In the course of working to install a supercharger reduction pulley on my 2004 MCS this weekend (44K miles), I found evidence of a leak in the supercharger area. Here are some pics - while some of this may be from the breather tube, it seems unlikely that it would all be from this source - especially considering the amount of oily residue on back of the water pump (I did begin wiping off some residue before realizing how large the area was). Thanks in advance for any insight / recommendations..

 

After more research and carefully looking at the car, appears there's oil around the seal where the water pumps fits to the supercharger. Suspect this may be due to oil blow by on the water pump side of the supercharger - any thoughts?

 

Bump, no replies yet - has anyone seen this type of leak before? Based upon other supercharger threads, appears as though it may be evidence of oil blow-out on the water pump side of the supercharger. Note, my car only has 44K miles without a pulley when this was identified (no drivetrain mods other than intake and exhaust).

 

if you're still under warranty. Could be the outer seal on the SC, in which case your water pump drive may be going south...

Matt

 

Will be speaking to the dealer shortly; unfortunately, the car just went out of warranty at the end of October. At that time, I took the car in for a final check before the warranty expired, but wasn't familiar w/ the supercharger issues experienced by other owners to know to specifically look for such a leak (I checked beneath the car for leaks, but didn't see this as it sits much higher on the motor). However, as there have only been 700 miles placed on the car since that visit, I believe it's evident that the issue was present at or before the time of the October visit. We'll see how the discussion goes.

Should I not be successful in getting dealership support on the issue, is the outer supercharger seal replaceable (if the gears are not already damaged)?

 

There are three companies that do Eaton rebuilds that I know of. There's Endyn, Stegemeier (and I always spell that one wrong) and another that is some three letter acronym. Do some searching and you'll find the info here.

Matt

 

Is there supercharger oil in the unit? And can it be replaced by the owner and how? I know when I had my 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, that we could and did change the supercharger oil as regular maintenance.

 

Is there supercharger oil in the unit? And can it be replaced by the owner and how? I know when I had my 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, that we could and did change the supercharger oil as regular maintenance.

 

There are 2 fill locations on the supercharger - one on the pulley end, another on the water pump side. An apparent increasingly common failure is the loss of lubricant on the water pump gear drive side (supercharger looses oil, drive gears are eventually destroyed due to lack of lubrication). According to BMW, the oil is "lifetime"; however, in order to access the fills, much of the front of the car must be removed for the water pump side (pulley side is fairly readily accessible). In my case, it appears that most or all of the oil pump side oil may have been lost due to failed gasket/seal (until the supercharger itself is pulled, it's unclear if the gears may be damaged as I've not heard the telltale supercharger clatter at this time).

 

Well thats convenient for BMW, but as a lot of us found out with the Pontiac GTP, the oil was low or sometimes dirty as could be. Sucks that we cant change the oil in these things without a major ripping apart of the car. We should have access to all fluid changes in these cars, not to mention telling us what proper oil to add. I know GM at least provided the correct fluid and easy access to the fill location.

 

Absolutely agree with your concerns. As for oil type, it's my understanding that the GM supercharger oil is suitable for the MCS supercharger application (based upon discussion w/ knowledgeable MINI tech in this forum as well as other postings).

 

You can find the supercharger oil here.

Also, PSE superchargers can rebuild your supercharger.

Good luck!
ken

 

I was wondering what the final results were regarding your oil leak at the s/c? I saw the thread and have a similar issue but there seems to be no final word on where it was coming from. The back of my s/c where it connects to the air duct is wet and oil can be traced all the way down the front of the oil pan. The water pump is not making any noise. However, I am not sure it is the lube from the s/c. It seems to be a much greater quantity then 2 ounces. I was wondering if you could update the thread with your results so that I can order the parts prior to tearing it down. Thanks

Anyone else have a similar leak that is causing the front of the block to be wet? My cooper is a factory 02 with 100,000 miles.

 

There may be only a leak from the SC intake duct gasket due to oil saturated crank case vapors, but this a good opportunity to service the supercharger anyway. Take a look at post #71 here https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t=74674&page=3 to get an idea of what to expect. You will need an O-ring for the water pump to block tube, supercharger intake duct gasket, 2 in OD band/hose clamp for the BPV hose section, 2 X 4oz bottles of supercharger oil, 1 gallon 50/50 mix coolant, and 1qrt Acetone to flush the intercooler internally (if you’ve not done that in the vehicle’s service life). This is optional, but if the IC bellows have not been replaced, 100k is a good time to do that also. Be sure to plug the dipstick hole before removing the water pump from the block.

 

Thanks for the reply and info. I finally got around to tearing it down this weekend. The water pump side of the SC was low in fluid. However, there was some left in (maybe ½ an ounce) and nothing appeared to be damaged. I will send it off to get rebuilt b/c of the high mileage on it. The drive side had more fluid (close to the fill level) but the fluid was darker in color. Anyway, my question is that I am still not convinced that the fluid on the block is the SC lube. Has anyone seen anything similar? See pic. Any ideas or comments?

 

The supercharger fluid is used both in the nose gear section as well as the rear water pump drive gears.

Hope this helps.

Ken