blower snout wear and noise

[The_Raging_Bull]

The spring material is intentionally harder than the shaft which by design results in visual witness marks and/or limited wear on the shaft. The witness marks and/or limited wear is expected and has been observed on all the Eaton component durability tests, GM engine and vehicle durability tests and on customer vehicles with no impact on the functionality of the spring and isolator. The shaft and isolator are in a sealed cavity, separate from the rest of the supercharger and engine.

Exactly right on the function per Ed Piatek.

The real solution is a bearing held in place by magnetic levitation, and that would cost about 5% more to build a SC with, and require a different casting. Unfortunately we have to appeal to the performance guys in Chevy engineering to give an option. If enough customers are concerned; then they should respond.The reply posted on the CTS-V forum doesn't give me much hope; as they've been dealing with this for 3+ years

[2001ragtop]

It sounds like GM is saying that they have calculated how much raw material the spring-coupling is going to rub off the shaft, but at a certain point, the spring reaches the max amount or "cutting ability", and though the shaft ends up having the cork screw cuts, this combined with the coupling being supported by those (3) dowels, they have determined that it will be fine.

It would be nice if that center shaft was turned down to a smaller diameter, and then put some kind of hardened sleeve on top, and then put the isolator, so the spring rubs against the sleeve made of hardened steel.

i was trying to think of another way to have a dampener that has the same strength as that spring, but it does not look like there's enough room to try springs mounted like the way they are mounted in a clutch disk.

I'm sure some engineers HATED this idea they use now (with the spring rubbing the shaft) but they were forced to do it due to the amount of time to re-engineer that area with the coupling.

[paperhunter2000]

No impact on functionality, jury is still out in my mind. What about something equally as important, owner perception.. The fact that my 65K vehicle with 400 miles sounds like it has loose marbles under the hood, screws with my sensory information. I've dealt with issues like this with GM in the past. Take my 2002 Silverado 2500HD and the intermediate shaft issue. Not less than 4 times was it replaced with the same miss-engineered part until they finally engineered a correct replacement. One that didn't loose lubrication at critical points. Viola, no more steering knocks or PERCEPTION that something was loose in the steering column. Do the right thing GM as you did with the previously mentioned. Oh, and don't take 3.5 years this time.
Fine, Eaton is a reputable company. But they should re-engineer this component. The limited number of production vehicles plagued by this issue should be addressed by GM. I didn't by this car from Eaton... I sincerely hope Brandon from GM is reading this thread cause I'm expecting feedback from him. And not a re-post of the latest TSB indicating to close the hood, roll up the windows, and rev to 1200 RPM.

[closs2sx]

its pretty bad when you take your 60k car and a friend says start it up lets hear it and then hes like what the hell is that and you have to explain to him that its factory issued gm. It actually scares away potential buyers not to mention its embarrassing and it happens on multiple ocassions sucks really

[JFWJR179]

Originally Posted by closs2sx

its pretty bad when you take your 60k car and a friend says start it up lets hear it and then hes like what the hell is that and you have to explain to him that its factory issued gm. It actually scares away potential buyers not to mention its embarrassing and it happens on multiple ocassions sucks really

I agree with you.
IF that center shaft is supposed to be scratched/grooved by the spring
as part of the normal/safe functioning of the spring, THEN I say that
is F***ed up !!!

I really don't like knowing that my brand new ZL1 with only 600 miles on it
has a blower snout that looks like that and also may be making a noise as
part of it's normal operations/functions.

IF that is the case, THEN GM and Eaton should have engineered the TVS blower to whine like a Kenne Bell or a Whipple so I could hear a sound that I like to hear !

I'm just saying...

[RiCorvette]

So, 'planned obsolescence' at work here? At least contrived 'usable working life'...
timed to fail just after the warranty ends, no doubt.
So much for top notch engineering.

[The Baron]

Lol i know a few posts have stated on here a solid coupler does not fix the noise, but im telling you it does. I have a ctv with STOCK exhaust so i hear everything. It even has a cam in it so the idle problem was TERRIBLE when i put it back together initially (the solid coupler was on back order). The lpe coupler fixed everything. Dead quiet. This is a matter of eaton not wanting to buck up and prob pay gm for a recall they figure effects so few cars the public outcry will never matter..

[JFWJR179]

Originally Posted by The Baron

Lol i know a few posts have stated on here a solid coupler does not fix the noise, but im telling you it does. I have a ctv with STOCK exhaust so i hear everything. It even has a cam in it so the idle problem was TERRIBLE when i put it back together initially (the solid coupler was on back order). The lpe coupler fixed everything. Dead quiet. This is a matter of eaton not wanting to buck up and prob pay gm for a recall they figure effects so few cars the public outcry will never matter..

Check out the youtube link below re: replacing the spring coupler with
a solid coupler to resolve the scratching/grooving and rattle noise on a
supercharged Cadillac which also uses the Eaton.

Somebody please post a link where the solid coupler can be purchased.

The Baron knows what he is talking about !

[The_Raging_Bull]

So there are what 5000 to 6000 ZL1's by 2013 end of model year? If as a group, and I mean like a few hundred or more owners > a sizable % of the total ZL1 ownership group complaining they will listen, as we also represent future customers. Shoot Brandon says he'll monitor the thread, but t sounds like he wants to deal one by one. Thats good for Chevy bad for the owners. Whats good for one is good for all. Chevy customer Service should speak in this thread; and I'd urge everyone to PM Brandon that and ask Chevy to mn uo and address this thread.

One of the threads I mentioned, the first one referenced earlier had like less than 100 CTS-V owners on a list...kind of underwhelming for an issue Cadillac customer service should worry about. Is there any wonder they havent made a move in 3.5 years?

Chevy need to understand..great car, get a fix for an issue and give owners the choice of listening to the gear whine over marbles rattling under the hood. The way you do that is to get the word out to ZL1 owners so they understand the issue at hand, and address it to Chevrolet, preferably through this thread.

Anyway you slice it, there is power it numbers. I'll almost guarantee that most ZL1 owners are car guys, and will make the same choice I would...a solid coupling and gear whine over marbles rattling in a can. Personally I'd pay to put the isolation coupling in with Chevy's blessing. But I won't do anything to void my warranty.

[The Baron]

I remember reading about how real factory hotrods had no warranty..lol

[The_Raging_Bull]

Originally Posted by The Baron

I remember reading about how real factory hotrods had no warranty..lol

I'm LOL too...when I rod mine...and I will..; either I'll get a Katech or Lingenfelter warranty to make up for the Chevy one I'll lose on the powertrain, until then Chevy needs to step up.

Or just blow by what they can do, and keep it just under 1000 flywheel so I wont putz the engines bottom end.

here's a treat or an urban legend:
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v1630567rk...through+Paris+

[dimitri]

how about we start a petition??

i bet camaro 5 members that own zl1's will sign
then we can get cts v guys to sign.

[The_Raging_Bull]

Originally Posted by dimitri

how about we start a petition??

i bet camaro 5 members that own zl1's will sign
then we can get cts v guys to sign.

How about Pm'ing every ZL1 owner listed on Camaro5 and asking the to review the issue and sign up if they're in? More effective..make Chevy respond publicly.

One thing, you ought to review all the posts in the listed threads; it took me a couple of hours to read each post.

[OldScoolCamaro]

...bottom line is there is an inherent wear issue with the coupler that causes warranty problems down the road, early enough if caught in time by the consumer. Since this wear issue, a design flaw, continues to be produced without attention to the problem indicates GM is willing to roll the dice on it and let it go. If GM were to admit a wear problem with this part and it's design, then a recall would have to be announced.