I was planning on getting a supercharger for my TC. But I've heard people are having problems with them. Like bearings going out, burning oil, CEL, and even engines blowing up. It's seems like all these problems occur only to people who had these S/C installed at the dealership. I have yet to hear any problem from non dealer installed S/C. Are the dealers not trained?

 

thats right dealers are NOT trained,i had mine installed at a dealer, has been about 6 months(7k miles) no problems yet, knock on wood

 

Yea basically you can become one of those dealer installer people for about...hmmm two semesters at a community college so yea...haha they are not really that trained but lets just say...I got in A in my automotive class with the teacher who does those classes just by comming to class.
...but at least you get a warranty right?

 

Just make sure you ask a lot of questions (i.e. how many have you installed, any problems with them that I should be aware of, et cetera). Your best option is to pick one that is experienced with installing superchargers as well as honest. We all know of the problems with the 05/06 version, so if they tell you "nah, no problems at all, it's great", then go to the next toyota dealership. In most towns, you have at least 2 or 3 toyota dealerships to choose from, so be picky!

 

i think the problem lies with the people at TRD assembling the blowers itself. TRD just then blames the local install techs.

 

TRD blames the installers for a bad install or the customer for not doing proper maintenance

The Installer blames TRD for having a poor design, no training, or a poorly written manual or they blame the customer for not doing proper maintenance

The Customer blames TRD and the installer for the reasons listed above.

It's THE TRIANGLE OF BLAME! Ultimately, I think it's the customers to figure our what to do because, unfortunately, it's their money and buyer beware.



Make sure the installers DON'T use impact wrenches - the torqueing of screws is very touchy and important. The alignment of components during installition is (supposedly) VERY important.

Check your oil levels frequently. DO NOT rely on the "check oil" light that is part of the car. If a seal blows all at once, oil will leak out pretty fast, get an aftermarket oil pressure, and oil temp sensor (and maybe a water temp sensor too). You need to stop the car (or at least stop the engine) the second you notice a big pressure drop.

TRD really cheaped out on some of the components. Garage 1217 has a thread on things you can do to "possibly" improve the life of your supercharger although it ironically also invalidates the warranty. However, since TRD has usually refused to give people with broken SC a new one, it's probably a hell of a lot cheaper to just refurb your broken one.

 

dealers suck if you havent noticed... dont go to them for anything.. overpirced and ____ty work..

 

Get it installed at a shop! After doing a lot of reading on this, 1yr, 12,000 miles is worth it to avoid headache because of a lame install. Go somewhere where the techs KNOW how to install superchargers and F/I, and you will be better off. I mean, how much worse can it be?

 

Well, you only 1yr and 12,000 miles warranty on the supercharger itself. If the S/C effects any part of the engine, any part of that is not warranty. I was thinking about having one of my friend do it. He's installed a couple of turbos and S/C on other cars. No problem. What do you guys think?

 

have him do it, but make sure he reads up on it and torques EVERYTHING correctly. all the thoughts about dealerships on this post are from experiance, not fact. i love my dealership and everything thats ever gone wrong with my car has been covered. bottom line, treat your car like your sister, only let people you trust under the hood!

 

Yeah torque EVERYTHING. WIth the thing I hear from dealerships, not being trained, not torqueing, and always using impact wrench on parts really scares me.

 

Although the dealerships as you all put from your vast knowledge may not be trained at least you still get your parts replaced under warranty. As for installing at a performance shop, where did those guys get their training from? I bet they went to trd supercharger install school right? That must be why they call dealerships asking for advice.

 

Is any one running a SRI or a CAI with their S/C set-up? if so please PM... i dont want to thread jack...

 

Performance shop have experience installing things like a S/C. Techs at the dealerships probably knows how to diagnosis car but I bet they've never install any performance parts.

 

You can believe what you like about performance shops but their experience is achieved just like at a dealer. They install it and learn from mistakes. Just because they installed a roots blower on an integra once 3 years ago doesn't mean they know how to install a centrifugal on a tc. For someone who supposedly works at a dealership you seem to have a strange viewpoint on techs there. I would trust someone who rebuilds the engine in toytas/scions for a living, before the guy who works in a shop that installs intakes and headers/exhausts more than superchargers and turbos.

 

vortech is the company that assembles these blowers

 

Yeah, there are no such thing as a Scion mechanic. These Toyota techs are not cross trained at all. I was the 1st out of the gate for my Dealer. I bought my TRD the 1st week it was available. It took them 6 days to install because they kept loosing parts. It only cost $300 and I got full power train warranty on it.

TIPS:

1. Open the box and do full inventory.
2. Fully read the install manual over and over. This makes you the expert because the Toyota tech is not!
3. Inventory the kit at the Dealership with the Tech.
4. Double check all their work.

 

Wow $300? The reason why I have this point of view for techs at dealership is because I work at a dealership. I see how they work. cutting corner whenever they can and etc. $300 for installation?

 

Don't even get your free oil changes there. Longo Scion/Toyota refuses to use the CORRECT type of oil for the FREE oil changes. The friggin cap calls for 5w-20 (on '07's and up), but you have to pay for your FREE oil change for them to use it, or else you get 5w-30.

If they can't change your oil to spec, what makes you think that they can install a supercharger? If a friggin retarded monkey can do sign language and recognize words and letters, you'd think a tech could tell the difference between 5w-20 and 5w-30.

 

www.FasterScions.com handle any type of installation you need. check them out