tubo toyotas turbo kit
05-11-2010, 05:51 AM
#4
im sure you did...that xA mustve been straining under that turbo kit...how many miles were you at when you first started having problems? id be quite interested!
05-13-2010, 05:24 PM
#5
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,125
There's a reason the company went bust. My kit arrived incomplete, parts were missing, customization had to be done to a "bolt-on" kit, assembly instructions were HORRIBLE, it was very unorganized and messy. Todd's customer service was nonexistent so calling the company for help was useless, he would answer an email once every week, so that didn't help, but at the end, all the essential parts arrived so I was able to put it together. Given the lack of space under the hood everything was really bundled up, which makes for a very hard install. To install the turbo the axle had to be removed!! We had to practically take the whole car apart to install everything again.
The kit was actually VERY good, high quality parts, high quality welds, high quality metals and fasteners. The reason i chose the kit was because he used the EXACT same parts i was going to buy piece by piece and custom make a kit. The turbo was AMAZING!!!!! GT2554R, full ball bearing, spooled up really quick and gave amazing response on the low end. Torque was at 165 ft/lbs, so this little egg hauled a$$ for a 1.5L. The engine and transmission didn't suffer at all. I thought it was all going to blow up, but it held together perfectly. The only problem was my engine was getting carbonized on the inside because of running the mix too rich for a long period of time.
The reliability issues were mainly heat related. Once again, the lack of space. The turbo simply didn't have enough room to breathe and cool down. This heat build up made the EGT run at 1400 degrees which is really high, so I would always have to back off to not melt a piston. The turbo is dangerously close to the transmission cable and clutch cable, if you know your fluids you know brake fluid is VERY flammable and brake fluid works your clutch. I had to replace my clutch line and re route it and i had to change one of my transmission cable because it melted and snapped. Let me tell you that both of the lines and cables are VERY VERY VERY VERY hard to change, all because of LACK OF SPACE!! I wrapped mostly everything under the hood with thermal wrap to not have any more issues with parts melting.
Another big issue with the kit is our 1.5L aluminum head. The header and turbo together both weigh about 25-30 lbs, which is a lot of weight to be simply bolted on to an aluminum head with no reinforcement. When the heat built up on the turbo it would transfer to the header which would then transfer to the block which would heat up the bolts that hold the header to the aluminum head and weaken the threads on the head and with enough time destroy the threads inside the head. Guess what, you now have a massive gap between your header and your head and the car is USELESS!!!! Even if you tried to tighten the bolts, you cant, because the thread was melted and doesn't work anymore. Guess what again, the only way to fix it is to remove the head and have new threads machined at a shop.
I can go on and on with reliability issues. I had this car turbo'd for about 18 months, 5 of those months the car was in a shop or in the garage or on the street because something broke, melted, cracked, shifted or blew up. At the very end, right before i sold it, the car was finally becoming reliable. It's all about fixing problems as they arise and modify the part to prevent it from happening again. When the car worked, it flew, it was a very quick car and not one tC was ever able to catch me.
I probably spent about $15,000 on this car. Including everything parts, labor, maintenance, tuning, hours ($HIT LOAD), etc... Plus the cost of the car. Would i do it again, HELL THE F.U.C.K YES!!! It was too much fun and now that i don't have it i miss it like you have no idea!! The feeling of the turbo spooling up and mashing the throttle, feeling the torque glue you to the seat, reaching for 3rd, then 4th, then 5th hitting about 120MPH and the rev limiter hitting the end of the transmission. Its TOO MUCH FUN, TOO MUCH FUN, TOO MUCH FUN!!!
The kit was actually VERY good, high quality parts, high quality welds, high quality metals and fasteners. The reason i chose the kit was because he used the EXACT same parts i was going to buy piece by piece and custom make a kit. The turbo was AMAZING!!!!! GT2554R, full ball bearing, spooled up really quick and gave amazing response on the low end. Torque was at 165 ft/lbs, so this little egg hauled a$$ for a 1.5L. The engine and transmission didn't suffer at all. I thought it was all going to blow up, but it held together perfectly. The only problem was my engine was getting carbonized on the inside because of running the mix too rich for a long period of time.
The reliability issues were mainly heat related. Once again, the lack of space. The turbo simply didn't have enough room to breathe and cool down. This heat build up made the EGT run at 1400 degrees which is really high, so I would always have to back off to not melt a piston. The turbo is dangerously close to the transmission cable and clutch cable, if you know your fluids you know brake fluid is VERY flammable and brake fluid works your clutch. I had to replace my clutch line and re route it and i had to change one of my transmission cable because it melted and snapped. Let me tell you that both of the lines and cables are VERY VERY VERY VERY hard to change, all because of LACK OF SPACE!! I wrapped mostly everything under the hood with thermal wrap to not have any more issues with parts melting.
Another big issue with the kit is our 1.5L aluminum head. The header and turbo together both weigh about 25-30 lbs, which is a lot of weight to be simply bolted on to an aluminum head with no reinforcement. When the heat built up on the turbo it would transfer to the header which would then transfer to the block which would heat up the bolts that hold the header to the aluminum head and weaken the threads on the head and with enough time destroy the threads inside the head. Guess what, you now have a massive gap between your header and your head and the car is USELESS!!!! Even if you tried to tighten the bolts, you cant, because the thread was melted and doesn't work anymore. Guess what again, the only way to fix it is to remove the head and have new threads machined at a shop.
I can go on and on with reliability issues. I had this car turbo'd for about 18 months, 5 of those months the car was in a shop or in the garage or on the street because something broke, melted, cracked, shifted or blew up. At the very end, right before i sold it, the car was finally becoming reliable. It's all about fixing problems as they arise and modify the part to prevent it from happening again. When the car worked, it flew, it was a very quick car and not one tC was ever able to catch me.
I probably spent about $15,000 on this car. Including everything parts, labor, maintenance, tuning, hours ($HIT LOAD), etc... Plus the cost of the car. Would i do it again, HELL THE F.U.C.K YES!!! It was too much fun and now that i don't have it i miss it like you have no idea!! The feeling of the turbo spooling up and mashing the throttle, feeling the torque glue you to the seat, reaching for 3rd, then 4th, then 5th hitting about 120MPH and the rev limiter hitting the end of the transmission. Its TOO MUCH FUN, TOO MUCH FUN, TOO MUCH FUN!!!
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