2.9L Whipple Problems with 2.75 Pulley

[SnakeBoostE85]

Originally when living at sea level I was running a 3.5 pulley making 19-20 PSI. After I moved to colorado, and installed a reduction 2.75 pulley I have been having nothing but problems. After about 500 miles it started making noise, so I pulled it off and sent into to whipple for service. They said the bearing were making some noise in the front end, so they replaced the bearing and seals and sent it back. Upon installation it was fine. I also confirmed with them that it was within design specs to run a 2.75 pulley on that blower. With the stock lower they agreed that it is under the RPM limits and should not be an issue. Now the rotor pack sounds awfully noisy at idle.

Is there anyone else having issues with 2.9L whipples (W175AX) with a 2.75 pulley?

 

[black-plasma]

No issues here, I'm running a 3.0/2 combo on a crusher setup.

 

[SnakeBoostE85]

what the heck is a 3.0/2 combo?

 

[snakerider]

what the heck is a 3.0/2 combo?

3.0 inch upper pulley and 2lb lower crank pulley (most likely metco lower interchangeable pulley)

 

[black-plasma]

Yes 3.0 upper and 2# lower, thought that was obvious, lol.

 

[MG0h3]

I would expect more noise at idle since youre spinning it faster.

Maybe get a stethoscope and try and pinpoint the noise.

 

[SnakeBoostE85]

I would expect more noise at idle since youre spinning it faster.

Maybe get a stethoscope and try and pinpoint the noise.

Yeah it wines a tad bid more at idle with the smaller pulley. But what I'm hearing is not normal, I don't think. When its cold, it sounds fine, when its really hot and heat soaked from a few WOT pulls the rotor pack sounds noisy. + the Oil in the front end looks like shit.. here's a picture of that for example:

 

[SnakeBoostE85]

Yes 3.0 upper and 2# lower, thought that was obvious, lol.

This is essentially the exact same RPM as a 2.75 with stock lower - so no issues with overheating, noisy rotor pack, drive gearing, or dirty oil?

 

[SnakeBoostE85]

Want to keep this thread alive.

Anyone else out there having 2.9L Whipple W175AX problems?

 

[ViperRed91GT]

Have you asked Whipple?

 

[snakerider]

Mine been on my car for 5K miles now, Zero issues.

 

[SnakeBoostE85]

Mine been on my car for 5K miles now, Zero issues.

2.75 pulley?

 

[black-plasma]

This is essentially the exact same RPM as a 2.75 with stock lower - so no issues with overheating, noisy rotor pack, drive gearing, or dirty oil?

Nope and I know 2 other guys running 2.9s at similar RPMs and no issues either. We all 3 run 10.0-.1 in 1/4 so they are not babied. I have killer chiller which helps keep temps down.

 

[SnakeBoostE85]

Nope and I know 2 other guys running 2.9s at similar RPMs and no issues either. We all 3 run 10.0-.1 in 1/4 so they are not babied. I have killer chiller which helps keep temps down.

Right but I don't think the killer chiller is going to cool the blower casing or the rotors down at all, because your only making the intercooler water temperature colder, which is awesome for your IAT2's and cylinder temps, but does nothing for the blower itself.

OK well just wanted to confirm there isn't a pattern here. I just got my blower back from Whipple today. They said I got a complete overhaul this time. New rotor pack, gears, bearings, seals. I have 3 pulleys - 2.75, 3.25, and 3.5. I'd like to pick up a 3.0 pulley.

 

[01SN8K]

Just curious, did Whipple tell you what they found wrong before they rebuilt and shipped the blower back?

 

[SnakeBoostE85]

Just curious, did Whipple tell you what they found wrong before they rebuilt and shipped the blower back?

Nope, I asked Mike and he said we didn't really find anything wrong with it, but as a courtesy since I had already sent it back twice they completely overhauled it. I asked him about the dirty oil and he said that was normal also.

I hate to speculate, but I suspect they should have completely rebuilt it the first time and didn't. They thought they could get away with a seal and realized there was more damage than originally thought. I just don't think they would rebuild it with all new internals except for the casing without *something* being wrong with it.

Since this thread will be publicly available on the internet, I will just say that I do appreciate Whipple rebuilding the unit.

 

[black-plasma]

Good luck with it.

I monitor IAT2s with killer chiller and it makes a big difference, I don't have to ice the blower or add ice to intercooler tank anymore at the track. Works great on the street too so ecu doesn't pull timing due to high IAT2s.