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Cheap ebay turbos....what's the catch?


tyson

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I'm running a masterpower T-70 turbo on my car. It's another one of those "off brands". I've actually had pretty good luck with it as I'm making around600hp at the crank (going by 1/4mph). There are good things and bad things about this turbo. The first one is, I had to go to turbonetics to get the correct sized exhaust housing otherwise my car would barely be able to spool this turbo. Masterpowers T70 is more like a Turbonetics T66 in comparison of airflow. It uses a small compressor housing in comparison to an actual Turbonetics T70. That said, it has made me some pretty big power numbers and I got it dirt cheap. I think even with the exhaust housing change I still have less that $650-700 into it. I have no experiene with the any of thier other turbos, just the T70, also, I would stay away from Turbocalculator as I had a really bad experience w/ them. I won't lay it out here, but anyone can e-mail me and I'll explain and also reccomend a shop in florida that sells the masterpower stuff at a very reasonable price.

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Yeah, I got ripped off on one of those GT3540 Ebay turbos...it wasn't cheap either. I paid $760 & got not a 3540, but a GT2871R clone with a crappy internal wastegate. Man I was so pissed! The punks wouldn't refund my money either so I had to sit on it for a year until someone eventually bought it. My 2 cents, you get what you pay for with turbos. I got smart & ordered a custom built GT3567R from Full-Race. Yeah, it wasn't cheap, but it was worth it & worth it to do business with a reputable company!

 

GT3567R, Ported shroud, polished compressor, ceramic coated turbine housing.

 

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Garbage Ebay misrepresented "GT3540R"

 

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I was reading up on that particular turbo about 9 months ago I would say and came across the thread on turbomustangs. Personally I would try one on a stock engine that I didn't care too much about. I have thought about emailing ssautochrome and asking them if they had any success stories. I do find it amazing that they have such good feedback if all they sell is crap.

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Matt,

 

why didnt you just weld up the internal wastegate and build an external setup?

 

 

280zwitha383 keep in mind feedback is placed typically immediatly after the package is recieved or FIRST bolted on..

 

yeh itll be fine for a little bit, but try actually running it hard then the housings will seperate or the bearings will be shot.

 

every part ive ever left feedback for was after I opened it and it was "as described"

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Matt,

 

why didnt you just weld up the internal wastegate and build an external setup?

 

 

280zwitha383 keep in mind feedback is placed typically immediatly after the package is recieved or FIRST bolted on..

 

yeh itll be fine for a little bit, but try actually running it hard then the housings will seperate or the bearings will be shot.

 

every part ive ever left feedback for was after I opened it and it was "as described"

 

That turbo was smaller than what I was running at the time. I already had everything to run an external the right way (Greddy ceramic coated top mount manifold, Greddy Type R wastegate) I didn't want to downsize, especially to a t2 flanged turbo...I sold the junk one for what I had into it & got the one I really wanted.

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I've got a SSauto T4 60-1. Most of what I hear is most start spewing oil out withing a few thousand miles if that. So when I get my a5s in gear and starting putting everything on the Z. I'm installing a restriction valve from Stealthmode Performance along with their oil line kits. I've used them before on a couple of hondas I've boosted and they worked fine. They also work good on older turbos that smoke from bad seals. Or just run down to the hardware store and pick up a simple needle ball valve.

http://stealthmodeperformance.com/oil-res.shtml

respre.gif

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So what do you guys think, any takers?

 

I am in the process of doing a few upgrades (sds, 450cc injectors, bigger turbo). I bought an el cheapo T3/T4 57trim turbo off of ebay about a month ago and will be installing soon (Downpipe issues). I will keep you posted on the performance of such unit assuming I ever get the car started again.This 2 week project has turned into 2 months. BTW, I have not left feedback yet :-D

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Guest TeamNissan

I personaly wouldnt even trust them for cores. I mean ofcourse some brands are better then others but if the tolerences of off even a hair all your going to do is ruin good garrett parts. Besides, I used garrett turbo (thrust bearing) core is cheap already, just rebuild a garrett with garrett parts lol. No?

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May just have to do that, I already have a t3, and I'd much rather do the rebuild myself, but I really want a t3/t4. I've seen a t3/t4 conversion kit where it gives you a new housing, impeller, and a rebuild kit amoung other things, but I've only seen it once, does anybody have any experiance with these?

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Guest TeamNissan

I rebuilt my old t25s off my old z32, its cake work if you have any kind of machine expecience. I would just buy a FULL rebuild kit and turbine from garrett.

 

Dont hold me to this but from t3 to t3/4 hybrid I dont think you need to change anything. The impeller is the same size and I believe the exhaust turbine fits.

 

Once again though why go through the trouble? I t3/t4 in need of a rebuild sells REALLY cheap on ebay just sell your t3 and buy one+ the rebuild kit.

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I've got a SSauto T4 60-1. Most of what I hear is most start spewing oil out withing a few thousand miles if that. So when I get my a5s in gear and starting putting everything on the Z. I'm installing a restriction valve from Stealthmode Performance along with their oil line kits. I've used them before on a couple of hondas I've boosted and they worked fine. They also work good on older turbos that smoke from bad seals. Or just run down to the hardware store and pick up a simple needle ball valve.

http://stealthmodeperformance.com/oil-res.shtml

respre.gif

 

How do you know that you have enough pressure going to the turbo? Seems like you could easily starve it of oil by setting that manual valve wrong.

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I'm in the market for a T3/T4 for my ZXT, and I've been looking on ebay and noticed that these new turbos are dirt cheap.

 

Anyone have any experience on these offbrand turbos?

 

I know the no-name intercoolers had a bad rap before, but now everyone reccomends them as they aren't much worse than the expensive name brands.

 

I'm looking for about 300 wheel horsepower out of my ZX, maybe a tad more.

 

Please don't reply unless you know....I'm not looking for speculation, just the facts...Thanks!

 

Well Tyson is it worth the bet for you? i have plunged in 350 euro's (420usd) for an OBX HLSD

it seem to work out for me, same goes for the 'rs' style BOV.. a turbo .. well just try it, it seems to work.

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How do you know that you have enough pressure going to the turbo? Seems like you could easily starve it of oil by setting that manual valve wrong.
You could run a little t between the center housing and restrictor and have a oil pressure gauge mounted off to the side but I've never had a problem with them choking off the turbo of oil. But it's an option if your weary of starving it not knowing how much oil it's getting. Steve at Stealthmode offers these cause he deals with honda's that run a higher oil presssure to make their vtec operate correctly. It also helps with older turbos that may have worn out seals and keeps pressure down to keep it from pushing it out into the exhaust or compressor housings. I've never heard anything bad from them as long as they've been out.

One thing I've also heard on the chinese turbos is to completely go over it and check all nuts and bolts cause the nut that holds on the compressor wheels on the T70's have a tendency to work themselves loose and it doesn't look good after that. Same thing for the chinese wastegates. Those I've heard alot of good things about actually and I have one myself. Such as the rubber diaphram not seated correctly and loose bolts. Just go over the stuff. If your really worried...just take it to a diesel repair shop as alot of them are able to balance turbos. And just have them go over it before you strap it on.

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