Hello fellow enthusiasts,

I have a 2015 F-Type R that sometime in the last ~5,000 miles had the supercharger coupler issue come about. I can hear the uneven light noise at idle. I feel confident this is the issue.

Unfortunately I'm 23 and YOLO'd into this car purchase (absolutely no regrets whatsoever) and a ~$1,000 expense is not ideal right now, as I get paid on an annual basis and didn't get paid for last years work (will get paid big money for this year).

I see no engine lights and notice no impact on driving. I'm wondering if I can get over the January pay day hump, or if I'm risking engine/SC failure before then.

Can I wait another 6 months and ~5,000 miles before getting it done, or is this something I need to get done before the whole bearing gets worn down and snaps, causing a SC failure? Driving back to Texas from NY in a little over a week.

I appreciate any insight. Thank you.

 

I'll refrain from any fatherly lectures, but it's not easy. Short answer: You'll very likely be fine.

 

If the rattle only started some 5,000 miles ago you should be fine for a while yet, as kb58 said. Many around here have driven their car 10s of thousands of miles with a rattling SC coupler with no major problems.
IMHO once you get to 40 or 50k miles with the coupler rattling you can then expect problems. What happens is the coupler spring wears a big groove in the SC shaft which causes it to become unbalanced, and this in turn causes excessive bearing wear which in turn can damage the SC.

 

I just took the nose off to replace the coupler while doing an oil change and was met with this ugliness. Are those grooves far enough alomg that this will now need to be replaced right away or did i catch in time?
thank you for any insights u have on this issue it is much appreciated

 

I can't add anything from personal experience but those grooves look pretty bad to me and I reckon it's time to replace the snout (including shaft and coupler).
And thanks for posting up the pics so others can see what a worn/grooved SC shaft looks like.

 

Couldn't you use a solid coupler as they just slip over the shaft and don't have a spring? I have had one on my XKR for over 4 years with no issues.

 

With the caveat that, like Sgt Shultz, I know nothingk! - I’d wonder where the missing material ended up, and I’d worry about it not being balanced anymore.