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TD05 16G turbo from eBay?

26K views 21 replies 13 participants last post by  dokalanyi 
#1 ·
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#3 ·
The Downside is that its most likley a chinese clone. Ebay sells a ton of cheapo turbos that all make wild claims about added horsepower, Most of them are manufactured in china with much lower quality control tolerances. The turbines are usually poorly balanced and they dont produce anywhere near their stated pressure.

I have played with a few ebay turbos in the past and I actually had really good luck with a universal kit with an old VW bug. Turbos and carburetors aren't meant to mix but it sure was a fun project car.

I wouldnt trust the reliability of a chinese clone turbo. Ive never had an ebay turbo blow up on me but ebay isnt the place I usually look for precision balanced high pressure equipment. I dont look down at it because they have their place its just not under the hood of my daily driver.
 
#6 ·
It's pretty much a roll of the dice with Ebay, maybe you'll luck out and get a decent amount of miles out of it or maybe you will only get a year out of it.
I could see if it was a inlet hose for $50 or even a exhaust for $100, but $240 is a big gamble in my eyes and being time and effort it takes to swap a turbo it would be kinda shytty to do all that work only to have it crap out on ya.
Just my .02
 
#16 ·
I said it years ago, ebay no name turbos have their place but if you daily drive your car they dont belong under the hood. That damage you can cause with a failed turbo isnt worth the cost savings for a daily driver. If your building a super budget track car and you dont have to rely on it to put food on the table then go for it, and crank that chinese cheapo up to 11 but I dont like the way cheap parts balance and i dont like the way cheap seals hold.

We have a saying ( Cheap, Reliable, Fast << Pick 2 )
 
#18 ·
Ruso after seeing the kind of metal work your capable of I would trust you to make something ebay cheap and make it awesome. ust keep in mind that your time and expertise is also worth money. Ive gone down the buy cheap and just make it better route many a time and eventually its 3:30 in the morning and things arnt lining up and a good nights rest is well worth the few hundred bucks you might save.

Anyway we got this thread way off track. Ebay turbos can be fun but they can also be bad : (
 
#19 ·
To continue the eBay turbo discussion, what about Rev9 turbos? I've seen them on eBay but haven't found any conclusive ratings. Does anyone have any experience they would like to share?
 
#20 ·
I do not know about their turbos (but would like to find out).

I do run a Rev9 downpipe (used to be catted, but I gutted the cat). The fitment was great and it's lasted so far with zero issues.

I also run a Rev9 EWG.... the build quality looks good, but from the factory it came with lose screws inside and would not hold so I had to take it apart and put the screws back in (it was a pain in the ass until I realized this).... Also, the housing was not stainless steel but just regular steel (or really shitty stainless) so it started to rust just a few months in. I'm also having issues with it leaking just a tiny bit... it holds boost just fine during spool up and opens correctly and works wonderfully at controlling the boost... but I can hear a very quiet "gurgle" when idling and driving slowly.

I don't think I like the wastegate... it looks good but if I were to choose again I would likely get something else.
 
#21 ·
turbos are like tv's or any other consumer product. each individual company does not make their own parts. its far too expensive.

there are only a few parent companies making the CHRA's & turbines and then companies assemble the bits and pieces to form a product. metal is metal all over the world so the housings are easy to make anywhere by anyone. its simple casting. and with 5axis milling becoming soo abundant... anyone can make a make a billet compressor wheel. there are home desktop mills able to carve compresor wheels availble for less than a few thousand dollars.

so just like sony, panasonic, magnasonic, samsung, sorny, magnetbox, etc... they all have the same guts inside. heck even your apple iPhone isnt made by apple. this is just how consumerism works. even a big companies like Blouch use Garret CHRA's and turbines...

the problem with cheap chinese turbos in this case is the finishing. while the metal and castings are the same everywhere, there could be bits of casting flashing left on the inside ready to destroy your turbo. making a chinese turbo good is a simple process of disassembling the turbo, cleaning up any poor manufacturing. while it is apart you could even change a wheel or two if you feel like it.
 
#22 ·
First post -- about Chinese turbos :)
Have 1,000kms on a CXRacing turbo from eBay so far. 14 psi of boost. It seems to spool slower than what most people report. Definitely don't have full boost by 3,200 rpm. 1st - 5k rpms for 14psi, 2nd around 4k. Haven't completed my tune, so I don't know about third. Gutted downpipe, 4EAT, EJ205. Oh, also it oil supply line needed modification, since the banjo it required was too large. And it didn't come with a banjo
 
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