Well I just put 160,000km on the blower. So I remember hearing somewhere that this was the service interval, for theunit. So I bought the Ceramic bearing rebuild kit ($200) from some duche bag online store, and started to take thesnout off the blower. Good news, I didn't have the remove the blower to get the snout off. Just the adapter plate and jackshaft. You can get to all 8 bolts for the snout to come off with the blower still on the car. Once the blower was off, it was simple, except for one thing. I was a wrong bearing!!! a wrong $80 bearing at that! But luck was still on my side. On the blower, one bearing felt shot, and one seamed new! Well the one ceramic bearing in the kit that was correct, corresponded to the worn out bearing on my blower, so I installed that one, with the old std. bearing that still felt new. After those went back in, and the new seal got pressed in (Rubber lip seal not Teflon like what came off the car) the snout felt smooth as silk, and slid back on the blower. Bolted it up, topped it with fresh oil, and done. about 4 hours work. I'm Still pissed about that wrong bearing though.
I wouldn't waste your money like I did, for the ceramic bearings. Even if they both fit. Seams like standard bearings will live long enough in the blower. I would try and get Teflon seal some place though, and use that. Less drag, and longer life. The viton seal I got didn't even have flutes. That makes no sense because the blower only turns one way, so it should have them.
If your not boosting correctly, it's not the blower bearings. They would just make noise, and after that they'd freeze, making you break a belt. And it's defenatly not the seal. Look at your belts to be the issue. I suggest everyone change their oil in the blower though. Mine looked like coked up motor oil! It was supposed to be clear. I guess the plastic coupler does this to the oil.
Just picked up the teflon seal that came stock with the blower. It's the stock 3800 seal supplied by felpro. much better seal, and less friction (less drag) due to the teflon sealing lip. This is going in tonight.
Where I put the extra idler pulley; fixed a minor drop in boost at higher rpms and as Paluce can attest to, it does seem to completely resolve belt slippage issues.
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