Been looking around for cheap turbos and found you could buy a gt45 turbo for like 200+ bucks on eBay ! New. not used. Does anyone know anything about them or seen /used them ? LS + GT45 + 600 hp. that's what I'm thinking.
Been looking around for cheap turbos and found you could buy a gt45 turbo for like 200+ bucks on eBay ! New. not used. Does anyone know anything about them or seen /used them ? LS + GT45 + 600 hp. that's what I'm thinking.
There are mixed experiences, but long story short, don't use one on a motor that isn't junk already. Also, it's well documented that an eBay "GT45" is nothing like the real thing.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/1vy5i5/my_reallife_ebay_turbocharger_experience/
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/cheap-ebay-turbos/33620/page1/
These turbos have numerous horror stories. Even friends on mine have had poor experiences.
IMHO, you are better off buying a used name brand turbo.
Disagree. We've been using them in the MX6 world for years with good results. Same in the Miata world.
I'd use one. Buddy of mine put 20k miles on his miata (before it was t-boned last week) with an Ebay 2871RS huffing enough boost to make 320whp. He beat it hard, it never gave him a lick of trouble.
Not bad for $179 shipped.
The horror stories were thick and often. A decade ago.
Plenty of people in the e30 world have had success with "CX racing" turbos. Their manifolds and intercooler kits are not all great but the turbos themselves seem to be a decent value.
There is a great chance that this winter a GT2552 might replace the muffler underneath my own e30. I would inspect everything well before installation and demand replacement of anything that didn't feel right but overall I have thrown unknown junkyard and secondhand parts on most of my cars without being too worried about the consequences...
I would bet they are a lot like OBX LSDs and other Chinese parts in the sense that they are usually okay as long as you inspect everything VERY closely and replace any questionable low-grade hardware.
I think they work fine as long as your IC and exhaust piping is supported and bracketed properly. The bending moment load limits on those turbos isn't very forgiving, as the CHRAs seems to crack easily. I've seen a few totally broken in half, and others cracked enough to seep oil and for the turbine and comp wheels to contact the housings that were on their way out. Otherwise, you might be fine. A good BOV will help longevity too, since turbo surge will kill them pretty quickly.
'Ebay Turbos' is a pretty broad description of a sizable supply chain with many players of differing capabilities. A counterfeit of a counterfeit with even more cost driven out is SOP in the no holds barred world of Chinse manufacturing. For me JunkYards and CL offer better value.
In reply to tb:
I just went on line and looked at the CX racing units and while MUCH cheaper than name brand units they are not the bottom of the bucket on eBay at all. Middle of the road maybe? I will file that away for future reference.
The 2871 China Charger Bell uses on some of the miata kits seem to be holding up pretty good. A little higher than the normal China Charger but much less than a Garrett.
Ebay Gt45s didnt have a good track record, because they arent close to a real gt45, youd be better off with a used holset. That said I trust the smaller turbos, ive got an ebay to4e t3/t4 with no worries. Ive heard the gt45s spool really late and dont offer as much air flow as a real gt45 or other comparable sized turbo.
This is an interesting option for me. Wanting to do a t3/t4 hybrid on my z motor.
On a somewhat related topic: is ebay still the best place to get a cheap holset?
No, go to your local diesel turbo rebuild place and see what they got. In my bumberkeleytown theres one shop with so many turbos laying around theres holsets outside collecting rain with the cigarette butts
SlickDizzy wrote: There are mixed experiences, but long story short, don't use one on a motor that isn't junk already.
Swank Force One wrote: We've been using them in the MX6 world for years with good results.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Heyoooo!!!!
Relevant to the thread... I've heard of people having good luck with them by treating them as cores, and sending them right off to a rebuilder for an inspection and balance. Apparently a lot of them aren't balanced, or aren't balanced very well. This in itself would explain some of the good turbo/bad turbo coin toss. The rest of it could easily be explained by the turbos being installed by the kind of people who would buy a $200 shipped turbo off of some no-name on eBay. The same people would have problems with $2000 turbos, is what I'm getting at.
Meanwhile, you can buy Precision turbos for pretty much our cost, on eBay.
Another thing a lot of time they use cheap seals and need an oil restrictor to run without smoking...usually restrictors are only for ball bearing turbos but eh whatever
I was interested in chinabay turbos as well.
The thing is though I bought a R34 rb25neo turbo on ebay for $150 and am having it rebuilt for $200 with metal wheels. So for $350 in do I want to still try a chinese turbo?
If we are talking $200 chinese turbos vs having to buy a new one for $1000+ then I see the point in them. However if you know a reputable shop that will build a turbo for you might as well go that route. If I have any issues I know the person and that is worth the extra $150-$200 to me.
What's crazy about the turbo I bought as well is it came with the R34 exhaust manifold, turbo elbow, part of the intake, water and oil lines, etc. All in good condition.
I sold a genuine Garrett GT2871R Hybrid and picked up a CXRacing T3/T04E and put it on my F2T MX-3. Runs great, pulls hard 5k and no smoke as of yet with boost at 14psi.
on3 performance has some decent turbos that have proven to make good power and work well
It seems every ginger neck within 400 miles of The Creek seems to think their shelf bound paperweight is worth 200% over retail, my ultimate goal on the FAIRMONSTER is to apply two KKK T-03 turbos (VAG 1.8L) or something of similar size to the V6 engine albeit with a newer 4.2L block and Supercoupe heads.
Is there a "tested" turbo I. That size range or should I just jump onto the 2871?
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