First failure due to supercharger...

[kylemorg]

Nothing major, luckly, but here's the story:

It was a beautiful day here in Pittsburgh yesterday, and I knew that the actuator on the bypass valve on the S/C was sticking a bit. I wasn't getting full boost under load. So I got a can of graphite lubricant and freed up the bypass valve actuator. I was then getting full boost.

I took the car out for a spin -- there's a very steep, straight hill near my house that's excellent for doing fast 1st and 2nd gear runs to redline. First gear pulled fine (except for the piggyback tune still being sucky) all the way to redline. Second gear pulled great up to 60 mph, and then I heard a noise from under the hood and lost boost. At the top of the hill at the stop sign, I stopped and when I started again, I heard screeching from under the hood.

I pulled off at a park enterance and popped the hood. The crank / alternator / water pump / supercharger belt was loose, but I didn't immediately see why. I drove home ~1 mile carefully with all the electrical stuff off and popped the hood again. It turns out that the top bolt that goes through the belt tension adjustment unit, through the bracket and into the alternator housing snapped off!

The remaining threaded part of the bolt is still in the alternator housing, and I'll have to put the car up on ramps, pull the lower alternator bolt, lower the alternator, then get the threaded part of the top bolt out. Once I put it back together again and replace the top bolt, everything will be fine.

It sucked, since it was such a nice day and I'd gotten full boost again. I'd only had it out for about 10 minutes after fixing the boost actuator before the bolt snapped. :( I was looking forward to driving around a bit in the nice weather.

Today it's raining like crazy, so it'll probably be a couple of days before I get it fixed. At least it was nothing expensive.

[Cypher]

Ouch man, that sucks. At least it was nothing major. Try and get a grade 8 bolt or something stronger just in case.

[Munky]

Damn man. A car is only as strong as the bolts holding it together.

[kylemorg]

^ It's the weakest link phenomenon -- the bolt was the weakest link in the belt system. If / when I put a higher grade bolt in there, something else might fail nex time due to the belt tension necessary to drive the S/C...

I was worried that I'd trashed the gears in the S/C drive, since I'm running a smaller pulley and was running under load at ~6250 RPM, but luckily the S/C gearing seems fine.

Boy, It was embarassing to drive home with screaching belts!

[slow 2K2GT]

I feel your pain buddy, I hate it when anything goes wrong with my car...let alone is something is wrong and other people see or hear it. I was able to get my car out today in the nice weather and give'er a rip around, that was nice but I do worry with all the cold weather that at 17psi im going to run lean and KABOOM!

I have found a whole lot of weakest links in my car lately, the biggest being the trans. Good luck with your kit, enjoy it when and where you can!

[Ugzz]

i don't know crap about technical stuff, but i can understand loose belts and bolts snapping heh. That blows, but as you said, it could have been worse and a lot more $. so thats a +

[NY2002ElantraGT]

COULD HAVE BEEN ALOT WORSE! good find

[only1db]

haha that happened to me up on the highway with no SC! i had to get towed back to my own dealership...

[KeWLKaT]

err derek if your accessories give out you still have a lot of time before the battery dies...

this means that it broke and you never knew, or you were too big of a pussy to drive it back with no PS, hahaha

[Pete03GLS]

lmao.

[only1db]

um...no i was over heating because the belt came off, and i had no alt.

but it was that bolt that snapped...i have since replaced it with a different bolt and a nut on the other side of the alt....i'm not actually using the tensioner bolt anymore.

[kylemorg]

^ That's good to know. I think the threads might be messed up in the aluminum alternator bolt hole. I was thinking of putting a bolt through with a nut on the other side of the alternator but I wasn't sure it would clear everything.

Thanks for the tip!

[KeWLKaT]

I broke my alternator casting on that part, I just use a bolt and nut.

[bmxdad]

... and I wouldn't change over to a grade 8 bolt, unless there is already one there.

I'd rather a bolt fail then a casting bust or some threads pull out ... the standard grade 5 bolt with some blue(medium) thread lock should be more then enough.

[only1db]

^ there is absolutely no need for thread lock...and i believe it is a grade 8 bolt to begin with.

[bmxdad]

If you can't use a lock washer there is ... and not all bolts on the engine are grade 8 ... theres no need.

If it has the 6 lines pointing towards the center its a grade 8, otherwise its a grade 5.

[kylemorg]

I lost the head of the bolt -- that's fell off with the part of the shaft, so I can't see what it was. :(

Could someone look at their bolt head that goes through the adjustment block and into the top screw hole in the alternator casting and let me know?

[larryinkc]

I lost the head of the bolt -- that's fell off with the part of the shaft, so I can't see what it was. :(

Could someone look at their bolt head that goes through the adjustment block and into the top screw hole in the alternator casting and let me know?

05 BetaII Tib, definitely not a grade 8, just a plain head bolt.

[kylemorg]

^Thanks Larry.

I jury-rigged it last night and everything's working for now. Man, I didn't realize how much boost I was missing when the S/C bypass actuator was sticking!

[slow 2K2GT]

How much boost are you making now that everything is up and spinning proprely?

[kylemorg]

^ Interesting question. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to hook the 1/8" tubing into the rubber boost line running to the "Turbo module". I don't want to have to drill and another hole in the boost side of the manifold.

From all accounts, I should be getting ~9 psi.

[Cypher]

Do you plan to dyno? Just to see numbers.

[KeWLKaT]

^ Interesting question. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to hook the 1/8" tubing into the rubber boost line running to the "Turbo module". I don't want to have to drill and another hole in the boost side of the manifold.

From all accounts, I should be getting ~9 psi.

Just make a Tee and use the pressure type fittings used in plumbing.

[kylemorg]

^ The problem is clearance. The port for the boost-side of the S/C manifold is on the bottom of the S/C unit and above the intake-to-cylinder head air tubes. I'll probably have to take the barbed fitting out, put in a 90° MPT to MPT angle, then a FPT Tee, then another MPT to barbed fitting for the turbo MAP on one side and an MPT to compression fitting for the 1/4" line to the gauge. It's a real ***** to get to the boost-side port.

That will wait until summer or at least until the weather is nicer this spring sometime.

Cypher -- I doubt I will dyno it, unless I have a shop do the final tune on the SMT-6. I am planning on taking it to a 1/4 mile strip when I'm done tuning and have the new 6 puck ACT clutch installed. That will probably be early summer.

[KeWLKaT]

You should invest in a vacuum hub

http://robearracing.com/prod_images_large/aa47.jpg

[kylemorg]

^hmm... very interesting idea. I'll check that out!

[KeWLKaT]

I had one in my setup, mahonroy makes some, costs about 30$ or so from my memory. It makes the setup so much cleaner IMO.

[Mahonroy]

Yeah still make then, here ya go:
http://www.jattus.com/Performance/vac2_6.jpg

Installed on the firewall:
http://www.jattus.com/Performance/elantra_img4.jpg