Hey. I am working up to putting a supercharger on my Maxima after doing some more smaller bolt-on parts first. My question is...what is the life expectantcy of the vortech superchargers? Has anyone had one fail or any problems with them? Any info you have is appreciated. Thanks.

 

I assume with any supercharger installed by factory or after-market they can last to about 60K. I know at least on the eclipse w/ turbo can last to about 60K and thats no always riding hard. So kinda figure about 40-70K ?

 

Vortech claims the SC is good for something like 100k... Check their site...

 

I've had mine for over 2 years with a 3.33 pulley and no problems at all. I would reccomend running synthetic oil with a charger.

 

when you say the supercharger will last 40-70k, do u mean thats all the supercharger will last or is that all the longer your engine can take it? what mods other than the supercharger should be done before putting it on my car????

 

How many miles have you put on in that time?

SuDZ

 

I spoke to Vortech yesterday and one of the guys told me that they had superchargers with up to 200,000 miles come in for bearings and seals to get replaced. Thats what he said.

 

About 21k

 

I dont doubt it though. It might depend on how you drive it. Just like anything else if you beat on it everyday and try to max its limits it will wear down quicker.

SuDZ

 

only 40-70K miles??? - thats it??? =(

 

May be a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway. Once all the mods have been done to the car to make the supercharger part of it (i.e. moving and adding parts to accomodate it), you pretty much have to have one on there the rest of the car's life, right? Unless someone puts everything under the hood back to the condition before the supercharger was installed? When the supercharger finally dies (which hopefully they do last 200K), do any of the other components need to be replaced other than the blower itself? Let me know if I need to make my message clearer. I might have confused myself. Thanks

 

I only ask because I'm trying to figure out how durable the vortech's are...How hard do you usually run your car? Me personally...I drive mine normal (i.e. 65-70 on the interstate) without hard acceleration unless an opposing honda riceboy is asking for it next to me. And I use Mobil 1 synthetic oil and Mobil 1 filter right now, so that's covered. Where do you notice the supercharger really kick in? Can the boost on those be adjusted or the motor tuned after install to get the most out of the supercharger without sacrificing engine life?

 

I'm very hard on my car. I live very close to my job so the car is always making short trips (not good for a car) and I almost always rev it out into the boost range. You start to feel it pull at 3k-3500 but once your at 4k...wwwhhhoooooaaaa. It pulls HARD! I don't ever regret getting the charger, especially now that I just paid it off! As far as worring about removing it, if anything goes wrong with it it will be the bearings. In my experience with Vortechs, thats all I've ever seen and thats with high mieage and low maintanance. And if you ever were to have a bearing problem you can send the charger to vortech for repair. The charger doen't have to be perminant. You can return the car to stock but it will be just as much of a pain as it was to install. Hope this helps. If you do get it you won't regret it.

 

How much did installing the sc set you back ? Also, did you have to make exhaust mods. Or, was that included?

 

Not doubting that, but some people will be all praise to try to promote their products.

 

I installed it myself. The kit was missing some metric hardware which added some time to the project but it took me about eleven hrs. total. I did it over a weekend but that was with the use of a lift. If your semi-mechanicly inclined, have metric tools, jack and stands and a friend willing to help you can probably do it yourself but don't rush it. It may take you 3 to 4 days. Also, I have a V2 kit which had some pulley and fuel problems (very common with this kit). I'm not sure if stillen rectified them but if you need advice PM me.