to half way on hash marks...

I think @Chris@Phastek told me originally, but it seemed like a good idea anyway since we were aware of the "burping" issue Gem had. IIRC Vortech said the blower was fine, but if mine burped like that I'd still have to send it in to be sure.

Originally Posted by charged86

...also how many miles did you assume is on your blower...

I've got 10,000 miles on the blower, this was the second oil change. The first oil change is supposed to be at 2,500 miles, conveniently I had ~2,500 miles on the first blower when I sent it in for the new impeller. I just drained the oil for shipping and filled it again when we put the updated blower back in my car.

[charged86]

Originally Posted by Dezoris

Its not in any documentation, from Vortech just like the drain line mounting and oil change. You have to search the forums to find out that Gem had a problem with his unit and the reason was due to filling the SC unit to full after his oil change. Since there is stil oil left in the blower after the oil change filling it to full can cause and overfill.

So now to prevent it, fill it half way.

Now Vortech says to fill halfway instead.

Seems rather silly don't ya think

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by charged86

Seems rather silly don't ya think

You know the more I thought about it, at first I was like wtf. Now it's to the point where at least we have an owners group, we have a direct line with Vortech, and have a list of improvements for them. Hopefully they make the needed changes for future owners.

[charged86]

Originally Posted by Dezoris

You know the more I thought about it, at first I was like wtf. Now it's to the point where at least we have an owners group, we have a direct line with Vortech, and have a list of improvements for them. Hopefully they make the needed changes for future owners.

Guinea pigs.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by charged86

Guinea pigs.

That's the price you pay for being the first kid on the block with the new toy. I hope they continue to develop and improve the kit, they have been great about updating my hardware when they do.

[charged86]

Originally Posted by Pete

That's the price you pay for being the first kid on the block with the new toy. I hope they continue to develop and improve the kit, they have been great about updating my hardware when they do.

So how many bottles did require

[Pete]

Originally Posted by charged86

So how many bottles did require

Just a hair less than one bottle, I put a little extra through with the valve still open to flush it out a bit also.