Supercharger faulty?

Just picked up a 95 S/C LE. Its sluggish compared to my old 94 S/C.

I am wondering if the supercharger is not working. Is there a way to check if the supercharger is faulty?

Also, the clutch is spinning it up even at idle. I remember that my old one did not spin at idle.

I'm replacing the front axles and brakes this weekend, so I will check the oil while I'm under there.

Any way to test the supercharger while on the vehicle?

Thanks.

get a boost gauge

Ah, such a thing exists! Or, alternatively, I suppose I could ask my friendly neighborhood mechanic to hook his boost guage to it and tell me if there's any magic happening.

So my supercharger shows no oil on the dipstick. I've ordered some. Not sure how long it's been low/dry as the van is new to me. But I drove it a couple thousand miles since I picked it up.

No noise or anything from supercharger. It's still spinning. But doesn't seem to be providing any boost. Once I get oil in it, plan to see if I can get a mechanic to test it for me.


Are they like engines that just croak without oil? Or is it possible that it will come back to life with oil?


They seem pretty mysterious. At least there's not a lot of specific info on the web.

yes, damage is certainly possible without oil
once they rack up miles, they typically don't leak, but burn the oil instead... it's not uncommon from what I've read