TRD/ Magnuson 4.0 Supercharger Tips, Tricks, and Mods

hey guys i have this weird chirp upon cold startups. i believe its a bad bearing in one of the front drive systems. changed out all s/c idler bearings a year ago. im hoping its not an alternator or a/c compressor. its tough to tell where. how do i test for whats on its way out? time for me is limited. and light. just pulled a 14hr day on saturday. thanks!

 

If you think its one of the bearings (be it idler, A/C, Alt) the two methods I use (and tend to work pretty well)...

1) Best after driving....if you have an infrared temp gun shoot it on each bearings. Generally the bad one will be hotter than the others. Depends how bad the bearing is but tends to be 10-20 degrees hotter. If its just starting to go bad it might not be conclusive though

2) Long piece of metal (screw driver or extension). Hold it to each bearing and listen while the truck is running. The bad one will sound quite a bit different. I use a screw driver and an old washer fluid bottle with the bottom cut off to make a megaphone effect. That way dont have to place your ear right to the screwdriver/extension. Actually heres a good video showing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHtLH_m9gN4

 

You should be able to test the belt by taking a spray bottle with water and lightly hitting the belt as it's running/chirping. If it goes away, the belt should be the problem. Troubleshooting tip courtesy of our very own @12TRDTacoma

I just had the same issue on my 4 banger and it ended up being the belt

 

Sorry if your PMs go unanswered today! I’m slayin’ cones.

 

Interestingly enough I have had a low idle/ take off from stop chirp for some time now myself. Both of my idlers directly below the supercharger pulley are actually bad and I know it because I could hear them by doing the manual spin test when I changed out to the RPM belt some time ago. I just replaced the bearings like a year ago as well.

You know when they say nothing beats OE parts? Yeah, I definitely agree there because the bearings I used to replace the OE ones were the high RPM rated Timken ones.

Anyways, I've been letting it be because I'm too lazy to re- replace the bearings again.

 

6x1.00mm bolt, around 70-80in-lbs (6-7ft-lbs, hand snug)
8x1.25mm , 16-18ft-lbs (a little more than a oil drain plug tight)

 

use a long screwdriver and touch each one and see witch one is the nosiest. you can also use a length of garden hose and it will direct the noise. mechanics stethoscope works too.

 

thanks guys! its only on cold starts for a few minutes. i need an oil change today and to swap my s/c belt. got about 30k on it. just hoping its not an alternator or something expensive. damn cold and windy out. sure wish i had a garage.

 

New spot didn’t come with a. Garage?

 

2 years on the Timkins, no problems. Do you think the significant additional tension of your aftermarket tensioner could have any effect on your idler bearing lifespan?

 

I actually think it's due to the misalignment on the Pulleyboys hub adapter. If I had a way to push it in 1/8 more I probably wouldn't have the intermittent/ semi consistent chirping at low idle/ taking off from a stop. What I'm thinking is happening is that since the entire pulley drive is spaced out 1/8 from what it should be at the bottom I think the belt doesn't like it so it ends up chirping to let me know like, "hey dude, I don't like this get me properly aligned!"

As for the early bearing failure I think I got a trash pair. We all know how well parts are built these days. I'm referring more to QA/ QC. It's almost like it doesn't exist anymore in any automotive company.

 

It's not even QA/QC a lot of the time. My dishwasher door springs gave out today and I'm marvelling at just how crappy they built multiple parts in the hinge system, all in plastic no less. 'Quality' dishwasher too. It'll be stronger by the time I'm done fixing it though.

So many things in this world are being to built to be disposable in a couple years or with future part sales in mind. And you just look at the stuff and shake your head, they simply don't build things to last anymore.

 

No they absolutely don't do they? It's actually a little infuriating because they want to charge premier dollars for a non premier built product and then expect people to actually buy it knowing that.

 

Hey have any of you guys had the heat shield cause a loud vibration sound if you romp on it? And or, has anyone just removed the heat shield?

 

On the secondary cats?

Yes. I just destroyed mine off since every fastener there was seized and left it bare.

 

Under the y-pipe and a little after towards the rear.

 

id have to look but no issues. I used to have a bad rattle and my pipe was rubbing on my trans skid. Last time I pulled it I cut a notch in my skid and no longer have the issue.

 

Ahh that area. I can't say, what's the issue, is whee it bolts onto worn away? If it is you can resecure it using a larger fender washer and reattaching the nuts. I actually have to do that to my passenger side secondary cat body mounted heat shield because it's loose and rattles around, but nothing horribly noticable surprisingly.

 

They are all attached fine. I’ve noticed when I accelerate hard in 1st or 2nd gear that it rattles. I got under there and bent them a little and see/hear an improvement. I just assume just remove them entirely