Anyone out there with STR experience ever had to replace a supercharger?

My STR just went into the shop today for an oil change and while it was in I had them listen to a clicking sound coming from the engine compartment. The technician seems to think the supercharger is where the sound is originating from. The prognosis is that I will most likely be needing a brand new one. The car only has 54K miles on it.

What are some possible reasons for clicking/rattling/ticking noises that would come from a supercharger? And if I do need a new one...any idea on how much something like that would cost from start to finish?

Also apparently I need a new excess coolant tank...the existing one has sprung a leak and could jeopardize the car's ability to maintain proper operating temperature....about how much should that job cost?

Any help / suggestions is of course much appreciated!

Thanks!

-Regretful STR owner

 

The earlier models had trouble with coolant expansion tanks but I thought they were fixed before your year. I'm not sure, so I hope someone who knows will say. You do need it working right and it could be a disaster to lose cooling.

Anything can fail but the SC... would be rare I think. Are these Jaguar experts? I would get an expert diagnosis if not. Just a thought but the engine bay's quite full so were they really sure where the sound is coming from?

By way of example, tensioners on many cars can make a clicking sound even when not at risk of a bad failure (very annoying so you'd fix it anyway I think and besides why risk it). A whole lot cheaper.

An STR is a seriously complex car. As with anything similar, don't trust a non-expert. (The challenge is finding an expert! Sadly a Jag dealer may be expert at sales but not necessarily expert at fault diagnosis and fix. You can say the same about Audi, BMW, MB, etc of course.)

 

Oh - don't be regretful (yet!) , the STR is a fantastic car.

If you can, have someone listen to the clicking as you gently rev the car (in Park). Does it change in frequency or any other way?

Cmon guys - chime in with ideas....

 

I take it to a shop that is Jaguar certified and specializes in Jags, Rovers, and exotics. I avoid the Jaguar dealer like the plague...they are crooked, incompetent, and very rude. That would be Monte Shelton Jaguar of Portland, Oregon...never go there.

When the engine revs in park the frequency of the clicking does not seem to change much...perhaps a little. But the engine drowns out all ability to hear the clicking once rpms surpass about 2k. It's generally only noticeable at idle. It started about two weeks ago, and has not gotten any louder. No warning lights or codes either.

I know the STR is a great car, that's why I bought it. However, when the car has required $8,000 worth of maintenance and repairs in the past 15 months alone....one should be able to comprehend why I am starting to get incredibly bitter towards this vehicle. lol.

 

The supercharger can be rebuilt and varies between $850 and $1000. The maintenance costs can be high especially if you can not do the work yourself. Labor costs are usually a large portion of any cars repair bill. Here is an example of a company that can rebuild your supercharger: http://www.superchargersonline.com/p...-12-41-002-JSR

 

Expansion tanks will run around $125 or so. Pretty straight forward to replace but can be a bit messy with anti-freeze. Also, be sure to use the proper Jaguar anti-freeze. It runs around $70 per gallon.

Good luck,

Mike

 

You seem to have the least reliable STR I've ever heard about. Or... is there any possibility the garage have misdiagnosed anything? Was any of it done under warranty?

I'd want a LOT more evidence that the SC is faulty.

 

Check your owners manual and then purchase the correct coolant. It is NOT $70 gallon. You can get the proper coolant at any parts store. DO NOT purchase it from the dealer!!!!
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How is the car performing? I would be suprised that the car isnt throwing codes every five minutes if the supercharger was shot, the car will throw codes if you look at it funny. How loud is it, can you only hear it with the hood open and at idle? How often does that shop look at STRs? As much as you hate them maybe the dealer is the place to go, if anything to get it diagnosed not fixed, and I would go in for an oil change or something and not tell them. If the clicking isnt normal they will surely point it out to try and get work, at least you have their opinion.

And I have had to replace the overflow tank before as well. I am sorry to hear about your issues, I guess I am a little luckier, probably $4-5k, but over four years.

 

Okay I haven't been on the forums in like forever, but I saw you problem Scott and I felt it was my duty to see if I could help.

First off, the coolant expansion tank always seems to break when you have people working on the engine frequently. Mine broke when I was changing the s/c belt and was trying to swing it out of the way. At around 60k miles the barbs and fittings start to get very brittle from the intense heating and cooling. The replacement is very straight forward. Just drain the fluid, remove the hoses and clamps and install the new one. You can purchase one off of ebay for around $120 like someone said.

Now for the supercharger issue. Funny enough I also had this exact same problem. I had a noise originating from around the supercharger and pulled it off the car to inspect it and later came to realize that the supercharger was perfect and had no problems. The Eaton M112's used in our cars are extremely reliable. Not like the ones used in Cobras and Lightnings. They have the newer Gen 5 bearings and very rarely fail. The only possible way to have a clicking from the supercharger is if you burnt up a bearing and you have an impeller slamming into the case. (But this never happens with such low mileage) That usually happen at 150k miles not 50k.

Oh yeah, back to the solution. Not to say the issue with you car could be worse, but it sounds almost identical to what happened to mine. And when this happened I thought the exact same thing, so I pulled out my stethoscope and went poking around the engine bay. The noise was coming right out of the case of the s/c so I assumed to worse. After speaking with my friend whose a Master Tech for Jaguar we diagnosed the car and actually figured out that the noise was a miss cause by a burnt out coil pack. It sounds like the s/c but its actually nothing more than a knock caused by a moderate miss. Not to say that you problem might not be more serious than mine, but the scenario sounds identical.

The coil that made this sounds was either the 3rd or the 4th one back on the drivers side of the car. When any of the other coils go out it doesn't make that noise, its just that one specific one that makes the clicking noise appear. It's very weird, but for whatever reason it shakes the engine in such a way that the noise originates in the middle of the engine and makes it seem like you blew up the s/c.

Eric

 

Eric,

Thank you for the advice and sharing your experience. I will talk to the technicians about what you said and get them to have another look with that in mind.

Did your car throw any codes when you were having that problem? Mine has not thrown any codes / none of the warning lights have come on either. If a coil pack is out, then wouldn't that make the dashboard light up like a christmas tree?

I'll post an update when I find out any more info from the techs.

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone.

-Scott

 

Nope, no codes on mine because it was a very slight miss. I would take a look. I thought the same thing, but my friend who works at Jaguar told me that a lot of time you won't get a code unless it's a really bad miss. Good luck.

 

^Listen to him, he's right. No way it's the SC. Look at the coils, it was the same problem my buddy John had.

 

I hope you guys are right! I'm going to try to take it back in today to see if they have time to re-check with your suggestions in mind.

Thank you!!

 

Mine was making sounds like there were marbles bouncing around. It turned out to be the S/C bearings. Mine was covered under Select edition and was replaced.

 

Found out that my extended warranty will cover supercharger repairs, thank god. Hopefully it's the same thing you had, badmojo. Still waiting for an open timeslot to take it back in for the repair. In the meantime, still dealing with that clicking bouncing marble type sound....annoying!

=P

 

If it's not covered by warrenty you might consider getting it ported and change the upper and/or lower supercharger pulley?
Take a look, the prices seem reasonable. They install improved bearings in the front snout too.

http://pse.us/Products/Jaguar-S-Type-R-2003-2007.htm

http://www.stiegemeier.com/jaguar.html

 

Aside from the sound.. How is the car running? Do you notice a significant performance difference??

 

As third said, send the blower to steig!

Let us know when they get you sorted.

Hey whitestr, I haven't really heard anything about the termi eaton going bad, could be that most are taken off and replaced with a real blower! Lol. You ever raced the termi for comparisons sake?

 

Yeah, I've raced a few.. I raced a Kenne Bell Cobra a couple of months ago and got smoked, but when I raced a stock Cobra we ran dead even. Every time he shifted I nudge ahead, then he caught me, then he shift and fell back, etc.. With mods, they are pretty damn fast, but bone stock they run about even with an STR. The main advantage being that they're 600lbs lighter and have an extra 0.4liters of displacement.. The STR has WAY better suspension and a much better tranny, but the Cobra definitely has more performance potential..

My feelings are: when I drive to pick up a swimsuit model to go out to dinner at Ruth's Chris on the beach, would I rather be driving a mustang or a Jag??