Dear forum,
I can’t imagine how many of you have crossed this bridge but now it is my turn. I have delayed for two weeks and it has not fixed itself. So, hoping someone can direct me to:
A how-to video instruction
A step-by-step instruction
A great Jag mechanic in my area of Greater New Orleans (Gulfport to Baton Rouge, NORTHSHORE to Southshore)

Grateful indeed!
Chemosabe
2009 Portfolio
1972 E Type

 

There are a number of threads (I've read them but don't have them at hand), just look for "Supercharger removal x350" and you'll find them. I've done this twice, once to replace the valley hose and once to remove the cylinder heads.

The hardest and most intimidating part of removing the supercharger I found is that until you've done the job once, you don't know precisely where all the connectors and bolts are that you need to remove. Here are some things to note:

1. while not necessary, a cheap ebay endoscope / boroscope connected to a smartphone can be really helpful in locating out of sight bolt heads.
2. the EGR bolts (the ones that hold the EGR to the intake) are easy to strip, with the consequences being a lot of additional work, so you need to be careful with these two. While they feel like they are 90 degrees perpendicular to the line of the car and parallel with the firewall / front bumper, they are not. It's more like 110 degree angle to the line of the car, or slightly out of parallel with the firewall and bumper. You need to approach these at an angle or they will strip. If you partially strip them but get them out (I did), the bolts are the same as the 4 intake manifold bolts which are easy to access so when they go back in you can switch the EGR and manifold bolts. Use 6 point sockets on these, not 12 point.
3. have lots of 1/4" and 3/8" extensions, partial swivels and swivel joints on hand, these will help.
4. with a combination of extensions, the 4 bolts that attach the intake elbow to the supercharger can be accessed but the bottom 2 bolts will take some trial an error to find the right extension lengths for access. Note that you'll need to remove some of the hose connections on the intake elbow to access these bolts, and after ~13 years, these can put up a fight.
5. for the water crossover pipe in front, having an extension or long torx bit helps in reaching the screw heads, and there are 4 of them. Before you try to remove them, brush them clean. The oil and dirt that will have built up can interfere with getting a good hold with the torx bit, and it's not an area where a stripped bolt can be easily addressed (I stripped them once in a Land Rover application without a supercharger and had to cut the [plastic] water pipe off with a hack saw).
6. the intake elbow under the throttle bottle that connects to the back of the supercharger doesn't just have the 4 bolts to the supercharger but there are also 2 bolts under the elbow that cannot to a bracket that attaches to the engine. These bolts required a small 1/4" drive ratchet, and were on the frustrating side.
7. once you have the supercharger out, consider changing the knock sensors b/c they are right there.
Good luck with it, can be done as a diy job, but save yourself the weekend for it and don't be afraid to buy additional socket extensions if you need them.

 

Thank you scooterforever,
I get the impression from your post that the job is certainly do-able. Sounds like I should go at it with both eyes open and with patience. This is the first in depth job I have had to do on the Port. I am not anxious to dive in but I can’t let her sit there. I expect the labor would be 6 hours… $1200. I work for less than that. I look forward to starting soon and getting it do. Thanks for your tips!
chemosabe

 

Hi Chemosabe,
I had to replace my supercharger last year, and it went well, with scooterforever and others giving me great advice. One of the threads I found most useful was titled "Into the valley we ride" but I can't remember the author.
One difficulty I had was removing the false bulkhead behind the engine. This really makes the job easier as it gives much more room to move. What I didn't realise is that to give the necessary clearance from the heater pipes, the heater pipe connections to the firewall must be removed. I tried pulling on the hoses, and ended up breaking the plastic Y-connectors to the rear air conditioning heater. On my right-hand drive car the firewall connections are on the left side of the car, and you definitely want to buy the hose clamp tool that has the handle and the cable to remove the spring hose clamps. I inserted the end of the tool from the center of the firewall outwards, and was able to unclip first the inner, and then the outer hose clamp. Once those two aluminum tubes are loose, you can easily lift out the false bulkhead. I think the correct procedure is in the factory manual.

 

Assume 6 hours? That is removing it. A little quicker going back.

 

Pete M, another piece of the puzzle… thanks!