So I'm getting ready to attack the rear coolant crossover pipe, front coolant Y-pipe and water pump pipe that connects below the supercharger. Car only has about 40k miles on it but I want to stay in front of the dreaded coolant catastrophe people talk about. So here's my question, since I will have the supercharger off the car, does it make sense to change the isolator and go solid?? I hear no rattles at this point but that doesn't mean that the factory isolator isn't beating the heck out of the shaft it sits on. I did it on my 2012 CTS-V but that one was rattling like crazy. Just curious what everyone's thoughts are and if so, do you recommend a brand for it?

Thanks

 

I think it's worth replacing the coupler while you're in there, and it's a great time to change the supercharger oil too.

Note that some folks have reported more rattles at idle with a solid coupler and some have opted for a new OEM coupler instead. In my vehicle, there's definitely a little bit of a rattle at idle with a solid coupler (a genuine Eaton part from SCOL) when I listen to it closely enough, but it goes away with revs and I can't hear it at all with the hood closed. YMMV, but at least a solid coupler won't be eating into the supercharger shaft over time!

 

So that's interesting. In my CTS-V it totally fixed the Supercharger rattle by going to a solid coupler, but you're saying in the F-Type it might create the rattle. How odd. I"m hoping to get some more feedback from people who have dealt with this so far. Interesting. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

I recently removed the supercharger on my 29,500 mile 2016 F-Type (3.0L) to replace the coolant pipes, heater manifold, water pump, and thermostat. The OEM supercharger coupler wasn't making any noise, but I decided to replace it with an Eaton solid coupler while the supercharger was off of the engine. I purchased the Eaton solid coupler from SCOL.

The shaft that runs through the supercharger snout had some minor scoring from the OEM coupler. All of the bearings rotated smoothly and none exhibited any excessive play. The old supercharger oil was light brown in color. The Eaton solid coupler was easy to install. The servicing of the supercharger went as expected.

What I didn't expect was the new rattling noise coming from the supercharger after I installed the solid coupler. The car runs fine, and the noise diminishes as the the RPMs climb above idle. However, it's more than I want to live with. So, I'll be pulling the supercharger off (and apart) next month to see if I can fix the rattle. I ordered a ZZP solid coupler and will see if it has a tighter (and quieter) fit than the Eaton solid coupler. I'll do my best to post an update when I can.

 

Thanks for your thoughts Waldo. Much appreciated. It's an odd turn of events that people are finding literally the opposite affect of the solid coupler on this car/supercharger than with the CTSVs. I'll be very curious what comes of your future attempt to make changes. Also, what's involved in changing the Supercharger oil? And was it really needed at such a low of a mileage?

 

Yes go to the solid coupler BUT use the proper OEM Eaton one! We have page after page of people installing after market ones but don't do it!
Here is the thread with a VERY good video from Eaton themselves describing the problems and failures of the after market solid couplers.
Eaton Solid Coupler Video

Again I want to thank GaiaXF-V8S for his in depth research on this.
Here is the REAL Eaton solid coupler - Yes there are tons of counterfeit couplers out there! Note these have a serial number and are traceable back to Eaton.
Eaton Solid Coupler
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Thanks for the videos, Waldo. That's exactly the noise people have reported. Mine is similar, but fortunately nowhere near that loud. Based on what I've read, it seems to be a matter of luck whether your supercharger has this issue with a solid coupler.

Folks have also seen this with the older supercharged Jags and the theory seems to be that the noise isn't really caused by play in the coupler itself, it's just supercharger gear rattle that the coupler enhances ("it is inherent of the solid coupler to accentuate the sound of any backlash in the gears through the blower housing"):

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...r-dont-240328/
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ads-up-176686/

What comes to the oil change, that's just another maintenance item that's easier to do when the supercharger is out. You can flip over the SC and easily drain all of the old oil. A lot of people have also reported that their supercharger was underfilled from the factory, so it's a good opportunity to ensure you have the correct amount of oil in there. Here's a helpful thread:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...-guide-241373/

 

That's exactly the part I purchased from SCOL and installed. It's possible I have bearing issues which only became apparent after I installed the Eaton solid coupler. Maybe I got a bad coupler from Eaton/SCOL. Who knows? I'll post a follow up once I've torn things apart again.

I changed the oil because it was easy to do with the supercharger out of the car. At less then 30,000 miles, it most likely didn't need it, but I as "in there" already. On the Eaton 1320, you can unbolt the black cover on the rear of the supercharger to completely drain all of the oil. It does make it a bit more difficult to capture and measure how much old oil was in the supercharger if you don't have a drain pan situated to capture all of the oil.

 

The aftermarket solid coupler I received as part of the Euro-AMP aluminum pipe kit last year is quiet. It eliminated the cold running noises we had, that many folks described.