Garyfisher

I recently purchased a used SC and have had some worries due to the nature of its origin....I havent put it on yet however I have heard from people other than the previous owner that this thing has around 50K miles on it and it fried the guys chambers in his engine...The SC looks in good shape but is there anything I should be looking out for here? Seems like he didnt run correct fuel mods. I didnt know this when I bought the charger but thats how it goes when you buy online Im thinking of doing the nose cone over and it seems like the boost actuator plastic holders broke in shipping (it was connected in the pictures I was sent)...can I just put some screws in place of these little plastic clips? I guess I went with the deal because I have NEVER read of anyone having problems with the SC itself rather than the SC and the engine as a whole so I figured I was pretty safe in buying a used sc. THanks in advance for anyone's input...

Darx

I don't own one or have any experience with one but if you have a doubt I wouldn't put it on without having a professional giving it the once over. Or maybe even sending it out to be rebuilt/certified by the original manufacturer. This wouldn't be TRD but the people that make it for them. I don't know the names of the original manufacturers but I'm sure you can find them easily enough online.

Garyfisher

Yeah Magnusson makes them...I wonder how much a rebuild would be...

Garyfisher

Also should I feel any residue sticking my fingers up inside the charger in the part that connects with the engine? The thing has supposedly sat for a while...how would anyone suggest cleaning this out?

SEAN_at_TLT

I bought a used SC a few years ago and had a similar dilema, I went ahead and installed it based on the fact that the person I bought it from said it had only 30k max. Once it was buttoned up it was fairly evident that the nose-drive bearing was shot. I ended up paying double labor (not bad since the shop I used was well priced). I was living in Santa Barbara at the time and since Magnuson is in Ventura (30 min away) I dropped it off for a complete rebuild. I think it cost only about $100 more for a complete rebuild @ ~$300 than to just get a nose-drive (w/core). It runs much quiter now. I wish I had done that in the first place. So yes, my sugestion is to get that bad boy serviced. Call Magnuson and ask for Tony, he runs the Toyota department. All said and done I still only have about $1,200 into this thing (including labor) and it's basically brand new!

Magnuson: 805-642-8833 (Tony)

MTL_4runner

There is a thread on here where one of the members replaced the bearing and seal in the nosedrive himself for quite a bit cheaper (this was done on a 1st gen supercharger so if you have a 2nd gen the parts may be different).

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...350#post303350

SEAN_at_TLT

I wonder how hard it would be to change the other mechanical parts in the SC that get addressed during a "full rebuild". It would be cool if Magnuson offered a DIY rebuild kit.

Or maybe someone could just figure out how...

rwmorrisonjr

First, is this a first (grey) or second (black) gen SC? I know that the 1st gens had issues with the nose drive bearings going bad due to a lack of support in the design (see Gadget's site for more info). The SC itself is a fairly simple device: a belt drives a spindle which drives a set of worm gears that drive the impellers which forces air into the manifold. At 50k miles, I would at least change the nose drive oil (available at any Pontiac/Buick dealer parts department) and see if its contaminated and if the nose drive moves more smoothly by hand prior to installing. If either exist, have the SC rebuilt by Mangusson before you install it.

As for the previous owner frying the cylinders in his engine, that could be related to many things: no fuel mods, wrong plugs, bad gas, other mods, etc. If you're worried about this, I would do the fuel and timing mods listed on Gadget's site using his kit or another combination to acheive the same results. The SC is a nice toy to have, but you do have to give it some friends to play with, that's all!

Hope this helps, good luck.