[Cool SS]

*Moving this from the forced induction classifieds to its correct place*

It happened again. Watch the vid. The previous failures happened 2-3 months after install/repair. I was waiting to get out of this window of time to do an update. The last failure took place July 27th. Just when I thought I made it and was planning to bring good news, boom, broke again! The failure point is different this time but what difference does it make, its four breaks in 8 months. Unacceptable!!

I did everything Whipple asked of me last time. The shop and technician they recommended is 120 miles away from me. It cost me $1k to tow the car back and forth last time because all my AAA tows had been used up on the previous failures. Whipple would only cover the repairs not the tow. Whipple did come through and get the car repaired last time. I hope they do again. But do I need any more evidence that this unit is a lemon?



Vid of most recent failure:


Thread of previous failure:
https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=595452

[KingLT1]

Yeah that sucks and Whipple should replace it. That is the second one I have seen shear the pulley shaft off like that. Don't think it's common but you definitely have had some bad luck.

[cjperformance]

Its surprising to me how tough it is to get some of these companies to just own up. From my experience most aftermarket performance car product companies think their stuff is just infallible.

Granted, it could be something unique to your car thats causing it to fail. Manufacturing tolerances could just be putting weird strain on the system, but ultimately it isnt working for you and your story is going to make other potential buyers skeptical of thier product. Best course IMO would be for them to bend over backwards to make it right for you. Then you could sing their praise about how amazing their support would have been, and likely drive more business thier way....

I contacted procharger about an issue when i was installing mine, and the guy literally said that what i was complaining about wasnt possible because their stuff was "so highly inspected before it leaves". Which was BS because i found several minor QC issues that i had to touch up. Example a ding on one of the pulley ribs and a raised ridge on the bolt holes of the crank pulley that was keeping it from sitting flat.

Thats not what i complained about though, my complaint was that the maf sensor screw broke off in the mount the silicone hose. Turns out there was aluminum corrosion in the hole. Had to drill out the screw and retap the hole. They wouldnt send me a replacement. Told me i had to deal with the company i bought it from. Basically made the whole experience with procharger taste sour. I cant have confidence they are going to stand behind their product, and prob wouldnt buy anything else from them.

Sorry if i am distracting from your story, thought maybe a similar story might make you feel a bit better

BTW, i had my own small manufacturing company. If anyone had a complaint, i would work to fix it at my own cost, even if i felt it wasnt my product causing the problem.

[laynlo15]

I must say you are pretty cool calm and collected at this point. Its a tough situation and I don't think I could be that calm. I hope you get this straightened out soon, I worked for Magnuson and raced their blowers for 4 years and I must say I never saw anything like that and can't for the life of me figure out how this could happen 4 times. King's been running a Whipple for probably 4 years also and has has good luck with them as others have so I hope they take care of this. Stay calm and you'll get there.

[KingLT1]

I do believe Magnuson has less issues then Whipple. I don't believe Whipple is the most problematic brand. Lot's of Coyotes out there in the wild running them and making serious steam without issues. There are a few of us around here that haven't had any serious issue, but there were a few that did.

I agree with CJ it appears that something is not working in unison with the pulley system on the OP's car. He has simply had too many pulley issues. 3 tensioner failures and now the pulley shaft sheared off. Whos to say that the installer didn't overtighten the belt which put excessive force on the pulley shaft due to the prior tensioner/belt issues? Is that even a thing? Too many unknown's without dealing directly with the installer. The OP doesn't seem interested in any technical discussion since he pretty much ignored my posts from the last thread.

[jtengr87]

Man this sucks for OP. Whipple does seem to be taking care of folks with these broken shaft failures. Though I wonder if whipple even has anymore units to offer as a warranty replacement.

I'll bet whipple removes that slide adjustable tensioner design from its next gen blower. Seems to be some confusion around it. My guess is you must revisit belt tension after the belt is "worn in". Then periodically after that. Can you confirm that King?

[closs2sx]

Mine went with 4,000 miles on it. It was outside the 1 yr warranty and they offered nothing. No solutions not even a phone call. I asked them to call me 3 times by email and they never did. I was trying to get the best financial option (buy a rebuilt head unit, send this one in to get rebuilt, maybe a decent deal on the new one they have coming out ect. I wasn't looking for a free lunch just some sort of customer service and a direction to go. In the end I got my direction... go with a magnuson

[ZO6Ted]

Mine is a 2.9 on my 2014 Sierra. 54k and 6.5 years on it now since I installed it myself with not a single issue except an actuator leak about 3 years ago. After these stories though I don't think I'll be doing another Whipple product. Sorry for you're misfortune.

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by closs2sx

Mine went with 4,000 miles on it. It was outside the 1 yr warranty and they offered nothing. No solutions not even a phone call. I asked them to call me 3 times by email and they never did. I was trying to get the best financial option (buy a rebuilt head unit, send this one in to get rebuilt, maybe a decent deal on the new one they have coming out ect. I wasn't looking for a free lunch just some sort of customer service and a direction to go. In the end I got my direction... go with a magnuson

Ugh…no excuse for that IMO. Whipple could have made a customer for life with just a little support and goodwill.

[19 2SS]

I’ve had 4 tensioner pulley failures and this time they sent me out the whole tensioner assembly along with a new pulley so we’ll see if this solves it for good. Been about a month so far since I put it on

[Cool SS]

I seem to be traveling after each time I start a thread and I'm not able to immediately sit down and engage with all of the comments. Thanks for all the comments, sympathies, and advice. I do appreciate the community even though I don't post much.

It took a little over a week but Whipple did get back to me and offer to have parts shipped to their recommended installer for repair or to have me remove the blower and send it in for repair. I opted to take my car back to their recommended installer because I want everything covered. I did ask Whipple again to replace the whole unit or buy it back from me so we could part ways but they won't consider either option so I'm stuck unless I sell the unit after the repairs. I'll never have full confidence in the car as long as the whipple is on it.

Originally Posted by cjperformance

Its surprising to me how tough it is to get some of these companies to just own up. From my experience most aftermarket performance car product companies think their stuff is just infallible.

Granted, it could be something unique to your car thats causing it to fail. Manufacturing tolerances could just be putting weird strain on the system, but ultimately it isnt working for you and your story is going to make other potential buyers skeptical of thier product. Best course IMO would be for them to bend over backwards to make it right for you. Then you could sing their praise about how amazing their support would have been, and likely drive more business thier way....

I contacted procharger about an issue when i was installing mine, and the guy literally said that what i was complaining about wasnt possible because their stuff was "so highly inspected before it leaves". Which was BS because i found several minor QC issues that i had to touch up. Example a ding on one of the pulley ribs and a raised ridge on the bolt holes of the crank pulley that was keeping it from sitting flat.

Thats not what i complained about though, my complaint was that the maf sensor screw broke off in the mount the silicone hose. Turns out there was aluminum corrosion in the hole. Had to drill out the screw and retap the hole. They wouldnt send me a replacement. Told me i had to deal with the company i bought it from. Basically made the whole experience with procharger taste sour. I cant have confidence they are going to stand behind their product, and prob wouldnt buy anything else from them.

Sorry if i am distracting from your story, thought maybe a similar story might make you feel a bit better

BTW, i had my own small manufacturing company. If anyone had a complaint, i would work to fix it at my own cost, even if i felt it wasnt my product causing the problem.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I agree, these companies are way to confident in their product. Things happen and as a manufacture its only right to stand behind the product. I would think they'd want to know more about the things that fail and break so they can figure out how to make improvements in their product.

__________

Originally Posted by laynlo15

I must say you are pretty cool calm and collected at this point. Its a tough situation and I don't think I could be that calm. I hope you get this straightened out soon, I worked for Magnuson and raced their blowers for 4 years and I must say I never saw anything like that and can't for the life of me figure out how this could happen 4 times. King's been running a Whipple for probably 4 years also and has has good luck with them as others have so I hope they take care of this. Stay calm and you'll get there.

Remaining calm is the only way I can manage this disappointment and frustration. I hear about and personally know people with blowers, cams, etc that go miles and years without these types of problems. I just seem to be "that guy" in this situation.

__________

Originally Posted by KingLT1

I do believe Magnuson has less issues then Whipple. I don't believe Whipple is the most problematic brand. Lot's of Coyotes out there in the wild running them and making serious steam without issues. There are a few of us around here that haven't had any serious issue, but there were a few that did.

I agree with CJ it appears that something is not working in unison with the pulley system on the OP's car. He has simply had too many pulley issues. 3 tensioner failures and now the pulley shaft sheared off. Whos to say that the installer didn't overtighten the belt which put excessive force on the pulley shaft due to the prior tensioner/belt issues? Is that even a thing? Too many unknown's without dealing directly with the installer. The OP doesn't seem interested in any technical discussion since he pretty much ignored my posts from the last thread.

I agree, something is out of wack but I don't believe it's the car. I put many miles on the car with no issue whatsoever before the blower was installed. I maintain that something was out of wack causing the tensioner issues. My installer checked alignment several times and all was straight. The blower shaft may have been out of wack all along. FYI - I have no issues engaging in a technical discussion. As stated above I have either been busy, out of town, and when I do have time to sit and read I'm to tired to write. Thanks for your input, please keep it coming.
__________

Originally Posted by Joshinator99

Ugh…no excuse for that IMO. Whipple could have made a customer for life with just a little support and goodwill.

I agree 100%. Companies could make a lifelong customer who generates tons of positive press and referrals for them if they would just communicate and take care of the customer. After spending nearly $9k to purchase and install I just want the thing to work right and last for a reasonable amount of time.

[BlaqWhole]

Just some towing advice. Don't pay $1K for that kind of distance. Go onto a shipping group/page on FB. There you will find a lot of private companies, small businesses, and even just some decent people who will transport your vehicle safely and professionally for nowhere near that price. I hope that helps.

[ZO6Ted]

Update?

[19 2SS]

Originally Posted by ZO6Ted

Update?

Can’t say for him but I’m on my 6th tensioner, it’s at the shop now I’m having them try to figure out the root cause because there’s no way it’s the pulley failing over and over