Go Back  Offshoreonly.com > Technical > General Q & A
575 Blower Bearing Problems >

575 Blower Bearing Problems

Notices

575 Blower Bearing Problems

Old 04-19-2005, 03:46 PM
  #1  
Registered
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: King george, Virginia/Potomac River
Posts: 1,998
Received 89 Likes on 18 Posts
Default 575 Blower Bearing Problems

A friend of mine had a bearing fail in the back of one of his blowers. The rotors had some very fine nicks/scrapes toward the rear, so we pulled the rear cover off (without draining the fluid) and a watery liquid came out. Smelled like gas! Anyway, one of the bearings was toast. Gee, wonder why...
Motor had a little over 200 hours on it.

I've never had a blower apart, but I assume there is a seal gone bad. Is this something common? Is it best to have someone rebuild the blower or does he need to search for one? Should the other one be checked? Where is a good blower shop?

Last edited by Shah Mat; 04-19-2005 at 03:48 PM.
Shah Mat is offline  
Old 04-19-2005, 08:08 PM
  #2  
Registered
iTrader: (1)
 
KAAMA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Western Michigan
Posts: 4,461
Received 72 Likes on 44 Posts
Default Re: 575 Blower Bearing Problems

There is a shop called "Darren Mayer Performance Engineering" that builds, and rebuilds blowers in Stevensville, Michigan (Southwestern Michigan) and I have heard he is pretty reasonable. Otherwise you will have to send your blowers out to California most likely and most of these blower shops want A LOT of $$$ just to tear them down and inspect them. Apparently Darren has a degree in areospace engineering, and can rebuild just about any blower you may have. His shop number is 269-428-5070.
KAAMA is offline  
Old 04-19-2005, 08:25 PM
  #3  
Registered
 
hillbilly24's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,358
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Default Re: 575 Blower Bearing Problems

Defenitly not a bad idea to have em gone through but fuel contamination in the blower lube is not uncommon at all and this is why the lube needs to be changed frequently.
hillbilly24 is offline  
Old 04-19-2005, 08:52 PM
  #4  
Registered
 
Steve Zuckerman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Nashvegas, TN
Posts: 2,621
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default Re: 575 Blower Bearing Problems

Shah (of Iran?) Matt:
Matt if you are the shah, could you ease up a little on these gas prices............
Re the blower, which is a Merc/Weiand/Holley 256, was the rear fluid level checked or changed? If not, you buddy was heading for where he is. The gear oil can be changed without removing the blower by drawing it out with a squirt/spray bottle pump/tube, or similar device. The oil level should be checked (at least) every 25 hours and changed no less than every 100 hours, like the front reservoir.
The Holley supercharger repair shop was in Springfield, TN (near Holley's HQ in Bowling Green, KY). The Blower Shop has purchased all the parts from Holley and is now doing their (Holley's) repair and warranty work in California. Web site www.theblowershop.com .
I had my 256 freshened up by them this winter. Good work, don't get in a hurry.......probably slower now that we're into the season.
Good luck,
Steve

Last edited by Steve Zuckerman; 04-19-2005 at 08:54 PM.
Steve Zuckerman is offline  
Old 04-20-2005, 09:11 AM
  #5  
Registered
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: SANTA CLARITA, CA
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default Re: 575 Blower Bearing Problems

Shah Mat

That is a common problem with the Merc/Weiand blowers with the rear oil reservoir. Like Steve said the oil needs to be checked around 25 hrs and should be replaced at least once every season depending on use and if contaminated from fuel. A small amount of fuel in the oil is normal since the air and fuel charge from the supercharger will pressurize the the oil reservoir. For the amount of fuel you found means it probably lost a seal first. Unfortunatley they did not use a heat treated shaft in the rotors and the seals usually wear a groove in the shaft. We have seen this in as little as 30 hrs on the supercharger. If the rotors have not hit each other real hard and are not damaged, it can be repaired. We can machine the rotor shafts and install a hardend sleeve on the seal surface. If the rotors are damaged I am sorry to say there are no replacement rotors for that supercharger. That style has been discontinued and the "new Holley rotors" do not work with those bearing plates.

Darren from D.M.P.E. is a great guy and does quality work, so give him a call or give us a call and we can give you an idea on the cost for repair. I can tell you right now we are running around 3 weeks on repairs.

If the rotors are damaged beyond repair, we are now making a replacement supercharger for the Merc 575. We modify our 250 Billet Polished Supercharger to fit the Merc manifold and the Merc snout. We strip and polish your snout and swing arm and install it on the new supercharger.

Ron Hayes
The Blower Shop
BBQ70 is offline  
Old 04-20-2005, 02:42 PM
  #6  
Registered
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: King george, Virginia/Potomac River
Posts: 1,998
Received 89 Likes on 18 Posts
Default Re: 575 Blower Bearing Problems

Thanks All,
I will forward this to him.

I think the manual says to change the oil at 200hrs, which is right where this motor is. However, the manual doesn say that you have to rebuild the thing if you go over 200hrs.

The 25 hr check and 100hr change is a great idea.

The rotors did get some minor scrapes in them, I think there're reusable as is. This guy has a great ear and shut the motor down as soon as he felt/heard something wrong. I remember him saying over the winter he wanted to make something to siphon the oil out to change it.


I wish I could lower the gas prices. This summer is gonna hurt......... I keep saying; "I wish I had a boat with twins, but I'm glad I have a single."

Shah Mat is Persian, meaning "The King Is Dead." It is where the english term Checkmate came from.
Shah Mat is offline  
Old 04-20-2005, 05:10 PM
  #7  
Registered
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Westport, Kentucky
Posts: 1,321
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 2 Posts
Default Re: 575 Blower Bearing Problems

Ron,
You all did my B&M 250 around 225 hours ago. I have changed the oil in the front snout several times. The rear is the bearing and no gearcase with oil design. I think you said something about a bearing upgrade was done at the time since this was the first time that it had ever been serviced.

What was done to the bearings in the back cover? When do I need to send it in again?

Should I pop the back cover off and re grease the bearings in back? It seems it was a beoch to do because the cover would not go back on easly due to the shaft hrydolocking the seal, any tips if I need to re-grease and which grease should I use?

Thanks,
TimT.
BadDog is offline  
Old 04-20-2005, 06:12 PM
  #8  
Registered
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: SANTA CLARITA, CA
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default Re: 575 Blower Bearing Problems

TIM

It is hard to put the rear plate back on because it does try to hydraulic the seal. We are now drilling the rear bearing plate and installing 1/8" pipe plugs to allow the air out after the rotors are installed. You can do this yourself if you have access to a drill press. Or if you do not feel comfortable doing it yourself, you can remove the rear plate and send it to us. We can then machine the rear plate and re-pack or replace the rear bearings and seals for you. Then you can re-install the plate and put the plugs in. If you do send us the plate, make sure you save or send us the gaskets between the case and bearing plate. The thickness is critical since it controls the rear clearance between the rotor and case. We use a lithium base grease in the rear bearings. So any of the general purpose lithium grease will work.
BBQ70 is offline  
Old 04-20-2005, 06:35 PM
  #9  
Registered
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: SANTA CLARITA, CA
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default Re: 575 Blower Bearing Problems

Tim,

The up-grade that we do on the B&M blowers is the billet bearing retainers. The stock retainer was a stamped steel retainer that was weak and tends to crack around the bolt hole. They also only used a 6-32 screw where we machine it for a 10-32. As far as the bearings themself there is not an up-grade. We might also have machined the shafts for the hardened sleeves on the seal surface. Most of those blowers have did not have heat treated shafts and the seal would wear a groove into the shaft.

Ron
BBQ70 is offline  
Old 04-21-2005, 09:15 AM
  #10  
Registered
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Westport, Kentucky
Posts: 1,321
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 2 Posts
Default Re: 575 Blower Bearing Problems

So assuming no unusual wear at how many hours does the Blower need refreshed? Would just changing the rear bearings be sufficient at x hours as long as the telfon seals are still good?
BadDog is offline  

Quick Reply: 575 Blower Bearing Problems


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.