86CamaroDan

So here i am 2 years into ownership of my V3 blower and the impeller seal is leaking again. First year it was under warranty, now its out of warranty. Im gonna try and do the impeller seal myself, but it seems they "balance" them at vortech when they do the rebuild. Has anyone done the impeller seal themselves and is balancing them really needed? I intend on marking the shaft and the impeller with a sharpie and taking the impeller off with a bit of heat like 928 motorsports says to do when installing their upgraded impeller, but they mention nothing about the balance.
https://928motorsports.com/installpd...%20Vortech.pdf

rfoster23g

Hey Dan,
I have a Paxton novi 1200 (same thing as a v2 from what I have researched) installed on my car which I rebuilt about 6000 miles ago. So far everything seems fine and mine should be very similar to yours. I would say it can’t hurt to mark the impeller but I didn’t when I put mine back together. When I inspected the impeller there where marks where they ground away material to I assume balance it. I would think it does not matter as the impeller itself should be balanced by itself not the shaft and impeller balanced together. Also when rebuilt mine I found a very in-depth pdf about doing so I am sure it is on my computer I can search for it if you want it. The rebuild guide is for a Vortech v1 and v2 but I believe the only major difference is the v3 being a sealed design and the v1 & v2 needing a external oil supply and drain. Hope that helps!

86CamaroDan

Thanks, thats good to know. I had a sneaky suspicion the impeller was neutral balanced, couldnt see them doing it any other way.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

What happens when it's leaking?

I never use heat when removing the impeller, I use a impact hammer with a pointed bit on very low speed. Vibrate the shaft and the impeller almost shoots off.

-- Joe

86CamaroDan

I get oil in the discharge pipe. This time, it was leaking so bad, i took the charge pipe off, ran it and got a steady stream of oil out of the pipe.

86CamaroDan

Impeller came right off, Wondering if this seal is done from the inside of the case though.
Got the mini snap ring off and this puppy doesnt wanna budge

rfoster23g

Here is the link to the guide I used it is for a v1 with straight cut gears but it might help abit. http://www.starrland.com/Supercharge...%202-22-08.pdf I think both seals come out the case from the outside but honestly I can’t remember. What I can remember is they can be very stubborn I don’t think I could have gotten mine out without damaging anything without disassembling the entire supercharger.

86CamaroDan

Thats actually a huge help. I found the whole thread with that on it but the link had expired.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Is this an issue with the self contained units?? I've been using Vortech since the late 90s and never had one leak, but I've never had a self contained.

-- Joe

86CamaroDan

No idea. Been doing some reading and they have a "mechanical type" seal in there originally. No idea what the hell that is, but once the come back under warranty they get the "improved carbon type" seal which pushes up against the spacer bellow the impeller which is what i have now. It was rebuilt in january, car wasnt registered untill late may, and here it is as of last night. Didnt feel comfortable prying on the seal from the front, so i took it apart and ofcourse broke one of the bearings in the process(looks like the outer race is pressed into the case and the inner is pressed onto the shaft) so it looks like im doing atleast 2 new high speed bearings with the impeller seal. The fact they have a second type of seal to install when they come back under warranty says something on its own. Ill be installing a double lip type PTFE style seal when it goes back together. Very fustrated at this point. Might go push it into my fathers garage for a few months.

rfoster23g

Dang man I should have warned you about those high speed bearings really though I am not sure how avoidable scattering those bearings are. Same thing happened to me ball bearings flew everywhere. I don't believe you broke them though they just aren't captured on one side. If you the ball bearing only came from one bearing I would inspect all of them and put it back in(if you can find all of them). Those things are expensive i paid about a $130 for a set of new old stock on ebay. If you do end up needing to replace them get these two tool sets from harbor freight they will save your life. https://www.harborfreight.com/bearin...set-62593.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/slide-...-pc-62601.html

86CamaroDan

I found every roller bearing except one. I wouldnt trust it anyway to be honest. Superchargerebuilds.com sells a whole bearing kit w/ ABEC7 bearings, high and low side along with the seals (lol) for 225. Gonna see if he can swap the impeller seal for a case seal seeing it looks like that was starting to weep too. When you installed your bearings did you press them into the case, then the shaft into the bearings? I probably should have checked before i took it all apart, but is there a end play spec for the impeller or should it be 0? Wonder what the ".013" is that was written on the inside of the compressor housing.

rfoster23g

Actually I put both bearings on the impeller shaft before putting them back in the case since the case is aluminum( liable to break or damage the case doing it the other way). what I did is freeze the impeller shaft and heat up the bearings and they slid right on no problem( same with the input shaft). Then I tapped it into one side of the case using a rubber mallet to fully seat one side. I then lined up the bearings and lightly tapped the housing using a wood block to seat the bearings (input shaft bearing will seat before the impeller shaft so check often you are in the right place). Then I slowly tightened the two sides together while lightly tapping the case all over. You should never feel too much resistance on the Allen heads so once one gets tight move on and remember the mallet is your friend. Just be mindful and you will get it back together just fine. Also the impeller does have a end play spec not sure what it is but I know they sell shims to get it closer to the housing. Mine had a few shims behind it when I took it apart but if there wasn't a problem before I would not mess with it just put the factory shims back where they were. Also you can put some kind of grease where the bearings sit in the supercharger case to help them go in(not to much just a light coat).

86CamaroDan

Intresting. I didnt think you could slide the impeller shaft in past the input shaft. Or did you install the impeller shaft first.

86CamaroDan

Hey rfoster23g, How did you get the input shaft out of the case/pressed in bearing? Did you install a piece of threaded rod into the shaft itself and then use a slide hammer to free it? Im about to restart the rebuild process but im thinking thats the only good way to get it out without prying on the case. Also, when i install the new bearings, should they hit a point where they bottom out or should i mark their positions. Or does it not matter and thats what the spring washers are for.

86CamaroDan