Upgraded T04 turbos for less $ than stock! Wtf? Link inside

Rob@RBTurbo

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Dec 7, 2016
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Has anyone bothered getting a set of these and then sending them out for balancing?

I used to do that with dirt cheap ebay large frame turbos back in the day and it would extend the life 10 fold on even the cheapest ebay offerings.

While the clueless of the world may say this is vendor "Fearmongering", there's no doubt this would help a ton in the right hands on the right equipment. Other than that it is just luck of the draw with no draw really all that great.
 

Threetirtyfive

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Jan 9, 2019
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Yeah, we see several cases of popped N54 engines a year ourselves and it is always a bummer getting tangled up in those scenarios.

So prior to the engine fail, what did you have on them about 9-10K miles over 10 or so months? Would've been interesting to see how much further they would've taken you with a solid engine. Plans to buy another set and give another go round, or is there some rebuild planning going on? FWIW would not recommend running them as is, but you can give it a whirl if you don't mind taking the chance.

Reason I bumped the thread is we were sent a picture of one that popped off an entire compressor housings the other day, but no one seems to want to mention anything about these things online anymore for whatever reasons.

Thanks,
Rob

I'm not buying a second hand engine but will instead rebuild the block in mine. Still going to run the same turbos on it so it will be mileage added to the existing 10k miles I've put on these so far.
So the ones you have where the housing popped off, that will be the C-Clip then, not really a major flaw?
 

Rob@RBTurbo

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I'm not buying a second hand engine but will instead rebuild the block in mine. Still going to run the same turbos on it so it will be mileage added to the existing 10k miles I've put on these so far.
So the ones you have where the housing popped off, that will be the C-Clip then, not really a major flaw?

Good deal on the re-use, if anything they make it much more down the line that would even be grounds for that much more respect.

As for other set mentioned LOL?? Just a destroyed turbo and a massive quality control issue, yeah nothing major. Not the first set we'd heard of with issue, but honestly it has been a while since the last so that is a good thing. Will be interesting to see how things go over more time, most are only sub 6 months with few K mileage and far less approaching a year. These aside without a doubt the most intel we get anymore are about consistently ongoing GC problems.

Rob
 
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Threetirtyfive

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Well seeing as you're not reporting turbine, compressor, shaft, bearing or oil seal failure but a case of a C-clip failing, I would call that quite reliable, certainly percentage wise, I'd wager less failures than yours.
 
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Rob@RBTurbo

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Well seeing as you're not reporting turbine, compressor, shaft, bearing or oil seal failure but a case of a C-clip failing, I would call that quite reliable, certainly percentage wise, I'd wager less failures than yours.

If it is any consolation to you in all my 10 years in the N54 platform combined with 7 years prior in others; have NEVER had a compressor housing blow off any turbo. But hey let's not compare 10 years of service to sub 12 months.

So by your definition it's perfectly ok (or not major), and nothing to speak of, for a QC issue that caused an instant turbo catastrophic failure while in use on someones vehicle? Think this is a great testament to see what your definition of "no issues" entails on these sorts of things. I mean if you heard of anything else would you even report it here?

Rob
 
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dreptroman

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Feb 2, 2019
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Well, i have installed them and failed within 3000km.

I got these turbos, got them on, got Wedge Performance 21psi tune on them, worked for almost 3000km and now they turbo siren and make no boost.

5w40Motul oil was used...

Do you think they can be fixed? or should I just start looking for something more serious.

The ebay seller is not even replying to my messages shop.turbo is the seller name so stay away.

They even had in the box some balancing sheet specs for each turbo....probably BS.

Why do you think they failed this soon?
 

Threetirtyfive

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Hmm so a new member pops up today with his only posts saying his chinese turbos failed. Do you have photos of your install or turbos?

Judging by dodgy Doug's attempt to slate these I would totally expect a manufacturer creating a post to slate these. I'm in an active chat group with now over 20 people running these with no failures apart from one of them having potential wastegate rattle.
 

Eyelobes

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Blaster3500

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Nov 5, 2016
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lol that doesn't matter. Rob has horror stories just like every other upgraded twin vendor.

I agree, but his recent track record over the past couple years is hard to beat. I know you are not a RB fan, but it is hard to argue recent quality/reliability.
 
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JohnDaviz

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Jan 6, 2019
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And are these the ispeedytech or vivracing versions? Have a link to the ones you ordered by chance?

These are only resellers! In Fact Ispeedytech is also JDM Shop on aliexpress and i bet there are more. So also vivracing may be in the end the same seller or at least coming from the same factory.