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Turbo timer ruins starter/beware Japandy Ebay seller!


Guest jjohart

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Guest jjohart

Hi, after a few weeks of use with a Japanese market Turbo Timer which would make the starter click whenever it went into operation, I have had to remove it and replace the starter which it undoubtedly ruined in short order.

My installer spent over 2 hours installing this thing by the books (literally the shop 280Z CD wiring diagram, along with my shop manual), and couldn't get around the fact that this particular unit, which had been shipped without a dedicated wiring harness, was sure to keep making the starter click whenever I turned the ignition back to pull out the key. Perhaps this "tech" should have told me to ditch the timer, but apparently he held to the "buyer takes consequences", and saw no way around this.

I contatcted this "JapANDY" e bay seller, based out of Japan, and he made the usual excuses, basically he had no idea what to do about it, X number of cars used this set up, and that he implied there was no 280ZXT harness promised (to him, "used"=use it yourself at your own risk).

I would warn others to avoid timers that don't have dedicated harnesses. That was my mistake in purchasing overseas used stock!! I don't think this seller would honor any repair or replacement committments, but I am going to complain to him again!

Thanks for reading!

John

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Guest freakypainter

In all fairness people should research what they are buying before they buy it. I dont see how you buying something and trying to make it work for your car makes Japandy responsible for damages to your starter.

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Guest jjohart

You aren't speaking in terms of fairness at all, when both a reasonably informed consumer such as I and a qualified and Z knowledgable mechanic both can't come to grips as to why a seller would want their reputation based on selling such a piece of destructive crap.

Sure, guns don't kill people seems to be your reasoning in a brief reply, if I can call the product being sold as inherently defective to begin with, then you've got no reasoning at all! It is no wonder there are several sellers on Ebay selling with bogus addresses listed as Tokyo etc, when what they are doing is seizing on a batch of supposedly defective returned items that were never even waranteed in the US for sale (try reading that in their item descriptions, you'd need a lawyer and a telepath to be self-informed).

That isn't all, though..they also say little about how damaging these units are when used without dedicated harnesess. Even though my mechanic wasn't a rocket scientist, it took quite a bit of money and time for this piece of jet trash to even wire in WITH REASONABLE BUYER/INSTALLER INFO IN BRAINS. I posted because I don't want to see anyone lose the time, money, and STARTER unit if they think these offshore seller's products are turn key...in reality, they are BURN KEY, i.e burning out a starter in short order.

The reason why these sellers should be made to exchange for US units (which they aren't even authorized to sell), or give refunds is because they are trying to hide INTRINSICALLY INFERIOR AND DEFECTIVE PRODUCT and responsibility for it behind an offshore curtain. There are enough major companies in the US that try to do this (Tyco, etc), and yes, they are able to get away with skirting laws by being out of country. Don't forget, 10-20% of EBay fraud has to do with bogus sellers of technical wares pulling fast ones off of consumers...I suppose you'd say they didn't do their "research" either, eh?

John-83 280ZXT, turbo timer built in to my right hand and metal key!

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Guest MistaFosta

Honestly, I have installed about 5 turbo timers, and I can tell you, there is a 95% chance that it was installation error. It is NOT an easy thing to do, and If you've never done one, I would definetly reccomend AGAINST installing a hardwire kit...

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Japandy has got a bad rap on some of the the Toyota boards I visit. Alot of people complain he is a military dude trying to make a quick buck while being in Japan and recognizing that we are not able to get some rare parts here in the US. He has come across some very rare and desirable parts, so I am sure he is making some cool bucks selling them to us enthusiasts here! That's the world of eBay I guess.

 

In summer of 2001 I bought a Greddy T-Timer for my ZXT and the correct harness which I paid extra for, designed specifically for the ZXT and when I switched the car off, the T-Timer would engage the starter! Almost like trying the start the car with it already running - an awful sounds as we all know! I double, triple checked everything and the Greddy T-Timer harness only fits one way into the factory harness. Needless to say I also ruined a starter and several teeth on the ring gear. I called and yelled at the Greddy dealer many times, and they kept saying it was my fault! One day, I got so mad at them, my wife (girlfriend at the time) thought I was going to get on a plane fly out to LA and bring home some scalps! No surprisingly I asked if Greddy would replace my ruined starter and my flywheel and they said "no way in hell", even if they would cover the parts cost and I would cover the labor portion.

 

Anyway the authorized dealer finally said to send in the Greddy harness and the T-Timer back to them, and Greddy tested it and actually discovered that the harness was faulty - HA! I then got a new T-Timer and harness in about three weeks.

 

Luckily a starter on a Z in easy to replace, the flywheel well is a little more involved!

 

Thought I would share that.

 

Good luck and I hope you find your problem gremlin.

 

Yasin

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I personally don't believe in the need for a turbo timer, as long as the center section is water-cooled.

 

When my ZXT needed a new center, I got a water cooled one, and at the same time had an S3 trim compressor put on it and the turbine clipped.

 

A simple h-pipe and some hose and I was in business again...

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  • 4 years later...

As stated by someone else this would be an installation issue. The installer must have tied the timer into the starter and not the ignition. Why come on and complain about Japandy. Complain about the guy that installed the timer. Ask questions before you buy stuff on eBay. Research the hell out of it. Know what you are buying and ensure you have a good understanding of what it's supposed to do. Obviously the fact that it's engaging the starter should tell you right away it was wired wrong.

 

You may want to edit the title on the post to be fair to Japandy.

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Does anybody realize that the correction procedure for this issue "still", after "5 years", hasn't been posted or even discussed other than a comment about it being installed on the starter circuit instead of the ignition circuit.

 

If someone knows the correct fix for this issue, it should be posted, even if the original post was borderline slanderous.

 

The documentation provided with some of these "JDM" products DOES, in fact lose something in the translation, even if they are printed in "Engrish" also! There are alot of these that have been sold, and purchased in good faith and people are living with the starter engagement bump issue unnecessarily if we know the fix.

 

Perhaps someone should do a write-up of the harness or installation error and the correct method they should use instead of bitching about someone bringing up a problem that has been solved long ago. That might eliminate the need for new people asking questions about and bringing back to life 5 year old posts. That would be in the true spirit of HybridZ, would it not?

 

Just a suggestion, since there are literally thousands of these types of posts on here.

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You realize he's a relatively new member, AND he most likely found this thread using the search button, right? That seems like behavior that we should be encouraging...

 

Im glad people are using the search feature, hell I use it almost every day. just pointing out the fact since I assumed he hadn't noticed that date.

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  • 9 months later...

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