Thread: Report: Motor Oil In The Supercharger Snout

The GM oil is cheap for as infrequently as it should be changed. Eaton says it is a sealed system and that the oil never needs changing. That said, I have 50K miles on my M90 and have changed mine 3 times. I've heard of s/c with 300k miles that have never had the fluid changed. What's interesting is that evidently they've not had bearing or coupler issues either.

Well this may be so. But how do you grow, innovate, learn, etc. unless you buck the trend? GM oil is cheap, thats for sure. But for the same cost of one bottle of GM oil I can buy a full quart of synthetic motor oil at retail price. Its not so much an economics thing as it is learning and growing.

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

Well this may be so. But how do you grow, innovate, learn, etc. unless you buck the trend? GM oil is cheap, thats for sure. But for the same cost of one bottle of GM oil I can buy a full quart of synthetic motor oil at retail price. Its not so much an economics thing as it is learning and growing.

I understand your need to experiment. My comment was more for those just wanting to do this right by current standards.

For some reason I got got a vision of your supercharger with a tiny chrome breather in the oil fill hole.

Just planting a seed...you do know that some of these superchargers are not standalone and cycle the engine oil though them. It's oil is changed by changing the engine oil.

Originally Posted by IndeedSS

For some reason I got got a vision of your supercharger with a tiny chrome breather in the oil fill hole.

Just planting a seed...you do know that some of these superchargers are not standalone and cycle the engine oil though them. It's oil is changed by changing the engine oil.

Nah, that would be too gaudy, I was thinking just a tad smaller, but hey, if it worked...

None of the 3800 engine superchargers are standalone that I am aware of in the Series II or III, but I do know there are some out there like that. Wish ours was, it would be simpler I think.

Okay, maybe Im confused by stand alone. I took Lee's input as that some of the 3800 blowers used engine oil fed by the existing oil system?

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

Okay, maybe Im confused by stand alone. I took Lee's input as that some of the 3800 blowers used engine oil fed by the existing oil system?

You understood me correctly Scotty. After thinking about it more, I should have said self-contained as in the M90. Yes there apparently are blowers that are not self-cantained and cycle the engine oil through them.

Crap now I have to look through my browsing history to find the FAQ section, which referenced the difference type of lube systems used on the superchargers...Repile
Here's one
SuperchargersOnline.com :: Frequently Asked Question

Anyone with photoshop want to make me a jpg of a M90 with a tiny chome breather like the ones some use in the valve cover gasket? It has to be a tiny breather though. Not much bigger in diameter than the s/c oil bolt and put in place of the bolt.
Eventhough I like my Cat Cora avatar, the s/c one would have people asking.

^^^ LOL. Im interested in seeing this. It would have to have a 7/16-20 thread to work.

There is definitely nothing slight about the smell of GM supercharger oil.

I agree with the pressure statement given there is a breather nut, but I also have a great deal of respect for Ron Vogels input. And him having done it before and able to testify to the effects makes it very noteworthy.

Originally Posted by a_v_s

1.) Mobil-1 Synthetic is an off the shelf oil.
2.) Just because there is a breather nut, does not mean the system cannot build pressure. That's like saying that because you have a PCV valve attached to a breather filter, your oil pressure should always be atmospheric. Transmissions have vent holes on them, and the dipstick is not air-tight... But that doesn't mean the tranny fluid is not pressurized in the valvebody/solenoids/etc.

Um, that doesn't make sense, the oil system and fluid system in a transmission are sealed and fed with a pump,

the s/c is a puddle of oil with gears sitting in it, there should be little to no pressure due to breather

I dont see how any synthetic oil would hurt the bearings or rubber couplers... but thats just me

Scotty, do you still have the motor oil in your snout? Just curious if you planned on leaving it in there since you have an extra of everything? Or just gave up and took it out.

No its still in there. Probably will stay in there until I take the car off line to do the tranny work. I would even consider, if my rotor pack is in good shape, leaving it in there and see what happens. I have no reason to doubt Ron Vogel at all, but it still doesnt quell the curiosity.

If I could get a couple decent rotor packs I may try out a few things.

Originally Posted by Ron Vogel

Yeah, I thought I had boost leaking into my snout...everytime I took off the fill plug it would pop and whoosh out pressure when I had Mobil 1 in there.

Thats just crazy there Ron. Thanks for that insight.

How in the world does the breather nut work or what is its purpose then if not to relieve that pressure? The more you tell me about your experience with motor oil the more interesting this thing gets.

Ron, let me ask you this. Understand first, Im not questioning your results or anything Im just really curious about all this now that you have presented your experience.

You said you had a pressure release when you would take off the fill plug. Is it possible there was something wrong with the breather nut on your snout and was not relieving the pressure as it should and causing the build up of pressure? Wouldnt this also explain the oil getting past your rotor pack bushings/seals?

That I have no answer to. But I can look at the spare one I have when I get home and see if I can find out.