Nicodemus

Hey JKF,

I'm hoping someone with a Ripp SC kit installed can give me some quick help. I bought my Jeep with the Ripp SC already installed so I'm not 100% positive on this noise. The noise from the engine sounds extremely high, like a bad bearing. I always thought it was just the SC but watching YouTube videos and using the metal rod stethoscope, I'm not so sure. I put the rod in many places, including the SC itself, all the other pulleys/bearings and they all sound relatively similar. Until I put the rod on the two small idle pulleys. BOTH of them hurt my ears using the stethoscope. I went on Ripp website and luckily they have them for sale, but they're $135/EACH. I have a really hard time forking over $270 in small bearings so I was hoping someone with a Ripp SC can confirm that their idle pulleys do/don't sound extremely loud compared to other pulleys. I don't think both these expensive pulleys would fail at the same time. For $135/ea they should outlast all the other much cheaper pulleys IMO.

So question is, are your super charger idle pulleys much much louder than the rest of your pulleys/bearings? See picture for reference.



Thanks in advance!

bombout800

Are you sure your belt wrap is correct and your not getting belt slip?

blockrockin

ive had a few ripp superchargers and the supercharger itself is pretty noisy . maybe you could take a short video and post it up so we could hear it. but i agree i doubt both pulleys went bad. im guessing it is just the sound of the blower you are hearing ? also the bov value makes some noise when idling. you could always throw on a stock belt and bypass the supercharger and take a listen. i doubt anything is wrong.. do you have any idea how old the supercharger is ? from the picture you have a gen 1 supercharger.. you might want to look into upgrading to the gen 2 with intercooler.. well worth the upgrade.

planman

The oil in the supercharger needs to be changed at about every other oil change interval. If this gets neglected, the bearings inside may need to be replaced.

This is more likely than failure of both pulleys--unless they were improperly installed.

Nicodemus

Thanks guys for the replies.

The picture above isn't my jeep, I pulled it off a Google search since it was dark outside. But I have the gen 1 setup with the gen 2 upgrade and intercooler. So no meth injection. I'm not 100% sure how old it is. The jeep use to have the Gen 1 setup, and the original owner upgraded when RIPP came out with the gen 1 to Gen 2 kit. So I'll guess 3 years old? I changed my engine oil and supercharger two months ago, No difference in noise.

I've never posted a video before but I'll be sure to give that a try. I've been trying to hunt down other jeeps in the area with the supercharger but I've had no luck. When my gf drives my jeep and I hear her coming to the stop sign, my impression (and my roommates) is more "something sounds bad" and not "that sounds sweet". I'm not ruling out the sound is normal from the SC I just want to be confident the Sound is normal and not a bad bearing.

Thanks again on the replies, I'll work on that video.

planman

Go and buy a stock length belt so you can bypass the supercharger.

Test the pulleys in question by hand. If they wobble, they need to be replaced.

If they don't wobble, it is the Vortec unit. Contact Vortec about sending it to them for repair. It might cost a few hundred dollars if it is internal bearings.

You will need to run the stock belt until you either replace the pulleys or reinstall the Vortec. You will need to figure out how to run the air filter without the Vortec and use the Diablosport Predator to reinstall the stock tune while you are driving without the Vortec.

eddybarba

I have a 3.6L 2012 and had the exact same problem. I was going nuts trying to figure it out. I had an aftermarket belt, from napa autoparts, and it was slipping and causing the noise. I also had a secondary cause. While changing my engine oil I made a mess and got oil everywhere so had to wash it. I didn't realize there's a breather on the s/c itself and I had some water in it. I had to do 3 consecutive oil changes.

After that all good.

Nicodemus

Okay, sorry about the massive delay. I went to Ohio for a few weeks then to Phoenix for work and am just now getting around to capturing a video and being able to post it.

So this is the noise, and I'm 95% certain this is not normal and where I am hearing that "doesn't sound quite right" sound. Can anybody verify if their pulley(s) make this kind of noise? My other pulleys are near silent, my RIPP idler pulleys are much much louder. Just sucks that these things cost over $130 EACH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3DTqssw9LQ Thanks guys.

planman

When you grab on them and pull them in and out or up and down, is there any play?

Nicodemus

The pulley on the left does have some play (in and out). I checked the bolt and it was firmly tightened down already. I need to call Ripp and see about the small idler pulleys, the one pictured on their website does not look like mine.