how many shafts did you sell in the end.

also is there an identifier to tell if the supercharger already has the shaft?

 

There were over 100 shafts sold, there is no way to tell really unless you take the supercharger apart.

 

do you know how much it would cost for someone else to make a shaft? and what kind of companies to look for? maybe machine shops?

 

Your better off going to turbo, it will cost more to make a shaft properly than your supercharger is worth. You would have to look into a high end machine shop.

 

*EDIT https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sci...ptions-232092/

 

This doesn't address the Achilles heel of the s/c, which is the shaft/pulley side of things, which is not a good design and I wouldn't trust it, its still best to get rid of the problem all together and go turbo. In addition to this s/c parts are becoming harder and harder to find.
Its up to you, if you have time and money to blow then have fun, if not turbo will suit you better. After going both ways, i'd just pick a different car, in going through an S/C, 2 Turbo setups, and 2 engines, I found the 2AZ-FE isn't the best platform for forced induction in general.

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it does if you dont change the pulley to make it spin faster and keep the shaft cooled.

besides, with the right bearings and a remade shaft, what is left really?

and I did pick a different platform lol, its a 1991 MR2 with the 2AZ.

 

The design is bad all together, a grease fitting and cooling will help, but no matter what bears you get, I would replace them yearly if you are aggressive with the car, the 2AZ-FE in the Scion is not the best engine for F/I,
there are many other engines that support F/I much better. In my experience the 2AZ has PCV issues when using F/I.

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is there anyway you could explain what exactly fails on the shaft? I cant really tell from any pictures on your website (that now doesnt load)


*Edit I should explain, I got this supercharger for $300, I think its worth it to pump $1000 into getting the shaft in order, because this is a smog legal setup.

 

website works for me.... the main problem is the bearings, once they go bad they lock up and the shaft starts spinning inside of the bearings which causes damaged to it. So its the design of the bearings/housing more so than the shaft itself. My shaft was a replacement for shafts that had already been damaged, if yours is not, then do whatever you can to keep it that way.

 

really? the website made it sound like it was improved.


so if you use the ceramic bearings how long do they last?

ok sorry I was using the link in the first post.

 

The shaft side doesn't not spin fast enough to warrant ceramic bearings, they won't last any longer than steel bearings. It depends on heat and load and luck. Some people have gone a year, 2, 5, 6 months. Have to keep an eye on it and make sure you keep it cool and install a grease fitting. Ideally take it apart every year and take a look at what is going on.

 

ok so it has a lot to do with heat, I need to do some thinking about that then. isnt ceramic better at not absorbing heat than steel? or was it dissipating heat?

but it just takes checking up with it every year or so?

 

Ceramic generates less heat because of friction, but that is at very high speed. It is not worth the money for the shaft side of things, very minimal benefit. If you check yearly and every time something doesn't sound right, you should be ok. The grease fitting is the best mod you can do imho.

 

I dont understand the benefits of the grease fitting. are you saying the shaft consumes grease and needs to be topped off every once in awhile?

 

the grease in the bearings liquefies and gets thrown out of the bearings because of centrifugal force. So yes packing the space between the bearings with grease lets new grease get into the bearings. The grease leaks out of the shaft side housing slowly over time.

 

so there is no way to just seal it so it doesnt lose grease?

 

no

 

I agree with gompka, at this point in the 1st gen tC's life, nobody should really be looking at the supercharger as an option, no matter how cheap the kit was, there is a reason for that.

Especially with the kits most people will be running across will be used and who really knows what kind of state it may be in. even if it was new, you have to be very careful with install since that was a big problem with the kits failing.


with all that said, 7+ years now my S/C is running fine on the 9.5lb boost pulley and I do have the gompka shaft.
it's my daily driver and I am NOT running this car for speed runs at a track, just fun cruising.

every couple years you need to change the belt and an idler or tensioner pulley, but that is the only extra maintenance I would say i have to do because of the supercharger.

My experience is definitely not the norm, and i firmly believe the reason is because I was never looking to race everything or to everywhere.

 

I am looking to purchase one of these shafts or the shaft with bracket assemblies or possibly the complete supercharger assembly PTR41-21165 with upgraded shaft if anyone has one floating around. Thanks.