skhonda

I want to start this post off by saying I'm not trying to bash max-rev or turn anyone away from ordering things from them, i'm merely expressing my frustrations with the "kit" they sent me.

I started the turbo install on civic ex on Sunday (3/2), and the first night everything went very smoothly. We put in the fuel pump, injectors, got off the headers and exhaust section. Today, (Monday) is where I ran into the major problems.

First a minor problem, the bolts that came with the kit for the manifold/turbo connection were too long so I went to the local hardware store to buy different ones, no big deal.

The second problem is more of a hassel. I received 5 90 degree mandrel pipes, and 1 45 degree mandrel pipe. This is not nearly enough to get all the charge pipes in place. After working with it and thinking about how to fit it all together, we ended up being only a 9" straight pipe section and 1 90 degree bent pipe away from fitting it all together. This is after making only one cut on a pipe.

I'll have to either hope that some place in my hometown has 2.5" piping i need, or just order some more from someplace and waste money doing so. It's very frustrating because i'm doing the install on my spring break, and I still have to work every day. However when school starts again, and my car is not ready to go, i am royally $%#%^.

Lastly, the downpipe they sent me is really messed up. The flange that connects to the turbo has space for four bolts, however, the person who welded the flange on made it so that the downpipe itself goes over top of one of the holes on the flange. Meaning there isn't any room to put a bolt in there to secure it. The best we managed to fit on there was 3 out of 4, which is obviously messed up.

Still, that isn't the worst feature of the downpipe, I probably could make it work with 75% of the bolts I guess. The thing is about 4-5 inches too long. When I got down there and test fit the downpipe, the end of it reached way past the beginning of the cat, so I took off the cat and am hoping that a muffler shop can fabricate me a makeshift test pipe. I don't know if it's even legal, and if they will do it for me, where the hell they can get the right type of flanges.

Finally, the flange on the end of the downpipe is at the wrong angle when installed on the turbo. It's literally 90 degrees off of how it should line up to the cat, not that it matters anyway, since it's way too long.

Basically i'm really frustrated and my hopes keep falling about boosting because of all the crap I have to figure out to make this work. If you have this kit great, I hope you love it and never have problems, but if I even manage to get this thing running by some miracle, I don't think i'll be buying anything from max-rev anytime soon. My $3500 turbo setup, if i manage to get it all installed, is going to be the most ghetto of ghetto setups out on the street.

Snafu-Si

Welcome to the club.

XDEep

ouch. is it possible you got the wrong parts or something? i assume theyve sold more than a few of these kits and the problems you have seem to indicate them having no experience with a civic whatsoever.

b18cya

nope, thats exatly like mine was.

get an M8x1.25 stud for the 4th hole in the turbo/dp flange, then get a nut to hold it on.

for the exhaust, i cut the flanges off the cat & had a pipe welded to them at the right length.


& i dont think there are any "true" bolt on turbo kits for hondas. the closest is the greddy, but that kit sucks & you still have to modify some ****.


[Modified by b18cya, 12:45 AM 3/18/2003]

krazy

try a search, these same issues u have, have been posted and answered many times. minor issues. i plan on installing my kit during spring break too, but i know that if i dont finish in time i have to have a back up ride or not do it at all. u should know that if u plan to boost, u gotta have some type of back up ride in case the car ***** on u. thats the joyous part of boosting....worrying about the worse. anyway goodluck. and let us know how it goes.

krazy

b18cya

we finished mine in a day. same kit

XDEep

new to me. how can these companies do business like that.. how can they even survive. i take it they dont even mention it, or deny it even? what do they say to complaints?

badCRX

The DRAG kit is hardly better than the MaxRev, and its been the most popular kit for years. The only added plus is the piping is made to fit your application. The downpipe is no finished product on that kit either. I don't know about the RevHard or the FMax. Maybe someone can mention one of those kits.

I would tell your exhaust guy to install the downpipe, attach the cat to it, then cut some of your catback off where it meets the cat and shorten it up there.

metal-x

I got my exhaust done yesterday and I took my maxrev downpipe with me to measure things up and we found that the flange from the downpipe did not fit my cat (3' carsound) luckily the muffler shop has the correct flange its not that big a deal

Bottoz

Gee, my F-max kit fit perfectly. All bolts were there, all pipes fit fine, Tial wastegate clears hood with room to spare....and there's detailed 11 page instructions with pictures. I guess you get what you pay for.

Bottoz

Snafu-Si

I don't consider the maxrev thing a "KIT". It's just a starters.

I didn't even really use any of the piping that they gave me. The radius was to wide to fit in my car so I had to buy new piping. Transtions from different sizes of various inlets around the car were also missing, so I had to buy transtion hoses, or transtion pipes. Oil lines were missing, no charger pipe, no turbo inlet pipe.

No nothing.

I ended up spending another $400 bucks just to get the **** on.

When you really thinking about, you are barely using many Maxrev components. At least, I'm not. I bought my kit in Febrary of 2002, so mine is a little different from everybody else's.

The only componnets that I have that are Maxrev are the Downpipe, and the Manifold. Every other component uses something from another company. Let along that nothing really fits all that well to begin with.

If you are getting MaxRev, you are pretty much getting a custom turbo. It's been roughly about 1 1/2 weeks since I have started my install. In fact, it should be done.... TODAY!!!

WEEE! I will post pics for everybody to see .

skhonda

Thanks for all the helpful info guys, I thought I was the lone sucker in this boat. The only problem really getting in my way is that we're having trouble finding a place that sells 2.5" piping, and a welder that can do the job..

Oh well, I better call work and tell them i'm sick again, i need more time haha.

krazy

2.5 inch piping can be obtained thru jcwhitney, summit, or any exhaust fab shop.

krazy

LJR-LUDE01

lol yeap you ara just one more to the max-rev casualties... lol... I got the max-rev kit for my prelude and i had all the same problems you had.... you are not the first or last... I wish there was a max-rev guy in honda tech so they can see all the stuff they're messing up... search max-rev and you'll find a bunch of thread on all these problems... lol... oh well It took me a while to fix the problems I encounter but I finish the install... and now and very very happy...

buh_buh

Yeah, I had the same problems too. Except I had even more headaches I think. Maxrev "forgot" to send me all gaskets, the bung to tap into the oil pan, and even less piping that everyone else got. I also got no wastegate flange, and it took them over a month to send it to me. And on top of that there was no flange on my downpipe (it was just a pipe), so I had to get a friend of mine to fabricate a flange and weld it on, and on top of that my downpipe doesn't really even fit properly. LJR-LUDE01: Does your downpipe fit? Cuz I have maxrev kit for a Prelude too, and my downpipe is sooooooo low to the ground, i scrape on EVERYTHING. Like even on main roads with bumps in them.

BodyKits NW

I had a Max-Rev kit, and I ran into some problems as well. They forgot to send me a few things, but I called down there and they sent my missin pieces to me ASAP. The oil thing I wasn't able to get was my oil drain flange. I sold my Max-Rev kit and decided to get a Full-Race Setup. Hopefully it comes sometime soon so I can get on the dyno.

XDEep

lol isnt that what most of the cost of a downpipe is from. i seriously cant believe what im hearing

TurbothisLS

Possible that they sent you the wrong kit. I got a dp from a b16 and the flange was also rotated in the wrong direction. I think it is different from car to car, so i would check with them and make sure your didn't get a kit from an integra or something.

if you think that's the worst part of a turbo honda, wait till you start boosting and something goes wrong.
hang in there and one day you will see boost.

2K_TEG

I am nto going to respond to everyone specifically, but instead just generally.

I am not sure if the kits in question were bought thru me or another vendor or MaxRev direct. The truth is it doesn't matter. In the past there were problems with the production, and distrubution of the kits. I will not deny that and neither will Curtis (owner of MaxRev). The problems were linked mostly with limited supply and amazing demand.

KS Motorsports and MaxRev were the first to bring a full (we'll get to that later) turbo kit to market for less than $2500. You cannot argue with the value of the kit. It is (I am 99% sure) the least expensive full kit on the market using all quality components. Stainless steel manifold, DP and IC piping, DP with FlexPipe, Aeroquip oil lines, Garrett turbo, TiAL wastegate, HKS IC.

Our philosophy was to use all the highest quality materials and components so people would not want or need to upgrade anything. In an effort to provide applications to the largest number of cars, get the product out and keep costs low the DIY piping was included with the kit. Some people loved the idea, for others it was a big concern. Just like opinions vary, ways of routing the piping do as well. The 5 90* bends and 1 45* bend were enough for some people, others needed more, there is no one way to do the piping. And we packaged what we thought was enough to get the job done. Now that the kits are out and some people are having problems we are reevaluating things and making changes.

Just like with everything else, the longer you do something the better you get at it. We are working to better the kit and provide some new features to you guys to make your time installing a bit easier. I know this doesn't help those who already have the kit, but I have tried my best to help everyone who has contacted me about missing parts or fitment problems. That offer is still open too.; My office and personal cell phone number are in my sig, call whenever.

There are changes being made to the way the kits are produced and distributed, and all the changes are beneficial for both for us and the end user.

OH, and about the downpipes. They are designed to be longer rather than shorter. Most of the people running turbo kits are not running a stock cat or a stock exhaust.

Let me know if there are any more questions, I will try my best to answer them. Also if anyone has any more gripes, my number is below, give me a call and we will work thru it.

Kyle

LJR-LUDE01

Good deal Kyle.... I got my kit through you and although I had a few problems... overall I'm very very happy. I'm pretty sure there was people that didn't have as many problems as others or none at all so here's to Max-Rev and KSM like you said this new batch of kits coming out should have less problems plus you still given out a deal on the kits....

And to the guys who ask me about the DP on my lude... yes my dp was scraping all over the road the first day since i was running straight dp at first but what I did is had Miami Mufflers cut my DP and re-route higher so I wouldn't scraped the dp on the road... after that is been good...


[Modified by LJR-LUDE01, 6:00 PM 3/18/2003]

swlabhot

Kyle, the FMIC is by HKS !?? I thought its Max Revs own? Which is it?

LJR-LUDE01

I heard it was HKS too...

2K_TEG

Dan Koong aka skhonda ----> Curtis from MaxRev is calling you to take care of your problems. Let me know if there are any more.

If there is anyone else with problems, please let me know via, IM, e-mail, phone and we will work it out. I am glad someone pointed out this thread to me so I could do something to resolve the situation otherwise it may have gone unnoticed.

Moral of the story: call me and I will work it out, post some thread on a message board, I may never see it and you will stay pissed off thinking I am an ***.

2K_TEG

yes HKS core, MaxRev endtanks.

Kyle

LJR-LUDE01

who said we think you're an *** Kyle lol You one of the best sellers out here in my opinion...

we were just taking out our frustration about max-rev out here...


[Modified by LJR-LUDE01, 6:26 PM 3/18/2003]