The Definitive Ebay/No Name/Chinese/Cheap turbo kit thread

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mksue3240sx
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CXRACING now has ball bearing turbos. gt35s and t04e. Anyone tried one?


angrypenguin182
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I've been looking online and seems like this new CXracing turbo kit might be actually worth it since they seemed to have adjusted their shieet but idk, im considering it. within the next few months I'll know if i can save to rebuild and turbo

scotttak
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ive been through one top mount ebay mani so far and my second one is still holding up. first one the wastegate flange broke off. i too am running a flex pipe in my downpipe. ive been running a t3/t4 ebay turbo for about three years @ 8-9 psi so far and its held up pretty well. i havent really taken a beating on it yet, but ive done a lot of pulls up to 5-6 grand, just not one right after the other. i started out with an safc neo and wideband tune, then moved on to an emance tune, and now im on my own personal tune (just reprogrammed the chips i got from emance). so far everything is doing well. i just need an oil change but ive been neglecting to do that lately.

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aceducey
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my cuzin bought the cxracing turbo kit for a ka24de in a s14. the turbo kit mounted up nice and worked for a week, now the motor blows oil smoke out the pcv and runs like s***, , my first guess was tht the valve stem seals blew, but it might be the tubo because my cuzin drilled out the oil inlet flange to make th ewhole bigger so the turbo might of blew its oil seals

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spooled240
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if your turbo seals blew you would either be chuggin bluish-white smoke or your ic pipes would be full of oil (or both)

if the pcv hose is blowing oil that sounds like bad rings...what are you guys using for tuning?

mksue3240sx
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I installed the most recent to4e kit with intercooler from cxracing. Left the oil hole alone. I am using an ebay tuned ecu , a z32 maf and q45 injectors, 255 lphr fuel pump. Every thing bolted up ok but the down pipe rubbed my steering shaft and the midpipe had to be cut and rewelded as the flange was on wrong. Have not recirculated my BOV yet so it stalls sometimes coming to a stop. The manifold has definately been redesigned, lots of clearence from the brake master. Have not tried to up the boost yet, just left it at 8psi. So far so good except it is making my clutch slip!

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Chaotic_Warlord
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I've been looking at these cheapo manifolds for a while now. I wouldn't buy the full kit as I plan to get a used Holset turbo from a dodge cummins and rebuild it. My question is this are the cast manifolds a better quality then the welded manifolds? I found a cast manifold on ebay that has a lifetime warranty for like $200.

What are you all doing about your oil feed/return bungs in the oil pan? Are you sourcing a used oil pan and having the bungs welded on, or are you using the SR oil pan mod?

Those of you running these ebay kits, is it on your daily, and if so how much do you drive it daily (5 miles on the highway or 30-45 miles of stop and go traffic). Also how often do you really seriously beat on these kits? Are you running stock engines or built blocks?

I don't know if I want to go cheap now and risk my daily (and only car) or if I should wait (which may be never) and just build up my original engine and run a quality name brand turbo setup. I don't plan to exceed 10-12 psi (which is the lowest end of the Holset PSI constraints) until I have built my other block so I can run consistantly at 25 psi.

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spooled240
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Here's how i look at it, if your turbo goes out your car is just gonna smoke...just change the turbo and rebuild it and you're good. If a wastegate goes out, you're probably gonna overboost and blow your engine. If your half-a** tune fails on you you stand a chance of blowing your engine. The turbo although very vital in a turbo setup, is not gonna destroy anything else but it might make a little oily mess. I have a tial wastegate, nismo injectors, and a JWT reflashed ecu. I'm running a cxracing t3/t4 and it's on my daily. I only run 8 psi of boost and I get on it here and there, not a complete beating though. I've had this turbo for about a year maybe and put about 10,000 miles on it, mostly commuting highway miles. It's been working great so far, no leaks no problems.

These turbo's have been known to wear out faster at higher boost however so I'm looking for a nice garrett unit I can swap in since I'm planning on turning up the boost to a 10 psi daily, and maybe a 12-14 psi fun day lol

Modified by spooled240 at 11:41 AM 11/27/2009
Modified by spooled240 at 11:42 AM 11/27/2009

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WDRacing
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The higher the boost the faster the wheels are spinning. Higher rpms increase everything but the biggest factor is vibration. We're talking 30,000 rpm here...that's 500 rotations every second. Do you really want to roll the dice? Brand new or remanufactured turbo's can be had for $350 and up. Why would you ever buy something that you know isn't assembled correctly when for just a few dollars more you can have something you KNOW is going to work just like it's supposed to?

If you're just going to run 8 psi then grab a used T25, they run forever at low boost and you'll have instant boost.

China makes some decent stuff, but stick with the things that don't have moving parts, like intercoolers and piping kits and even the manifolds. But leave the rest...there are simply to many documented failures to take the risk.

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spooled240
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i've seen some t-25 turbo's fail here and there, maybe the owners overboost them or they were just worn out to begin with but I never had any shaft play from these turbo's after 10-15,000 miles.

If you can avoid these parts by all means get the better quality but these have worked for me

i was looking at this turbo, looks pretty big but the guy said it's only good to 250 hp? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...3AVRI

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WDRacing
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The compressor is really small, so it will heat the air up more to make the same amount of boost as a larger compressor. I think it may start to heat up at 250, probably good for close to 300 though.

WD

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spooled240
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i imagine it would spool pretty quick tho, I only plan to run 8-14 psi anyway

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Chris28
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My eBay t28 lasted all of one track day before it started blowing smoke. I still drive it how it is, it just smokes a lot in boost. Out of boost/normal everyday driving is fine. I'm looking into holset turbos now as well, I will most likely be running an hy35.
Chaotic_Warlord wrote:I've been looking at these cheapo manifolds for a while now. I wouldn't buy the full kit as I plan to get a used Holset turbo from a dodge cummins and rebuild it. My question is this are the cast manifolds a better quality then the welded manifolds? I found a cast manifold on ebay that has a lifetime warranty for like $200.
The only stainless tube manifold that I would trust is the xs power/ssautochrome bottom mount t2 manifold. With the cast log type manifolds you run into fitment issues. I know for a fact with the revhard manifold you will run into BMC fitment issues unless you run an on-center turbine exhaust housing
Chaotic_Warlord wrote:What are you all doing about your oil feed/return bungs in the oil pan? Are you sourcing a used oil pan and having the bungs welded on, or are you using the SR oil pan mod?
Lol wut? SR oil pan mod? The sr's oil return line goes into the block. I know there is an aftermarket pan that uses the sr sump and has a return bung built into it, maybe that's what you're talking about?
Chaotic_Warlord wrote:Those of you running these ebay kits, is it on your daily, and if so how much do you drive it daily (5 miles on the highway or 30-45 miles of stop and go traffic). Also how often do you really seriously beat on these kits? Are you running stock engines or built blocks?
I guess I'm running a typical ebay kit, minus the important stuff, much like Spooled240. Turbo I mentioned in the first part of my post, manifold is holding up very well. I'll report back when I try and hang a t3 holset from it haha. Intercooler kit shows no problems as well, all the piping fit and the ic itself is great. Needed a few extra couplers but that's it. Other than that I'm running all legit stuff. Nissan OEM 370cc injectors, greddy bov, and an EFI Specialist tune. AEM wideband isn't directly related to turbo funcionality, but I suggest you get one regardless. The AEM is a good all around one, I like it.
Chaotic_Warlord wrote:I don't know if I want to go cheap now and risk my daily (and only car) or if I should wait (which may be never) and just build up my original engine and run a quality name brand turbo setup. I don't plan to exceed 10-12 psi (which is the lowest end of the Holset PSI constraints) until I have built my other block so I can run consistantly at 25 psi.
If it's your only car stay stock. Find a spare or blown KA and build that up with name brand parts, then later on down the road swap everything over. It's not worth it to cheap out and risk rendering your only car inoperable.

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stb240sx
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Here are pics of a CXRacing tubular top mount manifold with a T3To4e in a S14 with ABS. I mention this because the brake booster on a ABS car is larger then a non ABS car. I hope these pictures shed some light for people who are considering one of these manifolds. Also I should mention that I have excessive lowering engine brackets, which lowers the engine approximately 3/4 of an inch or so. I hope these pics help someone unsure of whether or not to purchase one of these manifolds.

These images should speak for themselves. I'm sure that for some people these manifolds would work, but if you have ABS in a S14 I'm going to say more then likely no. Now I have a used JGS on the way.

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Chaotic_Warlord
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damn that is tight, your brake booster is practically sitting on top of your turbo housing.

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PantherRacer
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So, I just realized I haven't contributed to this thread with my personal experiences.

I bought a T3/TO4E turbo/mani/wastegate combo from a friend, who happened to have a trust I/C, so I didn't have to cheap out on that. The piping, couplers and clamps were ebay.

The turbo was good, no shaft play, boosted fine, didn't have a long spool time. Worked as long as I had the car.Mani did have the turbo a bit close to the master cyl...but I fabbed up a shield and wrapped the downpipe to help out with that.

The wastegate...while it worked, imo it was crap. Not because it spiked or things like that. The damn thing wouldn't stay together. I had to constantly check and retighten the bolts. I never got around to changing the bolts themselves to see if they were the problem, or if it was the housing itself. When it stayed together it did work fine though.

I/C Piping, I didn't have a problem with the kit I bought. it was a universal set, and took to the needed modifications well. Couplers were mostly crap though. I switched to proper silicone from Forge. Some of the clamps needed changing, some didn't. it seemed like some places in the system tended to pop off more frequently than others. I put on t-bolts.

Would I do it again? Yep, & I just might if I get this 240SX that's for sale here...but it's a tough decision. I really don't want LHD over here, but it's running and cheap.


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spooled240
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i have a tial and it's the same thing, it's just the way the thing sits hanging off the manifold with all those vibrations.

running in a nut on the other side of the bolt would probably fix the issue.

my knockoff wg worked well for a while until it started having boost drop-offs at higher rpms. I would hit 12 psi at 3200rpms then be at 10psi at 7K rpms. I swapped it out for a nice tial unit and the tial seems to be working nicely.

while it seems that a lot of the chinese stuff is hit or miss, my experiences have been fairly good but a lot of the parts aren't very durable, lasting about a few years tops.

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Chaotic_Warlord
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Just my .02 cents, since everyone is saying that these cheap ebay kits are only good for a couple of years, then that's a couple of years to be boosted while you get the money together for a proper full out build and a quality turbo kit.

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spooled240
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yep, in the year and a half I was boosted on ebay parts I upgraded to a a cast iron treadstone manifold and a tial wg, still looking for a garrett turbo tho

nismologist
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i am planning on buying a jgs turbo manifold kit for my ka24e. is jgs any good?

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DMan II-40
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Yes JGS is very good.

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spooled240
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pricey, but good..just drop it in and don't worry about getting this to fit and modifying this and that

nismologist
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ok good. im thinking jgs manifold kit without the turbo or wastegate. im thinking of turbonetics or hks units for those. im on a budget of about 4 k and more if absoloutely needed. stock internals and MAYBE 10 Psi on occasion.

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DMan II-40
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Most people here use Tial wastegate, proven product so that is what I would use. Turbo is a different story. There is so many options, beyond the average T25/28 turbos so I have no clue really.

scotttak
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im still using my original knockoff tial wg that came with my chinese turbo kit. i changed the spring because the one that came with it was set for like 15 lbs. the turbo itself has held up and still works fine but im only running 9 - 10 lbs of boost. its the t3/t4 one that used to come with those top mount turbo kits from ebay. .63 trim turbine, .50 trim compressor, .57 wheel. full boost around 3800-4000.

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Chaotic_Warlord
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Will one of those weld it yourself log kits handle a Holset HX35 or HY40? If so I have a few guys who are pretty handy with a welder and I can source a Holset turbo from a junkyard and buy a rebuild kit if needed.

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WDRacing
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My JGS weld it yourself mani has been cut and rewelded to accommodate 3 different turbo locations and sizes. The JGS mani is a friggin rock and will last longer then most 240S.

The JGS + Holset is a winning combo IMHO.

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kentuckyslider
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WDRacing wrote:My JGS weld it yourself mani has been cut and rewelded to accommodate 3 different turbo locations and sizes. The JGS mani is a friggin rock and will last longer then most 240S.

The JGS + Holset is a winning combo IMHO.
The JGS mani+ holset HY/HX35 will own any T2 setup for a fraction of the cost. If you get the HX35 and the BEP .70ar hot side it will make over 500whp and spool like a 30R. The hy35 will make 400/400 at 20psi with the oem 9cm2 hotside and spool like a GT2871R. Show me a T2 setup that makes 400/400 for $600??

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zerepdivad
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I've been driving my chinacharger setup for the last few weeks now since my girls been driving my talon because her eclipse started knocking. No issues still. no cracked manifold, no blown turbo etc.

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Chaotic_Warlord
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I know I could probably get the answer from a simple search as I'm sure it's been beaten to death, but I'm lazy and figured it would work well in here since this thread is for those of us on a tight budget. When using stock internals, what should be taken into consideration (how old is to old? How many miles is too many miles? etc...) and what is a good range for the compression tests? I'd also like to ask what have you guys that are using these turbo's/kits done fuel and tune wise? I hear a lot of good things about swapping to SR injectors but I'd like to run a little richer to prevent detonation and this whole AFR thing has a me really confused, so what would be the best injector size to run and for those of you running adjustable FPR's what do you have it set to?

As far as tunes go what ECU's are you running (if different than stock) and what AFR's do you guy run? How effective is the Greddy Emanage (the older one) since that is what I'm looking at. I'd like to get a newer Emanange 2 but for the price of that I could just get a Stillen or Enthalpy tune and I'm on a stupid tight budget. I'd love to just build my own tune, but that would probably cost just as much in the end as a solid proven built/tuned ECU and I don't have the money to be throwing at yet another KA.


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