It's a bunch of crap, just TRD pawning off blame for their crapy seals. The s/c itself creates enough heat, the Header isnt adding anything to it. Pop your hood after driving and try to hold your hand to the s/c, see how long you can hold it there. Not long at all. If that heat isnt enough then what the Header radiates isnt adding that much more that it will make a seal go bad.

 

^x2 and how they change the price of their product every few months .... shady.

 

When I had my supercharger put on back in Nov '05, I asked the dealership to leave the heat shield off of the stock header. I ran that way until a couple months ago and decided to put on a Megan header (got it for $50 from a friend). I finally got the header wrapped a few weeks ago. I've had no issues in the 30k miles I've had the supercharger. I also changed the crank and s/c pulleys a few months ago... no problems.

 

What do you think about the light crank pulley? People say they deff feel a difference

 

hmm some dilemma, people say its ok to run a header w/o jet hot coating or header wrap, then some say you have to or it will cause the shaft of the s/c to leak,i dunno.....i dont wanna jet hot it cuz it requires to send my header in (i have alphawerks)and iv'e had bad experiences with sending stuff in and not getting it back. and i dont wanna header wrap it cuz people say it might crack the header if not dont right and i dont wanna take that risk.

SO.......the big question is.......can i just run the damn AW header by itself? i really dont wanna go back to stock since i love the header gains

 

i say to wrap it up then ... just dont over wrap it ...the header is going to be damn hot ... wrap it lightly and go for it. People were getting leaks because of wrong torque specs on the bolts .... i havent heard of one person complain about oil in the past 6months

 

alright cool thanks man, hey i said it in the other thread but do u know if the new s/c lower price has a redesigned bracket?? if did TRD never replaced it because of just simply BAD INSTALLS and not FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS properly?

 

i was speaking with sparks toyota yesterday and they gave me the rundown. the kits are 2100.00ish and they include the new mounts. They still have the nipple thing on them and not the bolt so changing the pulley is an option. The next batch of s/c's will have the bolt so unless you drill it out ...you cant swap the pulley. I honestly think thats bs because 1.) not everybody is getting the dealer to install it so if they want to install a different pulley ...they darn well should be able to ... 2.) its proven over and over and over and over that a 9.5lb pulley runs great with the TRD tune. Its one more way toyota has proven to be #2 and chevy did a great job with their upgrade packages for the cobalt ....it just makes sence .... we are freakin tuners. We aren't riding around in 100k cars ...but we are tuners. The people on this site are mostly darn smart and make the correct decisions for their cars. A lot of us know more then the dealers know and its funny when the dealer calls you asking questions.

 

thanks that is all i needed to know, and i am gonna do it by myself and some buddies so i prolly will get the NST 9.5 pulley and just use the TRD reflash tool

 

I like the price that it is now .. I thought it was fair at what it was ..but hey .... 2100 is nicer. Get the pulley from NST and the belt size they say. The flash isnt hard.... if you cant find the tool there are people who have it.

 

doesnt the tool come with the s/c kit?

 

no - the dealer has to buy it. Thats why some dealers that dont have the piece dont even want to install your SC kit. I laughed when the dealer I bought my car from said they didnt want to install it unless I bought the s/c off them for $500 more. ha.

 

how much is the tool sold seperatly? if its a couple of hundred i might as well have the dealer install the s/c for me then since they charge like 500-800 and they flash the ecu also

 

I think its around the 300-400range (dont quote me) - But there are peopel online who you can send the ecu to and they will ship it back overnight. Thats I think $120ish (dont quote me).

 

ok thank you for all your info

 

after i wrapped my alphawerks header i could tell a huge diff, not only did the heat wave that used to smack me in the face when i opened the hood go away, but i can actually see 9lbs at 5600 now. coating or wrap is a necessity!

 

^^ where did you get your wrap from? and is it easy to do?

 

i bought mine from checker auto parts, but you can order the wrap from jeggs for the same price plus shipping and handling. any performance shop should carry it, but its not very common. its pretty easy, takes time though, and try not to breathe the dust that comes off the wrap. if you get it wet it goes on easier, but its messy and smells worse when it burns off. totally worth it though, oh and its like 40 bucks for 50'x1"

 

jwaggz, I had the header, 9.5 psi and crank pullies, and custom exhaust work done all at the same time. It would have been nice to get it done piece by piece to see what made gains or not, but I didn't have the time or place to do the installs myself or the time to have them put on one by one. I know several people that have a lightened crank pulley and noticed a difference, esp quicker acceleration.

Sleep3r, you should be able to find the wrap at most auto parts stores, like Advanced Auto or Autozone. I think the black wrap would look better.

Cheesy vid, but it explains the process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55U2ArzgZf4

 

i have mmw header also it seems pretty good no problems here.. and my header is half wrap.. just the top part should be good enough to keep the away..