tCtuner

Just when I thought it was safe to investigate a mod or two... Here is the background:

I had left my car (after the SC install) stock... no mods to the SC. That was back in April. Everything seemed fine. I enjoyed the power. I wanted more power, but wanted the warranty more... so I left well enough alone.

The past few weeks I have been busy traveling with my fiancee: Italy for a week, visiting friends here and there and just being plain busy. We used her car since it holds a ton. Mine sat in the driveway. Until this past Saturday when I started it up.

I immediately heard a kind of whine and almost a grating sound from the SC that I never heard before. I had always had a clinking sound, but was told that was normal. Anyway, my stomach sank and I turned to my fiancee and said, "I hope this is not a bearing problem I have read about on the boards." I immediately drove it to the dealership and let them listen to it. Since I needed to have the recall taken care of, I thought I would just leave with them to check it all out.

I get a call today and the service folks told me they have to replace the entire SC due to 'gear clearance' which caused the sounds I was hearing.

Does 'gear clearance' sound like a reasonable thing? To me it sounds like they are covering up for a bad SC. I have read a lot on the boards about bearing failure and seals, but never noticed one for 'gear clearance'.

They are replacing it and said it sould be done tomorrow, but DAMN!!!!

b_wet

hey bright side u are getting a new SC.

tCtuner

Yeah, I know, but DAMN!!! I mean it does really seem that this is a bad design. I just cannot figure out why Toyota would put something like this out. I mean my SC is barely 7 months old.

I do not think it could be a bad install. As my firne d pointed out, it is a bolt on. That has nothing to do with the internals of the SC itself....

I am just really cheesed.

Wyatt_Herb

It is simply a bad design. Apparently the unit itself is in a "sensitive to being installed exactly perfect to the "t" or its gonna die" type situation. Hopefully, now that TRD is paying dearly(at least I hope they are...) for their pathetic product, they will have the sense to come up with something that will last for more than 7 months if its installation is off by 0.3 millimeters.
Take comfort in knowing that you are not alone and that its being replaced for free. Enjoy it until you have to have it replaced again.
FWIW, im on my third.

tCtuner

All of the SC issues cannot be as a result of bad installations. This is a bolt on kit. It is relatively simple. Centrifugal SC's have been around for quite some time. This is not new technology. Nor does it require an advanced degree to install.

It has to be design or manufacturing! You would think that if Toyota is eating multiple SC's on one or two customers, then you might be able to say it is due to bad installation...

I really do not want to go through this every 7-10 months.... what a huge hassle!

tCtuner

The guys from RippMods, do you have any idea what is with these setups? You guys have been around and have dealt with Vortech systems quite a lot... could it be just bad installations? Design? Both?

I know it does not matter at this point... but this is frustrating. I cannot imagine why Toyota would sell this crap to us. They can say all they want that it is TRD and not Toyota, but they are part of the same company.

That is not going to win lifetime customers!

06scionsc

TRD and Toyota are not the same company. TRD is their own company and pays Toyota for the rights to use their name. As for the design issues. Everyone is so quick to blame Toyota, TRD, or the person who installed it. Why hasn't anybody thought "Hey maybe it has something to do with Vortech." I am not saying I know what or who causes the problems. I read about all of these problems as well. Honestly as long as they keep fixing it, it doesn't matter to me whose fault it is. I agree that it sucks, but knowing whose fault it is doesn't change anything. And by the way there are plenty of people who have never had a problem. Keep in mind statistics show 1 person with a bad experience tells 9 people. 1 person with a good experience tells 3. I have never had a problem with my supercharger and I would still recommend it to anyone who asks me about it.

Robs_tc

Even though I'm no longer S/C'd, I'm going to watching this stuff for a long time. So whats going to happen when all our warrenties are up??? Will they turn a death ear to us? Maybe, just maybe, there might be a lawyer or firm that will be interested in a class action case against them.... count me in if it ever happens.

Ok I'm getting a little ahead of myself, sorry. But everything is still fresh in my mind with the constant hassle for getting things replaced under warrenty. You have a dealership that doesn't want to eat the cost of the replair bill if TRD turns it down so they're VERY slow to work with you. And then you have TRD which takes forever to make any kind of decision. Now they're asking for pictures to "help diagnose" the problem. This all wouldn't be so bad if I didn't hear how some of you are getting hassled by the dealerships.

tCtuner

Just to set the record straight: I am not getting one bit of problem from my dealership... as least so far. So, from my standpoint, they have been decent to deal with. And very understanding with getting me a loaner. But that is just good business on their part.

As for the Toyota / TRD partnership, it is the Toyota Dealerships or, at the very least, the Scion Website itself who is stating that they have all of these assessories to add to their cars to show how wonderfully considerate they are being to their customers.

I agree, if they are standing behing the SC (which they seem to be doing as evidenced by several people going on their 2nd and third SC), then who cares... but you (06scionsc) speak from a standpoint of not having had a problem. I am really glad there are folks that have not had issues... that, to me, means there is hope.

I suspect, however, that if you had these isssues, you would be a might peeved too! It is just a HUGE inconvenience.

As far as blasting Vortech... well that is unfounded. Toyota would be the first to cast blame if they could.

tc2nut4

Terrible
Redesigning
Dumbfuks



I'm glad I blew my motor and got rid to the SC... This much work for what should be a "worry-free" modification is BS

tCtuner

Plus I thought I heard that Vortech only made the blower... and that model of blower has been around quite some time. It was my understanding that TRD designed the shaft and mount.

I could be wrong about that though...

tc2nut4

I respectfully disagree... Any major comporation standing behind a product as plagued as this is Stupid, Ignorant or Irresponsible for releasing it in the first place when its quite clear further testing and designing was required. This product was released to the public to be a fun, RELIABLE, and cost effective modification that could keep the mild tuner resting easy at night knowing they maintain their factory warranty.

However it is now becoming apparent that this is not the case and that there are issues that should have been addressed and fixed. They are not FIXING the issue they are simply giving you another one in hopes that it does not rear its ugly head until later or if at all. Replacing a problem with another potential problem is not the answer and I think TRD needs to do something about this.

However when I had my SC for the whole 5 months I did not have issues so I'm not saying that its like every one is plagued but the number is a little alarming and one must concede to the fact that this issue would not seem as big without the wonderful internet but there are still enough issues that TRD needs to SERIOUSLY consider a redesign to fix the problems that CAN arise with this SC setup....

I hope if anyone responds or disagrees with this we can keep it out of the conspiracy theories and in a reasonable and mature discussion

tCtuner

tc2nut4: There are two separate issues here. 1) Toyota is standing behind their offerings by replacing the SC's that fail (for the most part); and 2) TRD seems to have some reliability issues with the tC SC.

For all we know, Toyota is raising all kinds of cain with TRD behind the scenes. I do not think it is a stretch to assume that this is the case. Toyota does not want to keep replacing one bad SC with another bad SC.

Additionally, in spite of my earlier venting, I do not think Toyota is out to do anything to damage its gains in market share. In other words, I believe they still make one of the best products out there. The TRD tC SC must be a thorn in their side...

I might be on Fantasy Island, but I would like to think Scion (Toyota corporate) is addressing it somewhere.

tc2nut4

I'm glad you can maintain a positive outlook but after being rolled over on a bad SC and a bad motor I have little to no respect for Toyota or their products now. I understand where you are coming from however and I am glad that they are taking care of your issue. And I can only pray that Toyota is beating TRD over the head about this because it would be a severe injustice to those whose units could possibly fail outside of the warranty period and I'm quite certain each and every one of those that would fail would come out of the individuals pocket.

P.S. thanks for keeping it "reasonable"

tCtuner

If you think about the numbers... I mean the recall affected what??? 30,000 cars. So they are selling quite a number of these cars, which, I read in some article, they are making a "industry standard" profit on... whatever that means.

Why would Scion/Toyota want to mess around with buyers they are trying to woo?

I just hope I am right and they and TRD can resolve this and put out even better power accessories. (Yeah, I know... now I am on Fantasy Island.)

The Cobalt SS and GM's support of stage kits are really doing very well and do not seem to have many problems... plus they are quick!

06scionsc

There will always be issues with a vehicle no matter what. I am sure most of us have owned enough cars to realize certain problems tend to plague certain vehicles. In this case its the supercharger, the wrx has the trans, the eclipse definately has a trans and a crank walk issue. So I mean it could always be worse. I agree it would be nice to see a major change to cure this "design flaw." I use that term loosely since no one knows for a fact what is causing the issues. I do wonder though about the people who have issues. If there is anything you do differently than anyone else. Such as type of oil, style of driving, cool down methods. I am not saying my way or anyone else's way is right, but I do wonder if these issues could have something to do with something we as owners do. Maybe we use too heavy of an oil and it causes sludging. Obviously something like that would pose serious r&d issues on trd's part but who knows. I personally allow my car to cool down for a minimum of 30 seconds after I drive. If I see boost alot or I drive a long distance I let it cool down longer. Usually 2-3 minutes. I also allow the car to warm up enough that the gauge starts to move out of cold before taking off and I never see boost or even 0 vacuum until the car is fully warmed up. It may seem a tad excessive, but having previously owned dsm's it was a necessity.

tc2nut4

I agree, this issue seems a tad inflated because of the internet and the wonderful bandwagon riders. I guess the only thing that discourages me is that no changes are being made when the new SC is being put in. Its the same unit with the same potential. I hope this fixes it in your case and you can go back to a happy TC owner

P.S. Industry standard just means they aren't beating anyone over the head on the price for a dirt cheap car...

PghtC

Well mine was just replaced for the bearing issue and the tech installed it via conference call with Bob Garner at TRD. Apparently there are a lot of tolerances and exact measurements that must be abided by, because they had to add a bunch of shims to get it within spec. Man, I hope I don't have this problem again, it took 2 weeks to get the repair approved and re-installed.

cessblood

Watching. I'm trying to get all the info on the supercharger that i can, so I know was is going on just incase i hear something weird coming for mine s/c. each time read someone forum it's making me worry about mine s/c more.

Robs_tc

Well you can call me what you want but after you've gone through two superchargers you might be a little upset and voice your discontent. I do understand what you guys are trying to say that some cars have their problems and any mechanical device will always have the possibility of failing, and will in enough time. I just couldn't agree more with tc2nut4 in the sense that TRD is doing nothing to fix the problem. I'm sorry for being one of the guys that is "inflating" the issue but there's clearly a problem. I'll never forget just how much trouble I went though to get my s/c'ers replaced and even more so, convincing them my engine was genuinely messed up from the s/c. Than again, the problems I've had could be largely the result of a bad install.