Supercharged engine life

[427435]

I would have like to have had a supercharger/turbocharger yesterday. A big, black Mercedes passed me on a 4-lane---it had a "12" on lower front fender, so I didn't play.

It got me to thinking, however. I'm not into drag racing but would love the added power (occasionally) that a supercharger (of what ever type) would give. The bulk of the car's use is commuting (135 miles a day). Now the question:

Those of you with superchargers, how many miles have you driven and what drivetrain problems (if any) have you had?

Thanks,

[jstevens]

Do a search for fear of starting a supercharger war.

You could also spray it with Nos.

[bigslim]

I have put about 10,000 trouble free miles on mine since adding the supercharger. I know there are some here that have put 40,000-50,000 on theirs.

[jdando]

3000 trouble free miles so far.

[RF Overlord]

Almost 9,000 miles...all trouble-free.

[merc6]

what oil type and weight are you supercharged guys running?

[CBT]

This is a great question, I'm sure he doesn't mean to start any s-charger wars.:hijack: Now if I could hi-jack this thread, what's the highest milage a Marauder had on it when deciding to go super duper powered? I just topped 36,000 miles, is that too high milage to throw on a blower?

[RF Overlord]

what oil type and weight are you supercharged guys running?Mobil 1 5W-30.



I just topped 36,000 miles, is that too high milage to throw on a blower?Not at all...the Blackbird had 34,xxx when we installed Trilogy #61.

[merc6]

I didn't mean to start anything just fugured oil was part of vital engine life requirements ;)

[G-Man]

I drive mine about 120 miles a day, and have no problems with mine. Keep in mind that the supercharger only effects the motor when your into boost.

[Joe Walsh]

I drive mine about 120 miles a day, and have no problems with mine. Keep in mind that the supercharger only effects the motor when your into boost.

Ya, But at what speed???...heh heh heh...:P

You can run a 'blue light special' to get to work....:D

[G-Man]

Well, lets see. I only use boost to accelerate, pass, or push the atmospheric wall of my MM:D .

Other than that, I can set the cruise at speeds up to 80 - 85 and not use any boost at all. Not that I ever drive that fast.

[Joe Walsh]

Well, lets see. I only use boost to accelerate, pass, or push the atmospheric wall of my MM:D .

Other than that, I can set the cruise at speeds up to 80 - 85 and not use any boost at all. Not that I ever drive that fast.

errrrr.....ahem.....NO! That wouldn't be prudent!:rolleyes:

[HwyCruiser]

Installed at 35,0xx miles - just couldn't wait that extra month before the bumper-to-bumper expired. Now sitting at 40,8xx. Not many miles since winter set in though. I still use the same Motorcraft 5W20 synthetic blend I've always used at 3,000 mile intervals.

After nearly 6,000 miles, a dozen dyno pulls, two-dozen trips down the 1/4 mile, and generally having a ball with her since the install in May of last year, I'd say the stock engine and tranny has held up pretty good.

Since finding out what the base FIT Procharger kit is capable of, I've dropped the boost a bit with a bigger blower pulley and will be relocating the IC behind the grill - putting her in a milder street configuration. Hopefully I'll be able to stretch out the longevity of the powertrain while I gather my thoughts and cash for upgrades over the next year.

[MarauderMark]

I hate threads like this.:( :D

[CBT]

Interesting, interesting. I think the "I want to keep this rare car stock" phase is starting to wear thin, but wasn't sure if 36 thou was too many miles. Thanks for the inputs folks.:)

[G-Man]

errrrr.....ahem.....NO! That wouldn't be prudent!:rolleyes:

That's right... you can't prove that I was running 170. I don't remember seeing you. Come to think of it, most things were blurry :rolleyes: Yeah... Yeah... that's the way it happened.

[merc6]

If denial was a river, you would be drowning about right now ;)

[G-Man]

If denial was a river, you would be drowning about right now ;)

Yeah, you're right. I never could lie. Hazards of the job, I guess.:o

[SergntMac]

IMHO, with a conservative tune, I wouldn't expect supercharging to shorten engine/tranny life much at all. I would expect well over 100K miles before any problems surfaced.

The problem we share, is keeping it conservative. The stock Marauder engine and tranny are very durable, supercharging (in any style or by any means/method) that adds 100 RWHP and 100 RWTQ, should not threaten longevity. But, once you taste 100/100, you'll want more, and this is where problems begin.

I've added 200 RWHP and 175 RWTQ via supercharging. I had tranny problems first, but IMHO, that problem would have occured anyway (as it did to many N/A Marauders), I just supercharged it's arrival. Likewise, this kind of power on a stock engine would also hasten the wear and tear, so, I built my engine to endure my search for more power. I've completed overhauling my rear end with stronger internals (Aburn Pro diff, Moser axles, 31 spline) and I'm not expecting any problems from here on out.

Super/Turbo charging alone, is not a severe strain on stock systems, tuning to peak thresholds is where the problems occur, IMHO.

[427435]

Thanks for the insights. The car is currently a leased company car that I can buy next summer when it hits 75,000 miles. Those 75,000 miles were easy highway miles with good maintenance and no real abuse. Just might have to consider it (and no, I'm not going to ask the best one and start a war :).

[DEFYANT]

(and no, I'm not going to ask the best one and start a war :).

Thats good, cuz we all know the right answer to that one.

I have just over 10K miles S/C'd, no troubles.

[gpfarrell]

Sarge makes a good point... I think the discipline it takes to stick with a mild tune is the difference between 5-figure and 6-figure odometer readings.

Lots of cars come from the factory supercharged... you might sniff around some web sites related to those cars for some mileage ideas... with more production numbers and older cars, I think you'll see higher mileage than anybody here has had a chance to hit yet.

Mercedes, Pontiac, Buick, T-birds, Toyota MR2s, etc could all have something for you.

Personally, I think most of the Marauder set-ups would last a long time. Like good BMW mods, they seem to be designed to enhance the car, not corrupt it. Many "ricer" mods, and a few years back, 5.0 Mustang mods, were a "no holds barred" quest for the biggest hp number you could advertise... that's a short fuse!

My odometer hit 33,000 this week... I'm getting close!

[Mike Poore]

errrrr.....ahem.....NO! That wouldn't be prudent!:rolleyes:

Hey Joe! He drives the wrong way on I-270, I've seen him. Top speed morning and evening is more like 40mph, stop & go ...even if he is hogging the HOV lane. :rofl:

[G-Man]

Hey Joe! He drives the wrong way on I-270, I've seen him. Top speed morning and evening is more like 40mph, stop & go ...even if he is hogging the HOV lane. :rofl:

That's a 10-4. I think that HOV stands for Halt Official Vehicles.

[Cheeseheadbob]

I had 54,000 miles on mine when I had Trilogy #103 put on. I also have one of the oldest MM around and the car just screams!!!
This is a great question, I'm sure he doesn't mean to start any s-charger wars.:hijack: Now if I could hi-jack this thread, what's the highest milage a Marauder had on it when deciding to go super duper powered? I just topped 36,000 miles, is that too high milage to throw on a blower?

[Marauder386]

RoadPig 1 will have over 59k for miles on it when it goes to DR's this week for a VorTech air/water system. Would have been last week but I got knocked down by that dreaded stomach flu/virus thing .... RoadPig 2 is going Trilogy by self install after RP 1 gets back into my hands....

:coolman:

PS: RoadPig 3 will not see the outside world until 2015 at the earliest and will be all stock configuration. Period amen.

[snowbird]

IMHO, with a conservative tune, I wouldn't expect supercharging to shorten engine/tranny life much at all. I would expect well over 100K miles before any problems surfaced.

The problem we share, is keeping it conservative. The stock Marauder engine and tranny are very durable, supercharging (in any style or by any means/method) that adds 100 RWHP and 100 RWTQ, should not threaten longevity. But, once you taste 100/100, you'll want more, and this is where problems begin.

I've added 200 RWHP and 175 RWTQ via supercharging. I had tranny problems first, but IMHO, that problem would have occured anyway (as it did to many N/A Marauders), I just supercharged it's arrival. Likewise, this kind of power on a stock engine would also hasten the wear and tear, so, I built my engine to endure my search for more power. I've completed overhauling my rear end with stronger internals (Aburn Pro diff, Moser axles, 31 spline) and I'm not expecting any problems from here on out.

Super/Turbo charging alone, is not a severe strain on stock systems, tuning to peak thresholds is where the problems occur, IMHO.
I fully agree with this. So far, i have only 7000 miles supercharged but took some effort to detune the beast a bit in quest of longer longevity. If you stay in single digit boost and have a safe tune, the outcome should be good. The discipline is hard to maintain though ...

[RF Overlord]

The discipline is hard to maintain though ...Especially if you're an animal like Dave (MI2QWK4U), making obscene amounts of power on a stock-bottomed motor. :eek: ;) OTOH, if you're like me...I'll be honest here: I'm actually afraid of my car...it has WAY more power than I feel comfortable using on the street, so I'm very happy with stock boost. I suppose if I was a drag-aholic I'd be running around like Tim Taylor shouting "MORE POWER!"...

[stevengerard]

I put mine on with only 5k and presently have almosty 25k - no problems and I beat it like a rented mule. I did have a lose connection on my waterpump the other day but everything looks a-ok.