Ok. I here ebay turbos are ****. Is it the actual turbo charger that is bad?
i want to boost my car and i was thinking instead of $3000 for a kit why not just order a ebay kit and buy a decent actual turbo charger. Any input?

 

This topic has been covered many...many times. Do a search and you will find plenty of posts where Ebay Turbos are the topic of discussion. I find the Honda-Tech search engine lacking so I usually search H-T on google for whatever it is I am looking for.

Here are a few of the threads out there:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/forced-induction-16/ebay-turbo-kit-2623455/

http://www.ht-archive.com/showthread.php?p=43043348

 

There is absolutly nothing wrong with them. They are just as good as any turbo that has had more time and research. Even though they were assembled by minimum wage forigners. Even though they have lower standards to meet to be able to sell for less. Go ahead and pick one up and save your money.

 

they arent neally as good as other turbos and are not known to last long.

Why not peice togher a turbo kit with brand name parts??

 

They rape your mother when you are not home.

 

my friend pieced together an ebay kit but he opened up the bov, wastegate and turbo to ensure everything was in working condition. he bought a used ebay turbo and rebuilt it using garrett parts for $100. been months and its still going strong. he did say that the bov and wg would have never operated straight from the factory though. he took it apart and cleaned some stuff up

 

problem is that they break bcuz of lower manufacturing standerds. it harms ur engine and rape ur mthoer when ur not home as stated haha

 

The eBay turbos are hit or miss. some people have luck with them, others install them right and they don't have a pleasant experience. They have been known to leak a lot of oil, the fins can melt and deform, they can grenade, generally they aren't balanced well which could make it grenade or at the least it wouldn't perform as well.

Here's a better solution. Instead of spending over 100 on an eBay turbo and not knowing exactly what you're getting, just buy a used Garret or some other name brand unit. Generally they are very affordable and it's good quality.

 

Ebay can have some good kits for sale but usually carry a name brand. The turbo kits you find from off the wall vendors from China may or may not bee good. The only way to tell is by the materials they use and the R&D that goes into it; which, can be found out by simply asking. If most would stop suckling the teet of brand names for a second and realize that Greddy and Percision had to start somewhere; however, on another note I own several name brands like Apex'i, Ground Control, and Tokico.

Think of it this way, most of the time you get what you pay for but there are those who don't do enought research to know that sometimes you pay too much. Too little is bad and too much is also bad but find the middle ground where you are happy buying the parts is when you should buy. What I did was spend a few months looking at what prices were doing with certain off brands and big name brands. Sometimes you can even strike a deal with Craigslist or the forum dealers.

Also, for your turbo situation, I would worry about spending your money on better internals and there are several write ups out there taking you through the process of "junkyard turbo," which basically uses the ever strong DSM turbo, an intercooler that fits, custom your own pipes, and so on. If you do it right you can have a cheap around $1000 set up that is just as good as Greddy or what have you. The turbo model hasn't changed in years and there isn't much to them. Best of luck.

 

My buddy had a Ebay turbo kit.One week after his tune,something on the turbo broke.Ebay Turbo Kits

 

Most people just assume things from ebay are just garbage.. in the case of obx, yes, this is the case.. but somethings aren't.

The piping and couplers from the setups i've worked on and tune are great..

Aside from the main things, the setups or kits are good.
I wouldn't run a ebay turbo or wastegate, but i've heard nothing bad about the bov or anything else.

I'd buy the ebay kits cause they are so cheap and just buy another turbo and wastegate..

 

i bet its install error. there are some things recommended not to buy one ebay unless you know specifically what you want. those complete "kits" are a waste of money but if you piece it together right then you can potentially have a solid build. what size turbo and oil feed line did he use? usually those kits come with huge feed lines

 

don't know VIP Performance installed it

 

Most of the "cheapo" Ebay kits use cheaper foreign metals which can break and or crack prematurely.

You ever purchased a set of "made in china" tools? Only to have them break while turning a bolt? That's cheap foreign metal for ya
I got a set of "made in china" tools a couple years ago and they literally cracked while turning a bolt

Now this is not to say there are not some good "cheapo kits" on Ebay.

Like others said "read the reviews of the vendor"

If you see allot of "OMG this kit blows azz" then you might want to look elsewhere

The best way is to look for sales on namebrand higher quality turbo components

 

If you buy a name brand setup like the Greedy one, it comes with a small 14B turbo I believe. It will spool super quick.

The eBay wastegates are fine actually. I took one apart and it looks fairly decent even after a friend was running like 10lbs of boost for a year on it.

If you buy a no-name chinese turbo kit, ditch the turbo and oil feed line. The oil feed lines can be junk and snap at the fittings. You can get a -3 AN hose and two 1/8 NPT to -3AN pretty cheap from a reputable company.
The wastegate, BOV, tubing, couplers and clamps are fine. The intercoolers work fine, but there is a difference in construction between an eBay intercooler and a Precision. Precision uses Garret cores that have offset fins that help cool the air better. Used, you can find a 350hp model for around 200-250.

 

this ^. i'm considering purchasing a kit from eBay seller "ilovetacotaco" and switching out the parts mentioned above. probably the oil feed as well

 

Some last and some don't. I'd say, 7 out of 10 times, you'll hear or read about them failing. Although, some due tend to shine and have their kits last.

 

A fellow ectune tuner had a stock sleeve built b20vtec.. making 425whp on a ebay kit.. the entire kit was ebay.. lasted over 2 years and alot of track runs..was pretty nice. However it was checked over piece by piece and the turbo was sent off to turbochargers for about 150.00 for a throughly check over..in the end.. the 550.00 turbo kit shined alot..

non the less.. i think the kits are good but the main pieces need to be changed out or replaced..

 

Totally concur with you on replacing the main pieces.

 

get an eBay turbo checked out for $150, or buy a used Garret for like $100? How does that make sense?

 

well , your kindof in the same boat there.. how do you know the used turbo doesn't have shaft play or was starved for oil..

at least on the ebay turbo kit you could get a 50 or 60trim turbo thats new, at least it looks new and doesn't have any shaft play and send it off and just get a peace of mind..

where as if you get the garret, and you feel like you wanna check it out, and you do get it checked out, and you end up having to replace seals and what not and its not even the size you want..

your response makes no sense to me.. sorry

 

i've only read that the seals wear quickly in the turbos, other than that they are fine.

 

Better read more. Shaft bolts have seen to breaking early or wearing out, allow the turbine to actually come off, i've seen pics where the entire turbo seperated in half.. i've seen where piece of the turbine break and get suck into a engine.

 

It problaly matters what materials is used on certain applications. people running these turbos to full potential or higher, well then this will be there problem then wouldn't it? someone who would run these at lower numbers problaly wont run into these problems.