Vortech SC - Leak & Loud Whine after Track (<6k)
 

Update 4:
August 22, 2014
Vortech called and will provide warranty on charger. Recommended to upgrade to V2 oil fed.

Update 3:
August 19, 2014
SC arrived at Vortech

Update 2:
August 13, 2014
Shipped out SC.

Update 1:
August 8, 2014
Recieved RA # from Vortech
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Hi All,

Let me try to make this short on the issue i'm having.

Yesterday i went to the track, had approximately 25-30 mins of track time with the first 10 minutes just getting used to the car/warming up. On the cool down lap, the engine was slightly louder than normal SC whine which i've never heard before. Upon inspection at the pits, i've noticed the SC fluid (Which is an ATF like fluid, red in color when its fresh) coated in some areas of the engine bay, mainly via the belt. The vent and filler plug had no leaks or signs of venting. The main "wetted" area is behind the SC housing, where i suspect the rear bearing may have failed and caused fluid to leak out. When the SC cooled down, i've decided to check the fluids within the SC, the fluid is slightly under 3/4 level and turned brown (just like old ATF or smells like brunt ATF), i assume this is normal when heated. The fluid was still fresh few weeks ago. When the car restarted, the SC was making terrible sound and my day was done ;/

Ruined my otherwise awesome weekend because the car pulls nicely, handles brilliantly (!) and brakes that actually hasn't fade (yet) along with tires that worked well on the track. :( Guess i'm done for the season once again.

Based on my records, the SC was installed at 11,320 km, with the first SC oil change at 14,820 km, and current mileage is 17,103 km. Lets just call it 6000km (3700miles).

IIRC, kit was ordered in June, 2013, Installed in Early-Mid August, 2013, Date of Video is August 3, 2014 (See below). Not sure if Vortech will be willing to work with me on this and provide a warranty.
My plan is to email them tomorrow and follow up with a call by mid week right after the long weekend.

The Supercharger is now very very loud, as if almost it will seize anytime soon. If Vortech gives me the go ahead, i will take this apart and send it back for an inspection. On the plus side, i've checked the intake side and compressor inlet and see very very little signs of blow by, the crawford aos seems to work well.

Cliffs:

1. Less than 6000 km on Supercharger. Total mileage on vehicle to date: 17,103 km.
2. After ~30 minutes of track time, SC develops whining noise. Upon inspection at the pits, the rear housing of the Supercharger was wet and sprayed onto the engine bay via the belts. Suspected rear SC bearing failure.
3. At this point, the SC is whining very loudly and sounds very very nasty (gritty)

Time for some photos and videos:

[ame]http://youtu.be/XVy-QmhuObE[/ame]
^ from my phone
[ame]http://youtu.be/KS9Ig3Dnnzk[/ame]
[ame]http://youtu.be/r9qLqRoLtLY[/ame]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y64...B/IMG_0567.jpg[/URL]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y64...B/IMG_0569.jpg[/URL]
Checking inlet side:
Few spots behind the compressor were wet.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y64...B/IMG_2153.jpg[/URL]

-S

Sounds like a blown seal or something. By the way, I don't think the Supercharger oil should ever go brown. The heat involved in a supercharger isn't anything like that of a combustion engine. When I replaced my Supercharger oil yesterday, it came out red - basically the same color as the fresh oil.

well if the bearing is blown the friction could burn it

Any input from you guys are appreciated. Hoping to get a response back from Voretch soon.

Frustrating to have this season down. There is only about 3 months left before winter season hits.

@MyRx

This is not uncommon of self lubricated vortech blowers on track. The R32 golf community learned this a while back.

@Dezoris

Vortech is pretty good about covering their product. You are just outside the 1 year warranty but given the mileage they still may help you out. Most likely they will require you to send it in for inspection which is a little pricey for shipping but regardless they can fix it with super fast turnarounds in my experience. The important thing is that the tamper proof bolt cover on the compressor pulley is untouched which yours obviously looks to be still virgin. Have faith and get back out on the track before that white stuff heads your way.

I'm not very active on forums, this is news to me hearing that the V3 have similar problem. I'm rather disappointed if this is the case with only a short drive on the track. I wasn't pushing the car at the fullest either.

Guess when i contact Vortech, i will ask and see how much it would be to upgrade to engine oil fed v-2 blower.

The oil fed blower is without a doubt the way to go if you plan to track it a lot. It can sustain high RPM and heavy load for far longer than the standard duty V3. We were having issues with the standard burning up bearings here in AZs summer heats but the oil fed HD units have eliminated that issue.

We were running much smaller pulleys though so we were working the compressors quite a bit over their max RPM range.

That is sad but also excellent news regarding the oil fed blowers. Too bad the option didnt came out until a little later. Thanks for your input on this. Guess the car will sit for now, get the blower fixed and gather fund for next year for a bit more power while i'm at it.

I assume your experience with this is also on the FRS/BRZ? What pulleys are you currently running and how many track events (including duration of each event) has it endure to date?

Pm me I will get you Brians email should be able to get you inside help. Did you have winter miles on the unit?

A basic track day should not kill bearings.

Yes, my experience I am referring to in this case is all in relation directly to the 86 platform. I personally no longer run the Vortech as I have since gone turbo. My personal Vortech setup was a wastegate regulated system that I made and is still running strong on one of my customers cars that purchased it. I have built and installed several of these systems for other customers as well with fantastic results both in standard V-3 H67B and the HD V-2 H67B compressors. I run the 2.87" on most of them. Track days between mine and my customers is a lot haha. They are all NASA and Pro Autosports events so the heats are 20 minutes and 4 heats per day unless its a special event where we have more than 4 or even multi-day.

The only reason I sold my Vortech is because I am a turbo guy at heart and I switch things up often on my toys just to have good well rounded suggestions for customers based on a wide spectrum of personal experience in each platform I work with. It helps avoid bias. I admit there are times I miss my Vortech on this particular car. Love the turbo but Vortech still has a place in my heart especially when wastegated. It's just a really good fit for this car imo.

I had better tech results from Rick. I'd go directly to Rick.

As for the OP, my V3 did the same. 3rd day at the track did it. Limped the car home on I5 from BW to NorCal. Working with Rick, he advised simple fixes - none worked, it continued to spew/leak oil and shaft-bearing kept protruding. In the end, I've upgraded to V2 oil-fed unit. V3 inspection resulted in a damaged gearcase. Either it was caused by too much oil or too little oil, it was a repair I had to pay before I can receive the V2 upgrade.

With my experience OP, when you send it to Vortech, stay on top of it. Mine was finally shipped and arrived but missed having the drain portion included.

Hey @SonnyBRZ
Looks like I'm having the same problem as you. I immediately contacted Vortech and I'm sending it back to them tomorrow. He said the turn-around time is 10-15 days. I only have 3500 miles on mine. I'm hoping this is not going to be a recurring issue. Did you send yours back?

Hmmm. This is convincing me to go with the V2 unit.....

Sucks that you have to pay for it. I did check my level few weeks ago and have only drove it twice. One was to an alignment shop close by. Oil level should be just fine.

This concerns me because the car was ran for atleast a few minutes (semi hard at track) with the leaks and have probably cause some wear on the helical gears, but thats due to the bearing failure at first. Im not sure if Vortech will make me pay to repair this. :(

Thanks for the tip on staying on top.

Dont feel like pulling the valve cover to get the return port grr but i guess the V3 just wont work for me and have to go with oil fed, v2s. Your experience convinces me that V2 is the only way to go.

No winter mileage at all, car is stored during winter and only start up on warmer days. In fact, the car have only seen rain twice when i was caught in a storm on the highway. I'm fairly anal about this car :cry:

I haven't, been busy with work all day after month-end. Just checked their website and they closes at 330. Will try again tomorrow!


Again, thanks everyone on your input, good to know i'm not alone because this down time is gonna suck!

I dont see anyone at Vortech making you pay for that repair. Given their press here talking about the kits durability even for track as long as you change the oil and keep level mid way up stick. With the competition last thing they need and we need is failures like this with little or no mileage.

Called them today and got a RA number. Planning on removing the SC this weekend and ship to Vortech early next week.

@SonnyBRZ I shipped mine back today. I'll let you know if there are any issues with mine.

Thanks, will also keep my status updated here. The turn around is 10-15 days as you guys have suggested, so an update will follow by end of month.

Shipped out the SC, hopefully it will reach CA in about 5 work days.

Got an email today. Had a bearing going bad so they are replacing all the bearings and seals. Everything is covered under warranty. I'll have mine back next week.

Dude that's awesome they covered it.

Are you staying with the v2 unit and will continue to track the car?

I'm staying with the V2 but I don't track mine. I talked with FT86 SPEED FACTORY at a meet last weekend and their race car runs the vortech kit and they haven't had bearing issues but they have had belt issues. We'll see how the new bearings act.

:cry: down shifting eat belts :cry:
I love aggressive down shifting, specially in close turns...
Not even with the 3.125" pulley and blue belt could I enjoy the turn as I like :(
All other things about the kit are great

Looks like it is now at Vortech's facility. Should get a call anytime late this week.

Hopefully mine will be shipped back to me sometime this week. I also went ahead and ordered the 3.125 pulley kit.

Which blue belt were you using with the 3.125" pulley? I could not find the proper size in a gates racing belt

@DJCarbine This is the kit I'm using, Gates Kit- K060966,Idler Pulley 38006, Vortech*SC*pulley*–*3.125*inch, hope that helps. @SonnyBRZ my unit got shipped back Monday and will be here Friday. They are in California and I'm in Maryland so a total turn around from the day they received it til they shipped it was 6 business days. But shipping time and weekends makes it seem like forever.

Since some people are having belt issues with the 3.125 pulley, think about using the goodyear gatorback belt #4060967. Very good experience with it so far, no slipping that I can tell and has not failed or shown signs of abnormal wear

Vortech Called, will be providing a warranty :thumbup:

They advise me to upgrade to a V2 oil fed for my use meanwhile.
The details / invoice will come on Monday.

Very happy with the ways Vortech dealing this in a timely fashion (without asking) and the strong warranty support.

@DJCarabine, Next belt on the list will be the gatorback 967. Currently on the second 966, the blue one "975" give up at track abuse with some bada$$ downshifting (if I could behave on track and on road) the belt (any belt) would last like... I don't know. Much longer.
The shortest life span of the belt was 3 weeks, the longest span was with my mechanic using "testing" the car, about 3 months and 3k miles and it broke with my after a couple of months more... I know it's weird that my mechanic keep the car so long, but it's my dad so is ok :)

@pearsor1 if you go with the V2, please give some time to take some photos of the setup I'm using, it don't use the engine oil, simple as it could get and sc temp up to date never seen 200f... Sorry was so anxious to test that I forgot pictures :( the front bumper should be out in 1 or 2 weeks

My V2 started leaking yesterday. I was doing my practice session, preparing for the time Attack run. Going into the pits, I saw my belt jumped a groove and sheared in some places. I then noticed the charger spewed some oil around the pulley area and even reached the intake manifold and firewall area.
Contacting vortech now. Calling @Brian@Vortech or @Rick@Vortech...

^^^^not cool

I blew my seal after going to the 2.87. Shipped it back, they didnt cover it but for $100 more they upgraded to the v2 and HD bearings. Shortly after I started having belt issues. They would shred after 4 months, then 2 months, then 1 month. After taking it to the shop, they determinded all my pulleys were shot and my tensionor was wobbled way too much.

They replaced all the pulleys and my tensionor. So far I havent had any issues.

I drove the car home from the track with the shredded belt. My mechanic changed to a new belt. When I got home from his shop, I popped the hood and checked, the belt sits flush on the Superchager's pulley, but it jumped on one of the lower pulleys. :iono:

When you said all your pulleys were shot, does those include the water pump, and main pulley?

Hi
Sorry for your down time.
Did you use the V2 with the engine oil feed?

I have broke a couple of belts and never have problems with the pulleys (but at the first noise I stop, get the cutter, mechanic gloves and limp the way home). And that's the only problem I see with the vortech setup, after 20k miles of FI.

Side note, belts hold longer if the tensor isn't used completely compress.
Ej the 975 with the 3.125 pulley, it slips just enough to not break, and that with the blue belt, last (more)... I don't dare to tell time but have been a couple of months since last belt change.

Hey bro,

Still using the V3. Sending my charger to Vortech this week.