I've tuned 10 of these since October, this is my professional review. If you have similar or even conflicting reviews, by all means feel free to post. This is regarding the T04E and TD05 6-piece (or more) kits sold on eBay as speed_daddy or Speed Daddy Com.

First of all, if you bought this "kit" without looking at the photos you should be ashamed of yourself. The downpipe is backwards, which requires you to either mount the compressor on the tranny side and run some ridiculous plumbing or cut the downpipe and weld it the other way. The wastegate placement is so high that it hits the hood, so unless you weld an extension or cut the hood it's going to rattle like crazy.

Second, there's no room to run your oil return line if you use that downpipe. The oil fittings it comes with are 100% garbage. The restrictor is usually too large and the return diameter is way too small which blows out the seals - half the time on the dyno.

The charge pipe fittings are RUBBER. They balloon and explode if you push more than 10psi. The fittings aren't that bad though. Expect the BOV to leak; you may or may not be able to seal it, but it does work.

The ghetto eBay boost controller it comes with has about a 40% success rate, a little higher if you modify it. They usually either overboost or don't work at all, it's like every spring has a different tension and their milling spec margins are massive. I started bench testing them before I install them.

The wastegate does surprisingly well, I haven't had any problems there. However, I haven't boosted these kits over 15psi either.

Some kits come with a header wrap, it discolors normally and seems to hold, I haven't tested its thermal properties but it radiates less heat when wrapped so no problems there.

I would strongly suggest relocating or extending the oil feed splitter, it's a massive b*tch to properly install without leaking or breaking. Use lots of yellow plumber's tape - be careful to keep it out of the line or it'll find its way to your turbo.

IF you get this far installing everything, don't be surprised if you're not boosting until 4000 RPM. It's really, REALLY hit or miss with the "T04E". I'm pretty sure they didn't balance these turbos at all, sometimes you can even see the wheel wobbling.

With all this being said, I've had a few success stories with them after replacing junk parts.

TD05 Vitara Y8-A6 made 271hp @ 15psi.
Another TD05 stock Z6 made 224hp @ 11psi.
Stock T04E B18B1 Skunk2 IM/cam hit 240hp @ 10psi (kept the turbo backwards!) ran for about 3 oil changes until the turbo tanked, but it leaked considerably from the oil fittings.

*edit - these were dynoed at 5200ft (.84 bar)

 

glad to see there's someone looking out for other members

common sense should make most people stay away from kits like this, especially when they see the dollar figure. that in and of itself should start raising alarm bells.... but I guess some people just dont know any better

good looking out, if this gets enough attention I might temporarily sticky it to make sure everybody gets a chance read it. this thread would really help the guys new to turbo setups and reasons why they should stay clear of Chinese parts

 

 

TurboDaddy.om doesn't list any kits, and their eBay page just has a bunch of turbos, with no kits...

 

title says speed daddy and they have 870 kits listed in their store right now.

 

Don't buy cheap ebay ****

 

Then OP needs to fix himself. Turbodaddy.com appears to be a perfectly reputable OEM turbo rebuilder.

 

Yes, the thread should be titled - Don't buy eBay knockoff turbo ****, period.

Haha, thanks for your time and for posting this OP.

 

I see your point.

 

Fixed it, sorry guys. It's eBay member speed_daddy.
It appears that kospeed2008 is selling a similar kit, but looks to be a little better quality. I can't confirm that though.

On a sidenote, the actual TD05 16G turbo runs really strong for anything under 1 bar. The 15G flow rate with 1.6L engines is better. But contrary to some opinions, they're both highly efficient at any RPM.

 

I purchased a "universal" kit for my CD5 back in 2011 from that seller. Ended up selling the piping and couplers. Trashed the garbage boost controller. Oil lines were cheap garbage. Turbo only lasted 2 years before the seals went and the compressor wheel started chipping. Only things that actually worked(and worked well surprisingly)were the wastegate and blow off valve. Just adding my experience to this thread. I still buy small parts like downpipe flanges and such from them but nothing crucial to the any setup. Wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

 

Need to rename title to just say "avoid ebay turbo kits"

 

Honestly, I'm surprised you were even willing to tune on these kits. The only three professional tuners around here worth mentioning all refuse to tune a car if it has a chinacharger on it. I've even seen one kid get turned away at a dyno day because of it.

As for the TD0 turbos, I had a TD04-H 15G on my Y7 for a while, and absolutely loved it. Quick spool, and even though I had it capped at 10 PSI, it was begging for more.

 

hey am looking to do a budget turbo build i will be replacing the turbo with in the year but just to get the build done .... i am looking at this "ebay" kit please let me know what you think http://www.ebay.com/itm/D15-D16-SOHC-T04E3-T3-T4-TURBO-KIT-STAINLESS-MANIFOLD-BOLT-ON-INTERCOOLER-23PCS-/400653455912?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d48ce9228&vxp=mtr

 

NO... Simply no. This isn't an eBay kit thread.

 

^exactly

don't even bother with Chinese/eBay turbo components... even the piping is ****, you'll ultimately end up replacing every component from couplers and clamps to the blow off valve, wastegate, and any other moving part... also the intercoolers arent exactly the highest quality.

 

They sign an indemnification waiver and prepay before we tune if they're not willing to make any changes. I do a full inspection on most cars before I schedule dyno time, so I have a pretty good idea how it'll turn out in advance. I get paid either way.

As far as the 15G, it's pretty awesome considering it makes more power than the JSRC and I've made a 54mpg car using that turbo. Too bad they don't have a BB version though. IHI has a similar sized BB turbo but the compressor map is less efficient, and the flange sucks.

 

Came in expecting a sob story about some dummy buying an ebay kit, buuuuut I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Well if you know anyone that wants one, I have my old one that I've been trying to sell...

 

that's the way to do it. that way you don't waste your time. even if they waste it you still make money

win win.

 

Ugh, eBay ****.

 

How much plus shipping to CO, how many miles on it, shoot me some pics.

 

Saw this to late. Relieved kit today and highly disappointed. Emailed speed daddy and will keep you all posted of outcome. I should've stuck with a good vendor instead of going cheap, but feedback on ebay was great so I thought I'd give it a shot. Lesson learned!!!!!