Supercharger Rebuild- where to do it?

[furinax]

Anyone have recommendations of where I can get one done? My Novi 2000 blower is approaching 20k miles, and besides sending it into Paxton I don't know any other options. I hear it's about $400-600 to get one rebuilt. Located in NJ area.

 

[furinax]

Did some research... should probably find a way to get this into the WIKI:

I took my serial number and asked Paxton as well as superchargerrebuild.com . Based on my number (it was 76XX) Paxton said this:

That unit is too old to service. Anything Serial number 8000 and below is only able to utilize our trade in program. You will receive a credit of $500 or $1000 depending upon condition towards purchasing a new NOVI 2000. If you wish to trade in your unit fill out the form below.

Please (click your EMAIL REPLY button) fill out the info below and we will provide you with a RMA (return merchandise authorization). DO NOT SEND ANY BRACKETS OR DUCTING ATTACHED TO THE UNIT.
NOTE: Ship to and billing address must match. PLEASE MAKE SURE THE ADDRESS LISTED WILL BE THE BILLING AND SHIP TO ADDRESS, IT CAN NOT BE CHANGED LATER. A 100.00 inspection fee + shipping is applied if your unit is returned to you unrepaired.

Company Name (if shipping back to company):
Full Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Phone Number:
Serial Number:
Supercharger model number:
Vehicle Make/Model/Year:
Reason for Return:

If unit is a Vortech V3 or Paxton SL it MUST be returned with drain line, SC pulley and oil intact or it could affect any warranty consideration. ALL units sent in for warranty MUST be accompanied by a copy of the original purchase receipt.


PLEASE NOTE:
We do not accept credit card payments from outside the USA.
Payment must be made by either PAY PAL or bank wire transfer.
All Wire transfer fees must be paid prior to sending payment.
Also, you are responsible for any duty fees for shipping both directions.
Ship to and billing address must match. If YOU INTEND on having end user pay for repair RMA ship info must be in their name.


REBUILD EXAMPLES

Major Rebuild Service-Includes replacement of all bearings, seals, and gears (upgraded to current specifications where applicable), a detailed inspection of all supercharger components, all balance and assembly labor.

Minor Rebuild Service-Includes replacement of all bearings and seals (upgraded to current specifications where applicable), a detailed inspection of all supercharger components, all balance and assembly labor.

Consumer Note: The above listed is the minimum required whenever a supercharger is upgraded or repaired. If inspection reveals that additional components are needed, Vortech will not repair the unit requiring additional repairs and/or additional inspection until authorized by the customer. Furthermore, Vortech will not reassemble any unit without replacing all the components which are indicated during inspection. Vortech will advise you of all additional costs to complete the repair of your unit before proceeding. A minimum inspection fee of $100.00 will be charged for all units which are disassembled and inspected, but not repaired. This fee is waived if Vortech retains the unrepaired unit. Normal in-house turnaround for all service related work is 10-15 business days from the time the work is authorized by the customer.

Superchargerrebuild has their own service, where they can do the rebuild. However, you can just order specific parts or just the impeller. I am probably going to go with the standard kit which includes 2 input shaft bearings, 2 output shaft bearings, and 2 shaft oil seals, as well as the front cover O-ring . They have 2 generations of NOVI 2000s you can order for, Gen 1 has an impeller shaft of 35mm whereas Gen 2 has an impeller shaft of 30mm, so it will affect your kit. The website owner responded promptly and told me this:

Generally Serial # 6xxx and lower is Gen 1 and
Serial # 7xxxand higher is Gen 2.​

However from http://www.superchargerhelp.com/showthread.php?10603-rear-seal-oil-leak I get this info:

They changed somewhere in the 6xxx range...
The 5,xxx range, and below, used the 35mm, and the 7,xxx range, and above,
used the 30mm...​

Now I was told any person could do it and there is a nice article online which shows HOW they do it professionally: http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/engine/m5lp-0901-novi-2000-supercharger-rebuild/

The only thing I would have to add is that if you want to order an impeller you just have to call Paxton and give them your serial number and ask if it is CW or CCW. Or you could just look at the impeller itself, but I guess if you do not have it on you it makes sense to call. It would suck to order the wrong orientation because this is the most expensive part!

 

[texmorales]

Good info. So what was going to be the cost if you traded in your blower for a new blower from Paxton versus the other option of superchargerrebuild. I am not sure I would want to rebuild myself as the most important part is balancing the rotating parts. How would you accomplish this on your own?

 

[furinax]

It would be at least $1500 as the newer units are close to $2300-2500. From some more research it doesn't look too bad. If you are really crafty you can probably find all the parts for about $50, but it's just easier to buy from their website to make sure those parts fit.

I'll update this thread if we eventually do go through the rebuild.

 

[texmorales]

It would be at least $1500 as the newer units are close to $2300-2500. From some more research it doesn't look too bad. If you are really crafty you can probably find all the parts for about $50, but it's just easier to buy from their website to make sure those parts fit.

I'll update this thread if we eventually do go through the rebuild.

I see. Please keep us updated. I have an older NOVI 1000 and will need to rebuild or replace at some point. Its noising with the rattle but I don't have any blow by yet from leaking seals.

 

[furinax]

Well, some good news and some bad news. The parts came in from superchargerrebuilds quite fast. Everything fits fine EXCEPT for the main case oil seal. They have two sizes.... 1/8" and 1/16" and the kit I got comes with 1/16 which is too thin. Everywhere I looked I can't find a part number... they said just take it into any parts store and get a replacement. Great, except I have a day job and can't easily do that. The one that they shipped was the green one (too small)

More bad news is that the impeller seal they shipped was damaged a bit. You can see the one in the background (the new one) doesn't have a perfect mechanical lip:

What shall I do? A bit more searching (while I was at my day job) got me onto a few websites, one of which is: https://jonbondperformance.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=10_124_126
They have parts for the Paxton Novi 2000 Gen2 and even have a small dedicated Basch Boost section. I sent them an email but they never emailed me back... next step is to call them tomorrow morning to see if they have the main O-ring seal 1/8" diameter to ship with a impeller seal. The impeller seal is the output shaft seal. They also have the supercharger key which, in my case, dropped out a couple times and rattled around for a bit. If they don't sell the O-ring I guess I will have to go to an auto parts store to get one of similar size. I have never done that but I guess I would need the old part. Autozone or Napa would be good starts I think.

If I were to do it over again it might be worth it to send it to someone, just so that they have the right parts and you don't have to wait for shipping snafus like mine. However, my mechanic figured it out just fine and honestly after doing a couple hours research you could probably do it all yourself, if not for the pressing of the bearings. I now understand my blower a lot better as well as the wear-and-tear parts so I'm happy to go through this... but since my car has been at the shop for 1.5 weeks now I'm getting antsy.

This is a great resource for actually doing the rebuild. They go through it step by step. I wish I could snapshot it and save it for next time.... maybe I should print it.
http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94624

More pictures showing the integrity of the bearings and the impeller:

 

[fuexiong]

I have a novi 1000 and i might need to rebuild or send in to trade. Not sure if i missed something, but how much would i save if i were to send in to someone to rebuild for me? Or would i save at all?

 

[furinax]

I would first ask why you want to rebuild it? From my research it seems that most people wait for their NOVIs to make noise or leak oil before rebuilding. Mine was leaking a bit of oil. If you are able to take the supercharger apart and see what needs to be replaced, then you can save by just ordering the parts. As a general rule of thumb I am thinking if you don't have any strange noise, just order the seals and gaskets and skip the bearings. Installing the seals can be very difficult and my mechanic damaged the first mechanical lip seal when installing it so we had to order a new one (they are about $40). I also ordered a dual-lip PTFE seal and we used that one instead. I am not too certain about the durability of those mechanical seals.

The bearings are the expensive part, and mine were honestly fine so I really didn't need to order them. Then again, I ordered the parts before the supercharger was apart so hence my advice is take it apart first and see what you need (if you are okay with the downtime).

If you are ordering all the wearable parts, then you won't anything by sending it in. I would say the benefits are: you have a specialist do the work for a minimal fee + shipping, you don't have to worry about having the right parts or installing them incorrectly, and there is a fixed downtime. In our case we needed to order a new impeller seal and we also got the wrong o-ring size, so that added to the downtime. Is that worth an extra $100-200 to you? If you don't have a reliable mechanic I would say so. Thankfully mine is excellent so I was happier having him do the work.