So here is the situation...........took the Saleen out yesterday for a spin and got on her pretty good while banging through a couple of gears. I came to a stop at the next light and the car's idle was jumping all over the place(300-1000 rpm). To make long story short, got home, popped the hood and there is a hissing sound coming from the back of the engine. I am almost positive it is coming from the base of the S/C. Also while I was under the hood I happend to notice that my radiator hose is almost sliced open from my S/C belt rubbing against it. Needless to say I am not very happy considering I have only had the car for 4 months(in storage for 3) and it only has 8K miles. Has anyone else had either of these problems? Any help or advice to fix these would be appreciated.
Belt As far as the belt goes, I had the same issue yesterday. Car was in the shop and I had them put on a new Saleen belt, and after about an hour of driving I just happened to pop the hood and see that it almost cut thru the whole thing. We replaced that piece with a hose from autozone, upper radiator hose for the stock GT and with a little cutting and twisting we were able to get another 1/4 inch clearance which was all she needed. Don't know what to tell you about that hissing noise though
There are 2 hoses on the back of the blower. (actually the plenum) It sounds like one of them has fallen off or is very loose.
01Saleen-465 I assume you have a series II. If you do, check the PLASCTIC intake elbow tract that bolts up to theback of the s/c. They are notorius for cracking! Saleen has an upgrade kit using the series IV intake tract which is aluminum and also flows more.
I used a little trick today that somebody taught me to find the air leak. I took a small diameter hose and put up to my ear and ran the other end around some of the gasket areas. The hissing sound was magnified 10x when I ran over the leak with the hose. I can't see exactly where it is coming from, but it definatly coming from the base of the supercharger at the back of the engine. I am assuming that it is the gasket. Has anyone ever pulled off there supercharger and are there any tips or tricks to doing it? I will double check some of the above suggestions though before I tear it apart.
The supercharger head unit has been known to become loose from the lower intake. Check your bolts! I had this happen and it affected idle very badly, the car would shut off at stop lights. It was also making a loud squeeling noise because the gasket was vibrating like a reed. The gaskets are pretty heavy duty, but they can be damaged by being sucked in. Mine weren't. As far as taking the head unit off, someone with little hands is very helpful. Some ratcheting box end wrenches are helpful too. Just try and see if they are loose first. If they are, then retighten them and see if the noise goes away. On a side note, how much does the series IV intake tract cost?
I believe Saleen sell the series IV intake kit for $650.00. It comes with a buch of parts. You might check with haneymotorsport, they have some good prices on saleen parts.
