I'm in need of a supercharger guru to help me out with a strange issue on the whipple blower I came across. I'll start off by saying that I am a completely new to this. I recently purchased a used kit WIK-5302-5302-1 for my 98 yukon 350 vortec. The kit passed a couple of hands before it got to me and now I am unable to get answers from the original owner that had it installed.

I am convinced that my blower is somehow mounted backwards, and I was hoping someone here might know enough to either tell me I'm crazy or at least give me some (ANY) advice. Please take a look at the following picture, it will make understanding what I'm saying easier. http://www.blackwatertours.com/sites...lowerIssue.jpg


There are 3 pics side-by-side, the one on the left is one I found on the internet which represents what I think the blower should look like. The subsequent two pics show my blower.

So the blower for this kit has twin screws and mounts sideways, one screw on top of the other. In all the images I have seen on the internet, including the image of the blower in the instruction manual, the main pulley of the blower rests on the bottom screw. My problem is that my blower is the opposite... The main pulley on my blower is mounted to the top screw, and I cannot understand why. Could my blower be manufactured differently? Could someone have been trying to rebuild it and put it together backwards? If someone did this could I disassemble it and place it back to how it should be? Is this problem I can only resolve by sending it in to have it rebuilt? I know that's a lot of questions, but like I said I am new to this.

I first noticed this when I tried to put the belt on and realized it was way to short, then after looking at several photos, I came to realize that something must be amiss. I believe this could have several implications including turning the screws the wrong way. I would appreciate any insight or comments that might shed some light on this weird situation.

Thanks for any help!

If I should have posted this elsewhere please let me know I couldn't find a forum topic here for trucks and whipple chargers as old as mine.

It looks like it was reassembled incorrectly. I don't think you'll be able to use it like that, airflow will be in the wrong direction. The compressor case has angles in the discharge port that correspond to the male and female rotors, the angles are different and would be wrong if the rotors were reversed in the case.
Try this:
Use masking tape to cover the discharge flange where it mounts to the bracket. Manually spin the pulley Clockwise. If it were correct you'd see the masking tape bellow outward but I think the way it is now it will suck the tape in.

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"James B." '99LT_Tahoe4Dr2WD, Tuned L29 Vortec 454, 62#Injectors, Cutouts, 4L80-E 10.5"14bolt ,EatonPosi-4.56:1, Gear_Vendors, HydroBoost, (NEXT: Brodix heads, 230/240 cam, SS roller rockers, longtubes, THEN: Intercooled W200R-8psi in the future...)

Thanks James for the feedback. I suspect your right. I'll test it out like you suggest and let you know the results. If it does turn out that it is pulling instead of pushing like it should, and it has to be reassembled is this something that can only be done by whipple or similarly qualified people? I wonder if someone with enough inexperience can put it together in reverse how difficult could it be to take it apart and reverse it back? Or maybe that is just best left to the pros.... (Thinking out loud!)

Not much to lose, take it apart. I think you can pull the entire gearcase off. The hub and pulley can remain attached, I would think.

Let me know if it goes badly, I have a Lysholm 1600AX here that's not being used I'd part with if needed.

Thanks for all your suggestions James. I tested the blower as you suggested and you were spot on. It was sucking in when spinning clockwise, though not much. I tore the blower apart and reversed it so that the main pulley rested on the bottom screw. Once I did this and retested with tape on the outgoing port, you could see the layer of tape pushing out considerably. While I was at it I changed out the rear bearings... I just threw it back in and my yukon is quite happy now, to say the least!!!! I can definitely feel the boost now. I'm so relieved!

It sounds a little chattery (not too loud), almost like my ac/compressor, is this normal? Just wondering because whipple says they are whisper quiet, though I heard some on youtube that seemed even louder than mine. I was wondering how yours sounds. Thanks again James.

I'm glad to hear you got it fixed without any problems.
All twin screw and roots superchargers make a little bit of clatter that you can hear at idle. Under normal circumstances what you're hearing is not the rotors contacting the housing or each other, it's just lash in the gear tolerances. Whipple's own compressors (2004 and up) do seem to have tighter tolerances than the Lysholm compressors that used to be used with Whipple kits.
Be sure to keep the oil at the right level and use the correct type. For Lysholm compressors use Castrol Syntec 5w-50. These things are very sensitive to oil level, overfilling it will overheat the gearbox.

Here's a video from back in 2003 of a normal 1.6L Lysholm at idle:
http://bertok.us/pics/Tahoe-rev.mpg

Best advice I have for that slight clatter at idle - IGNORE IT and enjoy the tunes INSIDE:
http://bertok.us/pics/9psi-wot.mpg (W140AX compressor spinning pretty fast...)

i`d like to mention i added about a tablespoon of lucas oil additive to my 1600ax, an it quieted it considerably, i can`t even hear it now. unless it cold out.

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I got my compressor that way......I believe that a rebuilder did that to it.
I think that the previous owner didn't know the difference and gave up on
it because of the lack of performance. Also the rotors had just started to
rub on mine. I'm pretty sure James is wrong about the opposite direction of
airflow, it seems to me like the air is being compressed inside the case with
nowhere to go. I think that is where the damage came from.

Laters
-Justin