i thought the first sign of trouble occured 8 days ago?

I don't know, I don't know how much the car was driven, just trying to think what vortech's logic would be to deny fixing the intercooler
you would think they'd at least ask for it to be shipped to them to look at

 

Technically, Vortech should cover anything that the blower damaged. It is their product, therefore it is their responsibility to make sure the product does not fail.

 

all this arguing over nothing, i bet the intercooler is fine. i doubt that piece did any damage.

 

i don't understand how the intercooler could really be "damaged" anyway - just shake it until the debris comes out right?

if it won't come out, I doubt it'll come out the other side when driving

 

Tell that to GReddy and ATI

They are good kits with the proper engine management. But in the beginning, loads of people grenaded their motors on stock boost, and neither company did anything to comp for it.

 

I agree 100%.

A tuning/EM problem which leads to engine failure is just so much easier to deny for the manufacturer though. In this case, it is a clear case of hardware failure, and I really dont see any wiggle room for Vortech.

In any event the Greddy and ATI kits could be made to work. There was no way to avoid this inevitable blower destruction regardless of what EM you threw at it.

 

Easy, guys, easy. This is nothing to get in a tussle over.

Yes, my husband did keep driving the car after the first sign of trouble. He knew he could be doing further damage and decided to proceed anyway rather than leave the car on the highway, 10 miles from home in the wee hours of the morning. Other than the deeper vibration in the supercharger noise everything else sounded/looked fine. Yes, this probably did contribute to some further damage but he hoped that the intercooler would give some protection and he would not toast the engine. This may or may not be true. The intercooler may or may not be damaged. About the only thing we know for sure is that THIS supercharger ain't going back on the car.

We did ask Vortech about giving us a new intercooler (they declined) and we did ask Vortech to re-set the warranty to the day they ship out the new/repaired supercharger (they declined) as fair compensation for selling us a defective unit to begin with. Given the 'someone's gotta be to blame for all this' environment we currently live in I can't really fault Vortech for playing CYA.

We knew the cost going in and if you can't afford to completely cover replacing the car you got no business tinkering with it to this degree.
As to the rest, well, you gotta pay for prototyping. Parts break and, unlike people, you can always replace 'em. If the engine (or any other bits) have been damaged, we will fix it (and pay for it), make a grimace look like a smile and go on.

Our only intention in posting our bit of bad luck was to help keep anybody else from making the mistake(?) my husband made. If it starts squealing/vibrating/howling/grunting/farting/burping/whatever.....PULL OVER AND TOW IT HOME!

At least we had a hell of a good time for that 600 miles and, hopefully, will again real soon.

 

I have handled Vortech disputes several times and won, but it's a chore and you have to know how to handle them. They can be ******, but will work with you if you have a good case

 

Just a little advice for anyone that runs into problems like this while on the road . If you hear a squeel or strange sound coming from the blower and dont want to leave the car sitting by the side of the road . Or have it towed by a chitty towing company . Find a way to take off or cut off the blower belt . If the noise you heard goes away...your good to go . Ive done this at the track when one of my cats imploded . I didnt need to cut the belt , but I wasnt going to take a chance . I drove the 50 miles home...no problem .

 

That's a chance you'd be willing to take? I doubt it.

 

the intercooler will be just fine everyone. just make sure there are no pieces of metal in there. thats the key.



vortech is doing a great job of handling the blowers with very fast service.

 

why cut the belt? I take all of 30sec to remove it from the cog pulleys. I drove around for a few days without it. Just dont get on the throttle hard because youll shut your bypass valve and your car will bog. Also, its best to have the undertray on since your bypass will be your intake and its so low to the ground

 

Hence..... The reason to flush with kerosene or fuel oil---Those solvents actually "Flush" whereas Gas tends to "Embed" particles. You have to break up the oily residue also ---so as I said , Water dont cut it initially. HOT soapy water though is good as a final and last flush.

 

Okay, guys, this is the OP, back again after a complete inspection.

We only founds little bits of metal in the tubing and all of it before the intercooler/charge-cooler; except for that little bast**d stuck in the throttle plate. Not near enough to account for a complete blade that went missing. Could some of it have been blown out the by-pass valve perhaps? It remains a mystery.

As to the intercooler; we flushed it (as advised) and only got a few little bits of metal out, pressurized it with air and had no leaking, and will reinstall it instead of replace it.

Since the plenum was squeaky clean we did not flush any solvent through the cylinders. The leak down tests and compression tests were all within limits (according to my husband, I wasn't there for those) so we are just gonna replace the bits and get back on the road.

I am sorry this thread seemed to get some tempers flaring over the best approach to the problem but we certainly appreciated all of the help and good information

 

Well, your system is either clean or it is not ---simple as that. Your compression and leakdowns are either good or bad---simple as that. If those two factors are true and you followed proceedures as recommended, then your good to go---simple as that.

 

You might find some shavings on the plastic undercover if they were sent out the BOV..

 

GREAT TO HEAR !!!!!

If you didnt find enough metal to equal what has broken off . Going out the BOV is highly likely , or it went through the motor cleanly and is sitting in the top of the cats [ if you run them ] .