SC oil consumption (compressor itself)

8589 · 08-10-2009, 02:42 PM

What is the average?

8589 · 08-10-2009, 04:51 PM

how many miles a charge/top off is spoused to last?

mr2tim · 08-14-2009, 01:22 PM

Real interesting question your posing there buddy?

When I bought my 89S/C from the dealer new I got more than 10 years on that original OEM compressor.

The rebuilt unit from Ft Lauderale, Fl several weeks ago came with a 1 year warrenty, (almost funny isn't it?)

With the lubricating of the compressor depending on the R-134 carring the oil that leaves compressor life depending a whole lot on whether the system ever leaks and if so, how much, how fast.

If you (or that previous owner) wait until the A/C system stops working it's probably too late to prevent damage to the compressor. That's contingent on the refrigerant being so low the sensor turns the system off.

Most folks don't have the good sense to re-pressurize their refrigerant when they start hearing non-lubricating noises from the compressor.

One other aspect of compressor life may be the seals. As I see it our foreign friends have a closer tolerance built into their parts whereas American suppliers have a more loose fitting specifications.

Maybe this response will inspire other owners to relate their AC experiences which will probaly be very amusing.

div0 · 08-14-2009, 07:34 PM

I don't quite follow your post mr2tim. If I understand correctly, 8589 is talking about the SC12 supercharger oil reserve, but it looks like you are talking about the air conditioning compressor.

The SC12 supercharger contains a light weight gear oil that keeps the rotor gears lubricated. This oil does not really degrade much or get consumed like oil engine can. Only if you have a leak in your supercharger seals will the oil escape and the level will drop. So if everything is functioning correctly, you should see no oil consumption from the supercharger.

For the age of our cars, it is probably worth checking the oil level every 15,000 miles. If there is a leak, it would be better to catch it sooner rather than later. Others S/C owners here with more experience may have a different opinion.

Do we have any S/C owners that have had their supercharger oil all leak away?

Jackstand Queen · 08-16-2009, 12:35 PM

SC12 shouldn't use oil to speak of.

However if your SC is really old and worn out, the SC oil can get past the bearings the rotors spin in.

Also, if your SC has been totally disassembled and the rotors were pulled out of their bearings . . . expect high SC oil consumption.
Don't ask me how I know this.

GrandpaGofast · 09-12-2009, 12:51 PM

OK, so I'm planning on changing the oil in the sc.
It's a little low, and i don't know if the previous owner ever changed it.
In the book it shows a drain plug w/ magnet.
Any know if this is actually accessable ?
I've searched the subject here and the other board.
Doesn't really seem to be a consensus on the preffered oil for it.
The closest place to me w/ oil in stock is the GM garage 25 mi up the road.
My neighbor w/ the heli said he'd give me some turbine oil if i wanted to use that,
but that he didn't know if that would be appropriate for a sc or not.
Thoughts ? opinions ?
GP

curvesrgood · 09-12-2009, 01:41 PM

I use GM fluid. I added a bit to Dad's before we sold it... it was definately a bit low and had 200K plus miles on the supercharger and probably hadn't been checked in at least 6-10 years. I topped mine off (89K miles) with a little, but it wasn't very low. If you need the number off the bottle I can check that, have a half-full one out in the trunk of my N/A (ironically... one would think it would be in the trunk of the supercharged car, lol).

Jackstand Queen · 09-12-2009, 02:49 PM

On the same side as the dipstick and directly underneath the dipstick is the drain plug. Its a 17mm bolt head. Definitely drain and add new.

Oem SC oil is fantastically expensive. I also use GM SC oil, and it aint cheap! Some people even use a pure synthetic motor oil. The bearings on SC's are weird, it could even be possible that the oem sc oil is formulated not to ruin the SC's bearing seals. Dunno.

GrandpaGofast · 09-12-2009, 08:46 PM

There were several discussions over at the oc board, but like i say, no consensus...
Prolly go w/ the ford or gm...
$45/4.5 oz @ toyo dealer 50 mi. away...that just gets you changed.
$11/ bottle GM. Dunno about furd.

8589 · 09-13-2009, 01:46 PM

SC, sorry if I mislead on A/C, I read somewhere SC oil is for dissipating heat not lubrication, rotors roll on sealed bearings (grease)

is that true or I was food poisoned?

Jackstand Queen · 09-13-2009, 06:50 PM

This is what SC bearings looked like to me:

a wad of 1/4 inch ball bearings embedded in a wad of epoxy.

There are two small cogs in the resavoir area. The bottom cog turns the top one. So the friction and wear on the cogs justifies the need for a lubricant. Cool air flowing into the SC is the best way to keep its temperature down.

BTW: you need a giant (Horse sized) syringe to remove and add SC oil while the SC is mounted in the car. There's no room to pour a bottle of oil into the dipstick hole, which is very small. I bought an antique tempered glass syringe off Ebay. Its a 50 CC unit, and is really an interesting piece of work itself.

GrandpaGofast · 09-13-2009, 11:29 PM

"I bought an antique tempered glass syringe off Ebay."
Nice.
I have a plastic 50 cc. one

GrandpaGofast · 09-14-2009, 04:08 PM

OK, I called Lucas Oil Products about this.
The rep asked "Street or track app ?"
Replied "street".
Rep said " a mixture of %10 (Lucas) synthetic oil stabilizer and %90 (Lucas) 5w-30 full sythetic motor oil.
The synth stabilizer is $11/qt. dunno what the 5-30 goes for but i'm guessing $6-7/qt. for that.
Ford garage wants $25/ 4.5 oz bottle.
So the question is...Is that brand name stuff really special, or are we just paying for the brand name ?

mr2tim · 09-18-2009, 01:17 PM

After several years of buying OUTRAGEOUSLY priced Toyota S/C oil,, I decided to dump the dealer. (story of my life, sic)

I asked several Chief mechanics running superchargers on V8 competition engines at the SuperBoat Championships when they came to Deerfield Beach for the offshore boat races what they use.

3 of 4 Chiefs said they use Royal Purple.

Good enuff reference for me. ($11//Quart) for the last 8 years.

BTW the Service Manual calls for 130cc of supercharger oil
******************************************
NOT mentioned!!: Front housing cover requires greasing during maintenance rebuilds. Page sc-14 item #5

8589 · 09-20-2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr2tim

After several years of buying OUTRAGEOUSLY priced Toyota S/C oil,, I decided to dump the dealer. (story of my life, sic)

I asked several Chief mechanics running superchargers on V8 competition engines at the SuperBoat Championships when they came to Deerfield Beach for the offshore boat races what they use.

3 of 4 Chiefs said they use Royal Purple.

Good enuff reference for me. ($11//Quart) for the last 8 years.

BTW the Service Manual calls for 130cc of supercharger oil
******************************************
NOT mentioned!!: Front housing cover requires greasing during maintenance rebuilds. Page sc-14 item #5

+ 1

20 years ago the popularity/reliability of synthetics was like finding today a blind men lost in the woods for a couple of years and telling him we have a black president...to mascaraed the value retailers claimed 15.000 miles intervals......we now now it was "trickle down economics"... not a car maker trusted synthetics back them (even today) Not looking to upset the wikipedia guys but as of today synthetic is good enough for SC's

"viscosity" is what I would like to know toyota SC oil had/have

328FTW · 09-20-2009, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr2tim

After several years of buying OUTRAGEOUSLY priced Toyota S/C oil,, I decided to dump the dealer. (story of my life, sic)

I asked several Chief mechanics running superchargers on V8 competition engines at the SuperBoat Championships when they came to Deerfield Beach for the offshore boat races what they use.

3 of 4 Chiefs said they use Royal Purple.

Good enuff reference for me. ($11//Quart) for the last 8 years.

BTW the Service Manual calls for 130cc of supercharger oil
******************************************
NOT mentioned!!: Front housing cover requires greasing during maintenance rebuilds. Page sc-14 item #5

Which of the royal purples do you use Tim? I'm sold on the idea of using royal purple I know a rep for it and I can get it through him just don't want to suddenly be told it was the special nitro oil or something given my luck

A lot of the royal purple stuff is like 0W-30 and such and contains some really good stuff as far as wear protection goes

GrandpaGofast · 10-22-2009, 09:38 AM

OK, so I happened to be near the GM garage that had some SC oil in stock.
Looks like the Amsoil rep. was right. SC oil is ester based.
The GM oil Part#12345982
"Contains: Fatty acids, C5-10,esters with dipentaerythritol-
Phosphoric acid,(1,1-dimethylethy)phenyl diphenyl ester"
I bought 2- 4oz bottles for $22 Enough for a change and then some.
I feel confident that this will be as good as the OEM stuff.
Grandpa

08-10-2009, 02:42 PM	#1 (permalink)
8589 No Skills Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 43 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	SC oil consumption (compressor itself) What is the average?

08-14-2009, 01:22 PM	#3 (permalink)
mr2tim SUPERcharZed ToyZ RacZer Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: South Florida Posts: 690 Thanks: 2 Thanked 41 Times in 38 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	Compressor leakage rate? Real interesting question your posing there buddy? When I bought my 89S/C from the dealer new I got more than 10 years on that original OEM compressor. The rebuilt unit from Ft Lauderale, Fl several weeks ago came with a 1 year warrenty, (almost funny isn't it?) With the lubricating of the compressor depending on the R-134 carring the oil that leaves compressor life depending a whole lot on whether the system ever leaks and if so, how much, how fast. If you (or that previous owner) wait until the A/C system stops working it's probably too late to prevent damage to the compressor. That's contingent on the refrigerant being so low the sensor turns the system off. Most folks don't have the good sense to re-pressurize their refrigerant when they start hearing non-lubricating noises from the compressor. One other aspect of compressor life may be the seals. As I see it our foreign friends have a closer tolerance built into their parts whereas American suppliers have a more loose fitting specifications. Maybe this response will inspire other owners to relate their AC experiences which will probaly be very amusing.

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08-10-2009, 04:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
8589 No Skills Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 43 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	how many miles a charge/top off is spoused to last?

08-14-2009, 07:34 PM	#4 (permalink)
div0 No Skills Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	I don't quite follow your post mr2tim. If I understand correctly, 8589 is talking about the SC12 supercharger oil reserve, but it looks like you are talking about the air conditioning compressor. The SC12 supercharger contains a light weight gear oil that keeps the rotor gears lubricated. This oil does not really degrade much or get consumed like oil engine can. Only if you have a leak in your supercharger seals will the oil escape and the level will drop. So if everything is functioning correctly, you should see no oil consumption from the supercharger. For the age of our cars, it is probably worth checking the oil level every 15,000 miles. If there is a leak, it would be better to catch it sooner rather than later. Others S/C owners here with more experience may have a different opinion. Do we have any S/C owners that have had their supercharger oil all leak away?

08-16-2009, 12:35 PM	#5 (permalink)
Jackstand Queen Cage Fighter Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 677 Thanks: 52 Thanked 56 Times in 53 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	SC12 shouldn't use oil to speak of. However if your SC is really old and worn out, the SC oil can get past the bearings the rotors spin in. Also, if your SC has been totally disassembled and the rotors were pulled out of their bearings . . . expect high SC oil consumption. Don't ask me how I know this.

09-12-2009, 12:51 PM	#6 (permalink)
GrandpaGofast Have tools, will cob it. Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mid Atlantic USA Posts: 131 Thanks: 33 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	OK, so I'm planning on changing the oil in the sc. It's a little low, and i don't know if the previous owner ever changed it. In the book it shows a drain plug w/ magnet. Any know if this is actually accessable ? I've searched the subject here and the other board. Doesn't really seem to be a consensus on the preffered oil for it. The closest place to me w/ oil in stock is the GM garage 25 mi up the road. My neighbor w/ the heli said he'd give me some turbine oil if i wanted to use that, but that he didn't know if that would be appropriate for a sc or not. Thoughts ? opinions ? GP

09-12-2009, 01:41 PM	#7 (permalink)
curvesrgood three mk1's Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: NC Posts: 345 Thanks: 7 Thanked 26 Times in 21 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	I use GM fluid. I added a bit to Dad's before we sold it... it was definately a bit low and had 200K plus miles on the supercharger and probably hadn't been checked in at least 6-10 years. I topped mine off (89K miles) with a little, but it wasn't very low. If you need the number off the bottle I can check that, have a half-full one out in the trunk of my N/A (ironically... one would think it would be in the trunk of the supercharged car, lol).

09-12-2009, 02:49 PM	#8 (permalink)
Jackstand Queen Cage Fighter Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 677 Thanks: 52 Thanked 56 Times in 53 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	On the same side as the dipstick and directly underneath the dipstick is the drain plug. Its a 17mm bolt head. Definitely drain and add new. Oem SC oil is fantastically expensive. I also use GM SC oil, and it aint cheap! Some people even use a pure synthetic motor oil. The bearings on SC's are weird, it could even be possible that the oem sc oil is formulated not to ruin the SC's bearing seals. Dunno.

09-12-2009, 08:46 PM	#9 (permalink)
GrandpaGofast Have tools, will cob it. Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mid Atlantic USA Posts: 131 Thanks: 33 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	There were several discussions over at the oc board, but like i say, no consensus... Prolly go w/ the ford or gm... $45/4.5 oz @ toyo dealer 50 mi. away...that just gets you changed. $11/ bottle GM. Dunno about furd.

09-13-2009, 01:46 PM	#10 (permalink)
8589 No Skills Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 43 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	SC, sorry if I mislead on A/C, I read somewhere SC oil is for dissipating heat not lubrication, rotors roll on sealed bearings (grease) is that true or I was food poisoned?

09-13-2009, 06:50 PM	#11 (permalink)
Jackstand Queen Cage Fighter Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 677 Thanks: 52 Thanked 56 Times in 53 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	This is what SC bearings looked like to me: a wad of 1/4 inch ball bearings embedded in a wad of epoxy. There are two small cogs in the resavoir area. The bottom cog turns the top one. So the friction and wear on the cogs justifies the need for a lubricant. Cool air flowing into the SC is the best way to keep its temperature down. BTW: you need a giant (Horse sized) syringe to remove and add SC oil while the SC is mounted in the car. There's no room to pour a bottle of oil into the dipstick hole, which is very small. I bought an antique tempered glass syringe off Ebay. Its a 50 CC unit, and is really an interesting piece of work itself.

09-13-2009, 11:29 PM	#12 (permalink)
GrandpaGofast Have tools, will cob it. Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mid Atlantic USA Posts: 131 Thanks: 33 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	"I bought an antique tempered glass syringe off Ebay." Nice. I have a plastic 50 cc. one

09-14-2009, 04:08 PM	#13 (permalink)
GrandpaGofast Have tools, will cob it. Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mid Atlantic USA Posts: 131 Thanks: 33 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	OK, I called Lucas Oil Products about this. The rep asked "Street or track app ?" Replied "street". Rep said " a mixture of %10 (Lucas) synthetic oil stabilizer and %90 (Lucas) 5w-30 full sythetic motor oil. The synth stabilizer is $11/qt. dunno what the 5-30 goes for but i'm guessing $6-7/qt. for that. Ford garage wants $25/ 4.5 oz bottle. So the question is...Is that brand name stuff really special, or are we just paying for the brand name ?

09-18-2009, 01:17 PM	#14 (permalink)
mr2tim SUPERcharZed ToyZ RacZer Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: South Florida Posts: 690 Thanks: 2 Thanked 41 Times in 38 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	After several years of buying OUTRAGEOUSLY priced Toyota S/C oil,, I decided to dump the dealer. (story of my life, sic) I asked several Chief mechanics running superchargers on V8 competition engines at the SuperBoat Championships when they came to Deerfield Beach for the offshore boat races what they use. 3 of 4 Chiefs said they use Royal Purple. Good enuff reference for me. ($11//Quart) for the last 8 years. BTW the Service Manual calls for 130cc of supercharger oil ****************************************** NOT mentioned!!: Front housing cover requires greasing during maintenance rebuilds. Page sc-14 item #5

10-22-2009, 09:38 AM	#17 (permalink)
GrandpaGofast Have tools, will cob it. Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mid Atlantic USA Posts: 131 Thanks: 33 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	OK, so I happened to be near the GM garage that had some SC oil in stock. Looks like the Amsoil rep. was right. SC oil is ester based. The GM oil Part#12345982 "Contains: Fatty acids, C5-10,esters with dipentaerythritol- Phosphoric acid,(1,1-dimethylethy)phenyl diphenyl ester" I bought 2- 4oz bottles for $22 Enough for a change and then some. I feel confident that this will be as good as the OEM stuff. Grandpa