Supercharger dies

[eXcon]

Hey guys, 2003 VY Commodore Exec, 3.8 ltr Supercharged buick.

Well I just took it for a run and got the supercharger to cut in at approx 4000 rpm, I'd prefer if it cut in a little earlier, but anyhow, it only cuts in for like a second, and then dies almost instantly.

Can anyone shed some light on this please?

Any info is welcome and thanks in advance, cheers.

[nicko]

what supercharger is it? factory?

[eXcon]

hey thanks for the quick reply, its driving me nuts yes, the supercharger is factory lol, any ideas on what would cause this?

[nicko]

You could have a vacume leak. Check all holes and pipes that lead into and off of the supercharger. With the motor running check the same pipes again and listen for any escaping air etc. Rev the motor to see if this forces air out of a hole/split in a pipe. Have you checked your error codes yet?

[daron]

im cvonfused because superchargers dont cut in when at 4000 revs they are on al the time
how do you knwo its the charger cutting in and out
what stops how do you know
have you cheched to see if it hasnt fallen off heheheh

[eurekamad94]

same here ^^^

[nicko]

eXcon - i think your best option will be to take your VY down to a mechanic or to holden to get them to have a look at your problem. What state are you in?

[eXcon]

Hmm, the hoses sound fine, there don't appear to be any codes in the system, the whole motor does sound a bit airy tho, I reved the car in park but the supercharger didnt seem to kick in at all .. not sure what's on here, a bit lost, man thanks a lot for the replies it really is a help, cheers.

Edit: Oh, the superchargers are operating at all times ? Hmmm, I wonder why the car dies back at approx 5 thou then...

[nicko]

yes a supercharger is run off the main drive belt on your motor and as a result it is always supplying the car with boost. have you done any mods to the car or has this problem suddenly appeared? did any major event trigger the loss of power or did you just turn it on one day and it was like it is now?

[eXcon]

eXcon - i think your best option will be to take your VY down to a mechanic or to holden to get them to have a look at your problem. What state are you in?

Hey nicko, state of Queensland, Gold Coast precisely, I'll take it for another spin soon, see if it's not the transmission or something ... last thing i need is more troubles with this car, bought it about a month ago and all was beautiful, recently lost two out of three brakelights (not the spoiler one), and the trac off stays on and cant get it working again, also the cruise control which worked beatifully is now affected by the trac off I believe, thanks for the help fellas, your help is appreciated, believe me

[nicko]

maybe make a post in the qld section asking about a decent mechanic in your area, however most mechanics will do a great job. If you have lost traction control and cruise then you could have an electrical problem. Have you checked the trac and cruise fuses?

[eXcon]

yup checked the fuses, I have a feeling its the brake switch, as I can regain cruise and trac if I start the car with the brake on, but as soon as I lift the foot she's back to trac off again, it's all a bit confusing really :

may take the car into holden for its 150thou km check soon, last owner skipped the 135thou check and the reminder bugged me so hard, $350 for the 135k service, $150 for the 150k check, so I reset the reminder

in 600 kays noone will know the difference, and I'll save $200 and get the car serviced by the manufacturer, hopefully that will bring it up to scratch, cheers!

[sixshooter]

yes a supercharger is run off the main drive belt on your motor and as a result it is always supplying the car with boost. have you done any mods to the car or has this problem suddenly appeared? did any major event trigger the loss of power or did you just turn it on one day and it was like it is now?

Yeah they are always on but NOT always boosting because they have a bypass valve which causes the intake air to bypass the blower vanes at low revs to improve economy when cruising.

@eXcon

I take it you have the plastic cover removed and can see all the hoses and crap hanging off the blower ?

I think you maybe have one of a few faults
1. Boost leaks from a blown/damaged inlet gasket.
2. Vacuum leaks causing the by-pass valve to not operate effectively.
3. Temp sender or boost solenoid malfunction causing the boost vacuum circuit to be shut off.

First check the bypass valve actuator isn't sticking and that it's closing when you give the accelerator linkage a quick yank. (The little black round thingy with a linkage at the bottom on the passenger side of blower) It should snap shut quick when you rev the engine hard.
If there's an air leak in the hoses somewhere there you may not be closing off the boost by-pass valve when boosting.

On the passenger side head at the rear there is a solenoid which controls the by-pass valve vacuum signal... check all hoses are connected to it.

If you have gasket leaks they can be tricky to trace down as they may be leaking internally.

Join up to l67torque. com you can find heaps of info and help there if this doesn't help.

Cheers,
Mike

[eXcon]

K took it for a burn up the highway, not only can I feel but I can hear the blower chop in... sa-weeet! I guess I must've panicked, my guess is that the transmission slipped up a gear or something .. it seems like it's working just fine, although I can't be sure until I get it the 150,000 km service in a few weeks. Also, I'm pretty certain that the brake light problem is the brake switch at the top of the pedal under the dash, however the spoiler light is activated when I pedal the brake, just the other two main lights aren't activating, the globes and fuse are all fine so not sure about that one, I just hope it's not the abs module! I want to thank all of the people who posted help when I needed it, I appreciate all of your comments, I thank you all.

[eXcon]

Got the switch! Sunday morning, Cheapa Auto Spares Molendinar (Gold Coast), $18.50, that's $10 bucks over priced... my theory is that replacing the switch will re-enable the traction control and cruise control, aswell as fix the rear body braking lights, and if my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 mph, you're gonna see some serious ****!

I'll post back soon, then I'll break it down properly for future sufferers of these symptoms. Stay tuned.

[eXcon]

Update, installing the new switch fixed the cruise control and traction control, but the darn brake lights are still limited to the spoiler

Wow this is rough, will update soon.

[Doctor Bob]

replace the globes & check the wiring, if the spoiler light is working the switch side is ok...

[eXcon]

k checked the switch which as I said earlier fixed cruise and trac, gave the drivers side taily a tap and sure enough, bang, she came on , checked the globe that I didnt check before and sure enough, blown out. Grabbed a new one for 2 bucks at cheapa auto spares in oxenford, sunday arv just after midday, gotta love that, seems the connection is a little perhaps rusted or needs some loosening, but for the most part the car is up, running and fully functional, just the way I like it. Thanks for all the comments, I'm gonna write up a guide for this even though its covered loosley throughout the forums.

Cheers! It's a load off.

[andyman]

I wonder why the car dies back at approx 5 thou then...

argh... cause your nearly on the rev limiter

[VYClubby]

Maybe the faulty brake light switch will fix the supercharger too! Seeing as it fixed the cruise control, and traction control! I never knew that little switch was so critical to how a car runs!

[eXcon]

lol update, too the car to a mate who found a leaky hose at the rear of the supercharger, car now runs better than when I bought it...ROFL.

I'll put that guide up in the Tute section asap.

[Flat_White]

*offtopic* but how do you check error codes in a VY?

[taztassio]

execs were never factory supercharged? by the pic it looks like a vy ss or vy s with ss lights....