Turbosource/Turblown Quality Issues and nonexistent customer service
 

Hi All,

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this but I thought everyone should know about my issue with Turbosource so you know what to possibly expect if you purchase from them. I purchased an 8374 IWG turbo kit along with a few other expensive parts such as inconel heat shields a little over a year ago. Now that I finally got everything torn apart and the engine rebuilt, upon mockup I realized that the downpipe fitment is completely off. The downpipe comes very close to the right side of the transmission tunnel and the flange ends up about 10 degrees rotated as well as at a wrong angle to the midpipe. I am 100% certain that it is the downpipe because I tried it with the stock cat as well as my RB midpipe which both fit up perfectly with the stock downpipe when I had the twin turbos on the car. While there is a flex pipe built in, it cannot twist and extent laterally on one side to compensate for it and that is not what a flex pipe is designed for anyway. I took some pictures and emailed Turbosource explaining the situation but they have not responded even after multiple follow ups. They do not answer their phone and it has been over a month since my initial email to them. I am a bit fed up with companies pushing their customers around instead of making things right which would simply require exchanging the downpipe, I was even willing to pay the shipping. I understand that it has been over a year since my purchase but I do have my receipt and everything is clearly brand new being installed for the first time so it would have been nice to at least receive a response, not be completely ignored after spending thousands of dollars with them.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...25cc0b7979.jpg


-Andriy

I think another user here had issues with their downpipes as well.

They probably sent you the wrong downpipe, it's happened before.

Call them, leave a message, email, call again, leave another message, and they will eventually respond.

Just opened up my hardware kit, and a bunch of stuff is missing. Now I get to play the contacting game again. Seriously over this.

coolant line heat shield
o-ring seal fitting
small hose clamps
block off plate
-an fitting
and only 2 crush washers for the banjo clamps when it needs 4

The bracket that goes between the wastage bracket and the supercore also seems to be the wrong size

Mr2peak, sounds like you are tired of dealing with this kind of crap too... I have the same issue with the wastegate relocation bracket but that can easily be fixed with some grinding on the back side of the bracket. What block off plate are you missing and what kit did you get?

I finished installing my Turblown 8374 IWG kit over the weekend and everything fit for me. I had slight issues with the oil return line and flange where it connects back to the block, minimal clearance to get one of the nuts back on. I'll have to grind down the weld more than likely and use my 10mm box wrench that I also had to shave down.

As for the downpipe, mine fit as it should have. First connect the bolts between the midpipe and downpipe, then connect the downpipe to turbo housing v band. Your mid pipe should move slightly to allow for fitment. If you're using poly hangers, maybe oem rubber ones work better as to why I didn't have issues.

Is there more than one size actuator bracket adapter? Mine fit fine

I didn't know a coolant line heat shield and the unused oil return block off plate comes with the turbo kit? It doesn't mention it in the description. Oh well, my rear turbo drain location is plumbed up for a catch can.

Hoping you can resolve these issues, I've always heard good things about the TS kit.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...b1012e6eb4.jpg

I am glad it all fit well for you, I also did not see anything about a drain block off plate being included. We have a very similar setup including the pettit FMIC kit. The downpipe definitely does not fit, even if you flex the crap out of the flex pipe which you should not do anyway. You can flex it by a few degrees but no more than that because it will eventually fail after a bunch of heat cycles.

I’ve talked to Turbosource. Communication was super prompt and they are fixing the issues.

The block off plate is no longer included in the kit.

The oil gasket for the turbo is unavailable from BW at the moment, so they shipped the kit without it, and without saying anything.

New design for the water connections, using banjo bolts instead of elbows. This means you need more washers than before, but the old total of 2 was included. A simple mistake.

Adaptor for the wastegate mount says it needs to be modified for the 7670 on the site, but it seems like that holds true for all EFRs. Not sure why it specifically says 7670. Not a big issue, just had me thinking I got the wrong part.

Heat shield for the oil return line was forgotten.

All minor things on their own, but added together it’s a big QC oversight. I bought a kit because it cuts down on time piecing everything together myself, but it looks like I still have to do some of this.

Fingers crossed this will all be fixed quickly.

Mr2peak, what do you mean by oil gasket for the turbo? If you are talking about the drain, mine came with an oringed flange so you don't need a gasket, did that change? Did you test fit your downpipe? I also finally got ahold of someone at turbosource, they sent me a return label so they can test and modify the downpipe, hope fully it will be done quickly and correctly. Their excuse was that they don't have anyone to check emails and they are too busy to answer the phone...

oh no you didn't, deja vu 2 :suspect:

No O-Ring flange. They skipped the O-Ring part and now it's just a flange that's supposed to use a gasket. They are sending me the correct parts. I hope that includes the o-ring part and not just a gasket, I don't want to risk hot oil dripping from the turbo. We will see.

My downpipe is on it's way to me, it took a detour to Swaintech for coating. Fingers crossed it fits, I think it will.

Can you send me a pic of the O-Ring flange? I need to get the parts to make this work. This is what I have now. Along with a single gasket. Even though there are 2 flanges?

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...7ace4f8bfd.jpg


And will these provided banjo bolts flow enough water, or am I gonna cook the core?


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...09313c49c8.jpg

Odd. Looks like my comment is missing.

I think that’s commonly referred to as “and not one fornication was given wrt customer service”

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That oil drain flange looks like it should have a male fitting screwing in, a weld-on, the other side in the sleeve? I wouldn't be obsessing on an o ring v a gasket though, unless the flange is warped already.

Banjo for water cooling should be fine, you're not trying to shift massive volumes of water. The black anodising will probably fade in proximity to a radiant heat source. One of the indycar turbos here did come with 14 x 1.5(?) stainless male to male water outlets.

dp

it’s just the unpressurized drain side and compared to your pic the O-ring is going to reduce the opening size, likely not going to matter either way

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...93a96c0b71.jpg


-10 type is a bit more open


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...b8892e65d.jpeg

It does have a weld-on tube on the other side. Looked like I was missing a screw-in fitting of some sort to hold the O-ring. I think it's just a repurposed part, more supply chain issues I guess. The actual sealing surface is really narrow that was my concern. Really don't want oil leaking from there and soaking the heat shield sock. Liberal amounts of high temp RTV should do the trick lol

Their downpipe fitment is shit. Mine sits about 1.5 inches too low. I scrap whenever I go over speed bumps all the time.

it’s a $15 - $25 part you can buy anywhere in about any configuration you want; male AN, female AN, female pipe thread, slip-on tube, gasket or O-ring, short or extended length, etc.

I get it though; just recently bought a turbine housing that has dual T3 ports with T4 flange and paid $70 extra to have it ported out to the T4 dual port size. Yet when received it’s not even ported to their own marker lines which are still 1/4” from the T4 gasket, but at some point in your life you have to choose to whine and fuss over this kind of minor crap or just suck it up and do what’s required for your own satisfaction level. I won’t ever pay them to do that again and honestly should have realized it was too good to be true at that cost, but would rather just break out the die grinder and make it right myself than spend the energy bickering and fighting with them over it.

which the situation you entered into and then started this thread over was on the forum if you had bothered to search any more before going there than you did before starting another thread on it. Not really wanting to jump down your throat, but rather suggest that manning up to just do what’s right for your own satisfaction regardless will reflect better on you in the long run. Most of us understand the leaking boat you’re in because you’re not the first or likely the last one either.

The comment I previously replied to further above in this thread pretty much sums it all up.

so obviously you have some silicone sealer around, but do you also have nickel-based high temp antiseize for all of the steel and stainless threads? Probably not is my bet.
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Do NOT put rtv on your oil return

I didn't start this thread, I joined in because there are enough of these already apparently.

I've already had to order a few more things to "complete" this kit, and they already sent me a package of what was "forgotten".. what's a few more? LOL. I have a shop lined up to do the work. I live in Thailand so having everything ready to go without things missing is a priority, a small part we can't find locally sets us back a week at the best. $20 part plus shipping will end up ~$50ish

I do have high temp anti-size left over from my Ducati project, but that's copper not nickel. Good thing I won't be doing it all myself?

Bummer about the T4 flange. Are you sure the gasket is actually T4 sized? My T4 gasket is slightly larger than the flange, but both flanges line up properly with each other.

Glad you guys posted pics of the proper part, that's what this forum is for.

I would not use that oil drain flange, there is not enough sealing surface and it will probably leak eventually if not right away. That banjo fitting does seem to be more restrictive but I kind of like the clean look and it should still flow plenty for the application, let me know if you want to trade for my setup =). Here are a few pics of the return flange and water feed that I received.

The purpose of this thread is to bring these issues to light, if nobody speaks up then they will never know that there is even a problem. Things like the drain flange are not a big deal but a lot of people are having downpipe fitment issues which can be pretty costly if someone does not have the means to cut and re-weld it themselves.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...07709d39e6.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...bbfb5c7aae.jpg
If

I had similar fitment issues with their dump pipe also and their advice was to clock the dump but it sits way too low
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...8effb39cd.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...356209bdf.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...0ee54c1db.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...08533f003.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...23b4e50af.jpeg