Supercharger Update

[VXtreme]

I just got the call from Dave at Magnuson Products on the condition of my supercharger. I wasn't thrilled to hear that the repair will run $645.00. The blower has only been on my VX for 13 months with a little more then 13,000 miles on it (12 months is the warranty on the blower, it figures) The rotors, rotor bearings, shaft and bearings in the nose piece have to be replaced as well as the case rehoned. No real explanation from them on the cause of the failure other then it was pretty messed up. I was expecting somewhere between $600 and $900 for the repair, at least I came out on the low end. Magnuson has been very helpful, a lot more then Alpine was, and they will have my blower shipped back to me tomorrow. Considering they have to have a shaft machined for the nose piece and they just received the unit yesterday, they have really put forth an effort to get it back as soon as possible. Basically, I will have a new blower when it comes back with a warranty from Magnuson. I do hope I get better service out this blower.

[Dallas4u]

I'm sorry... I don't remember if you had any contact with Alpine. Has Alpine acknowledged your problem? Had you any luck with communicating with Alpine on this situation?

[Cyrk]

Man that sucks... sorry to hear it. Keep us posted.

[VXtreme]

Yes, John at Alpine was the first person I called. His reply, sorry the warranty is 12 months unlimited miles from Alpine. Should have saved the dime. Anyway, Alpine just sends them to Magnuson for any warranty claims or repairs. By going straight to Magnuson, it saved me probably 2 weeks with not having to wait for Alpine to do anything about it. I guess the bottom line is "if you want to play hard, you have to pay hard" Sh*t happens sometimes.

[Tone]

That SUCKS! What happened with the Dell extended warranty as that listed Alpine components? There are many of out here with blowers older than yours so I hope it was just bad luck.
I will talk to Jerry @ Magnuson @ SEMA tomorrow to learn more about the failure and any possible causes.

[VXtreme]

Thanks Tone. I would like to learn more if possible to avoid this happening again. As far as Dell, although they do mention Alpine in their warranty, they only cover the engine and transmission internally lubricated parts. I did confirm that those components are still warranteed by Dell should I have a problem with them for another 23 months or 23,000 miles. They said that although they do mention Alpine on their warranty, it is Alpine that covers the blower and Alpine's warranty is 12 months/unlimited miles. Let me know know if you learn anything from Magnuson.

[Tone]

Hey Extreme, I spent a few hours with Jerry Magnuson (owner) today getting to understand your issue and expressing your (and mine!) concern. He was VERY accomodating and is genuinely interested in helping determine the cause of the failure and will work with you to minimize the financial aspect of the failure. If it is a manufacturing defect, then there will no charge. But they will need to see it before they can make any real determination and assessment.

There have been very few failures such as this as there is a seal that protects the needle bearings (one of THE most reliable bearing designs) from any debris or harm. Water injection, carburation or extra injectors can sometime penetrate that seal and remove the lube from the bearings but even that is extremely rare. I assured him it was a standard install with nothing exotic going on.

Jerry is committed to taking care of any problems with our units as he understands that we are essentially his customers even though Alpine or I made the sale. I was very impressed with him and the rest of his staff who really took time to explain and discuss many, many things with me today.

And they are serious about the 100K between fluid changes unless there is a problem. There really is only belt tension to deal with. Fluid should be checked with a ~2" strip of white paper inserted inside the check hole after the unit has been run or after spinning the pulley by hand. This would bring any metal particles to the surface and they would intern migrate to the paper as it absorbes the fluid.

If you want to make sure there are no problems, there is no problem changing the fluid at whatever interval you want but the kit from Magnuson is the way to go. Without it, there is NO way to get all fo the fluid out (maybe half) as there is dip below the bearing plate where the fluid pools. It does NOT coat the gears or any moving parts inside but rather is atomized and dispersed throughout the front area. Their kit includes the necessary sealant to reseal the front nose assembly after removing it to get all of the fluid out and also a new dampening ring. We'll post some pictures of the internals of the M62 when return home on Sunday.

[VXtreme]

Tone. Thanks for discussing my problem with Jerry Magnuson. As a matter of fact, I just got off a 30 minute phone call with him this morning. He is a really great guy. He too expressed his concern over what has happened to my blower. He as well as I know what has happened to it, now we both want to know why. He will be examining the blower this morning since they have had it since last Tuesday. He also agreed that if the blower failure was due to no fault of mine, repair it at no charge and ship it back to me. He was very concerned by the rear needle bearing failure and wants to know the cause of the failure. In addition to the needle bearings failing, I was advised by David Gonzales that the bearings and shaft in the nose piece have to be replaced as well. It seems that other then the case, the unit is pretty much gone. Hopefully they will have it finished today and shipped back today or tommorrow. Thanks again for bringing this up to Jerry. I will advise you of any information I found out from Magnuson as soon as I know more.

[Cyrk]

Great news... please keep us posted.

-Dave

[VXtreme]

Just got the call from Magnuson Products on my S/C. I spoke to Jerry Magnuson yesterday and he made the decision to do a policy adjustment on my S/C repair. The total cost to virtually rebuild the entire unit, new rotors, nose shaft and bearings, rotor bearings, gears and honing the case, is just over $300 including shipping. Not free, but a good jesture on their part, considering that the repair was estimated to run between $600 - $900 orginally. They are shipping it back to me today and I should have reinstalled on Friday.
Magnuson never did come up with any determination on the cause of the failure. I wish I had more information to give the rest of you with S/C's. I guess I will chalk it up to just one of those things that happens. Can't wait till Friday!!!!!

[VXtreme]

Well, after 2 weeks, the S/C is back from Magnuson and back on my VX. We reinstalled it Friday. Works great!!!! In fact, it seems to work better then it id when I first bought it. Jerry Magnuson was very good to work with considering the amount of work they had to do to the internals, They replaced everything except the case for about $270.00; new rotors, bearings, nose shaft, gears and bearings and honed the case. Anyway, I wish I had information to offer any of you with a S/C as to cause of the failure. Magnuson could not determine any direct cause and just said that like most mechinical things sometimes sh*t happens. Oh well.....the VX is back and bad as ever!!!

[Cyrk]

Nice! now lets see some pics of that new intake you had made... I might be interested in one.

-Dave

[VXtreme]

OK.....I guess it's time to dust of the digital camera and take some photos. I'll also post some pics of the stereo install and custom enclosure for the sub.