Supercharger question

[Truckie26]

Hi all, I don't know if I might be reading a little too much into the lack of whine from my supercharger or not. I've owned a '98 GTP in the past, and when I got heavy on the throttle, it was very clear that the supercharger was doing its job. Lots of whine, sounded great.

Fast forward to now. I just bought the Mrs a 2004 GTP, 165k . Overall, it seems to have been pretty well taken care of. But, I don't hear the signature Supercharger whine like in my '98. Not even a hint of whine really. Initially I chalked it up to it being a newer generation of charger, so perhaps the lack of sound was a "new and improved" feature.

I've pulled the belt off of the SC pulley and I don't feel any "clanking" or slop in the coupler. It doesn't free wheel spin, but I can turn by hand. Pulled the SC oil plug and confirmed it does have oil.

The car doesn't have a boost gauge like my older GTP did, so I don't have a way of confirming boost at this point.

So, am I worried about nothing? What else should I be looking for? Thanks

[buickman104]

Do you feel the boost come on? The 2004 GTP would feel noticeably slower with no boost.

[Scottydoggs]

get rid of the stock air filter box and put a open cone filter on it, you'll hear it whine then.

stock air box is also a muffler.

[stealthee]

When I test drove my 07 GT I had no idea it was supercharged until I popped the hood. My first "mod" was an open cone so could hear the whine.

[Truckie26]

Buickman- We've not owned a car since the '98 GTP, (about 10 yrs ago) so I wouldn't know the difference between a SC and non SC. But, I will say that this one doesn't seem to have a problem getting out of its own way!

After looking at a few home made cone filter set ups, has anyone had issues with Intake air temps from the engine compartment? Has anyone modified\opened up the stock air box to open the restrictions with any success? How about relocation of the computer that sits in the stock air box? Sorry for all the questions, but after digging in a little, my brain started "what if-ing" everything!

Thanks for all of your replies!

[WarStryker13]

I ran with a cone filter inside a gutted stock airbox for a while, I still have it somewhere around here. I got about 10-15 degrees higher than ambient with the gutted stock airbox, and with an open cone it's maybe 20 degrees higher. If you sit in a lot of stop and go traffic it will always be higher than if you get up to highway speeds regularly.

[Fivefingerdeathpunch]

In stock form you aren't outflowing the stock air box, there is no restriction really.

You can hack away at the opening to make it larger and allow more air in and allow the sound to escape but it'll still be pointing towards the front and you won't hear much. In your year car you can just remove the air box, maybe a intake tube the same diameter as the MAF housing and add a large cone style filter to it. That will produce the most sound. If you want to get technical and do this right you should never install the filter directly before a MAF sensor, do people do it, yes but it's still not correct.

You want laminar air flow across the MAF sensor, turbulant air flow can cause skewed readings. Having a section of straight tubing before the MAF will smooth most of the air flow directly after the filter and the MAF screen will do the rest.

There is no need to worry about under hood temps, you won't see anything that is cause for concern. The blower itself heats up the air for more than you think and there isn't much you can do about it. Normal around town should be 10-20º of ambient most of the time and higher in stop and go traffic, the stock air box can see heat soak aswell so not much is different. On the open road being at or within 10º of ambient is about what you'd see, there will be tons of air pushing in past the headlight and hood to bumper gap.

Stock computer can just lay there, they are weather proof and shock proof to a certain point, you'd have to crash the car to break them type of thing. Make a bracket or 3m tape/velcro it down.

[buickman104]

Honestly, if it works well, then don't mess with it.

[SaukRapids]

I'm not sure about the boost on your car. My generic gauge shows a little boost loss. Gonna slap a new belt in there since it needs one anyway.

I have modded the stock filter box (05 GTP) with a Dremel. The sound is noticeable in the cabin, but it's subtle compared to an open cone. I wish I took pics. There's one spot in there that was a PIA because the disks can't cut deep enough. I finished that cut with a drywall holesaw ..which also works great for carving pumpkins, lol.