ZPI Turbo Kit driveway install (NSF56K) Removal
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From: What's in your Box...
Originally Posted by TuningIsLife
Thats odd... What is JDlong installing and enuf2spare, and a guy in VA ?
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From: Ellicott City, MD
Your right, some of those weld accually look like dimes like they are supposed to. And that air filter looks like its about the same height as my AEM CAI was. Even with the speed humps in my development, I have yet to scrape. The worse work, was done by the local muffler shop relocating the Cat.
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From: Forest Park
Originally Posted by rollhard
I hope it was a prototype. Would you install something that looked like this on your car?? Look at the welds, etc.
Awesome mild steel welding!
Wow, awesome ground clearance!
Water in the filter? No worries, its a good 4-6" off the ground!
Awesome mild steel welding!
Wow, awesome ground clearance!
Water in the filter? No worries, its a good 4-6" off the ground!
AHH loooks like one of my welds using an arc welder
......damn i hate dat welder 
........take me days to try and weld two pipes together 
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From: Northampton MA
The welding the muffler shop did looks worse than it is. I think it was done with a mig using flux core wire. The rest of the pieces look pretty good, still not a good DYI.
To put your car back together, you need a complete exhaust, less axel back? If so there may be a friend installing a complete 2.5" exhaust, header back, including a Magnaflow cat.
To put your car back together, you need a complete exhaust, less axel back? If so there may be a friend installing a complete 2.5" exhaust, header back, including a Magnaflow cat.
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From: Ellicott City, MD
Originally Posted by Steve60
The welding the muffler shop did looks worse than it is. I think it was done with a mig using flux core wire. The rest of the pieces look pretty good, still not a good DYI.
To put your car back together, you need a complete exhaust, less axel back? If so there may be a friend installing a complete 2.5" exhaust, header back, including a Magnaflow cat.
To put your car back together, you need a complete exhaust, less axel back? If so there may be a friend installing a complete 2.5" exhaust, header back, including a Magnaflow cat.
I tried to get one out of a junk yard, but there is some fed emmissions law about reselling Cat Convertors.
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From: Northampton MA
Yes, there is some kind of law but if you are a recycler you can buy them.... Go figure.
Too bad you live so far away I could build a nice system for that car.
I'll check out the, when, on the pieces comming off & let you know what the story is.
As far as after market cats go the Magnaflow looks pretty good. Some have found some good power with it. And, they are low $$$
Too bad you live so far away I could build a nice system for that car.
I'll check out the, when, on the pieces comming off & let you know what the story is.
As far as after market cats go the Magnaflow looks pretty good. Some have found some good power with it. And, they are low $$$
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From: Ellicott City, MD
OK, its done
The Car is going to be converted back to stock
I was driving home from my second job 1 mile from my house and noticed the car smoking. I mean Smoking bad... So i pull into my driveway and see a small puddle of fresh oil... and I look and its dripping from the center of the turbo, right where the two halfs combine... I blew out the o-ring.
I am done. Screw this Project .
All others Abandon hope.
2008 XB2 here I come.
The Car is going to be converted back to stock
I was driving home from my second job 1 mile from my house and noticed the car smoking. I mean Smoking bad... So i pull into my driveway and see a small puddle of fresh oil... and I look and its dripping from the center of the turbo, right where the two halfs combine... I blew out the o-ring.
I am done. Screw this Project .
All others Abandon hope.
2008 XB2 here I come.
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From: South Carolina
Man! I'm sorry to hear this. From all that's occurred with those who've gone before me, so to speak, I'm a little concerned that I'm not more concerned. lol. :0/
Anyways, I wish you the best on future projects and really do hate you went through all you had to.
And for Sciond, and a few others, just my opinion on comparing pieces here to my kit... I do have a "production" model of this kit. (Which you can't really call anything production ready if you don't even have an install manual prepared for it in my opinion.) But it was a fully built kit off of a prototype and was shipped just that way. Not one that was installed, tweaked, tested, tweaked, packed, shipped. But, then again I also believe I remember reading that Tuning's kit was bought third party. Either way, I will shoot some pictures of my kit and upload them tomorrow afternoon on my 'too much to list in a header' post at the end. You can get to it here. Then draw your own conclusions.
But, sorry to see this get you down. Are you really going Gen. 2 now?
Anyways, I wish you the best on future projects and really do hate you went through all you had to.
And for Sciond, and a few others, just my opinion on comparing pieces here to my kit... I do have a "production" model of this kit. (Which you can't really call anything production ready if you don't even have an install manual prepared for it in my opinion.) But it was a fully built kit off of a prototype and was shipped just that way. Not one that was installed, tweaked, tested, tweaked, packed, shipped. But, then again I also believe I remember reading that Tuning's kit was bought third party. Either way, I will shoot some pictures of my kit and upload them tomorrow afternoon on my 'too much to list in a header' post at the end. You can get to it here. Then draw your own conclusions.
But, sorry to see this get you down. Are you really going Gen. 2 now?
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From: Ellicott City, MD
I have parts on order for replacing the turbo system with a stock exhaust. I am going to do my research a little more on the xB2s. So far I have only looked at them and read the reviews. Next step comes the test drive. Tonight, I went over my cars value (he is the used car manager for an Acura Dealer) So I know it is worth 6-8K with my milage. I still owe 7 to TFS.
I also had a nice chat with an ex ZPI employee who said he helped design the first ones of xB kits and when he had left they hadn't figured out the oiling issues.
In fact here is a copy of the PM I sent him.
I also had a nice chat with an ex ZPI employee who said he helped design the first ones of xB kits and when he had left they hadn't figured out the oiling issues.
In fact here is a copy of the PM I sent him.
Originally Posted by Tuningislife
This was ProshopXb's the maroon xB's kit. I guess the second prototyped one. I have rebuilt this entire kit myself, from return hose size, to turbo o-rings and piston rings, to springs in the oil pump. It was going through about a quart of 10w30 royal purple every 2 weeks. When I would boost, It would blow off oil all over my front bumper.
Two MAIN problems. One was the oil return, it was never correct, I was blowing smoke every time I started up and first boosted. I replaced the return hose with a smaller diameter hose and reduced the outlet pipe on the turbo as well because it made no sense to have a big hose and big outlet pipe feeding into a little inlet on the oil pump. Originally when I was installing the kit, I cracked the oil pump housing. So i think I screwed up the seals in the turbo because of that, so I replaced the oil pump housing and doing so I lost a spring in the pump, I called Kenny who had no idea what kind of psi or gpm the pump was supposed to do, he just said, I call a guy who gets them for me and I don't know a thing about them. So I worked with a Shurflo parts destributor to figure out what would be best and replaced the housing and springs.
Since I figured I screwed up the orings in the turbo from the pump not fuctioning properly, I then worked with gpopshop and figured I should replace the two o-rings and piston rings in the turbo. Still continued to have the same problems.
The second was the tune. ProshopxB said it was tuned for 6psi. When I talked to Kenny, he said thats weird they are all tuned for 7.5psi, well this is still incorrect, with the 38mm Tial wastegate green spring, it is 7.25psi. So the tune is still too rich. This caused my front oxygen sensor to get trashed and also my Catalytic Convertor.
Yesterday topped the cake, I was driving home from job two at Advance Auto Parts and the turbo bogged down at first (like usual to me) and it got past it and I was driving the 1 mile drive to my house, half way there, I noticed it was smoking more then it should had been, i thought maybe it didn't clear out the residual oil, so I just figured eh I'm not worryed about it, so I continued in my neighborhood when I noticed it was smoking bad when I accelerated. Mind you my roads are 25mph so I was not pushing it at all. I get in my driveway and see a small puddle of oil, then I pop my hood and look, looked ok... I looked under at the turbo, there was oil dripping from the middle of the two halfs. I assume I blew out the large o-ring. That's when I said flip it.
When I can't even have Keisha get Kenny to get back to me on IM, and I can't call anyone cause ZPI is folding, it's like flip it, why bother.
pat.
Two MAIN problems. One was the oil return, it was never correct, I was blowing smoke every time I started up and first boosted. I replaced the return hose with a smaller diameter hose and reduced the outlet pipe on the turbo as well because it made no sense to have a big hose and big outlet pipe feeding into a little inlet on the oil pump. Originally when I was installing the kit, I cracked the oil pump housing. So i think I screwed up the seals in the turbo because of that, so I replaced the oil pump housing and doing so I lost a spring in the pump, I called Kenny who had no idea what kind of psi or gpm the pump was supposed to do, he just said, I call a guy who gets them for me and I don't know a thing about them. So I worked with a Shurflo parts destributor to figure out what would be best and replaced the housing and springs.
Since I figured I screwed up the orings in the turbo from the pump not fuctioning properly, I then worked with gpopshop and figured I should replace the two o-rings and piston rings in the turbo. Still continued to have the same problems.
The second was the tune. ProshopxB said it was tuned for 6psi. When I talked to Kenny, he said thats weird they are all tuned for 7.5psi, well this is still incorrect, with the 38mm Tial wastegate green spring, it is 7.25psi. So the tune is still too rich. This caused my front oxygen sensor to get trashed and also my Catalytic Convertor.
Yesterday topped the cake, I was driving home from job two at Advance Auto Parts and the turbo bogged down at first (like usual to me) and it got past it and I was driving the 1 mile drive to my house, half way there, I noticed it was smoking more then it should had been, i thought maybe it didn't clear out the residual oil, so I just figured eh I'm not worryed about it, so I continued in my neighborhood when I noticed it was smoking bad when I accelerated. Mind you my roads are 25mph so I was not pushing it at all. I get in my driveway and see a small puddle of oil, then I pop my hood and look, looked ok... I looked under at the turbo, there was oil dripping from the middle of the two halfs. I assume I blew out the large o-ring. That's when I said flip it.
When I can't even have Keisha get Kenny to get back to me on IM, and I can't call anyone cause ZPI is folding, it's like flip it, why bother.
pat.
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From: Northampton MA
Pat, did you ever think the turbine blade was out? If it was it could be a big problem at the rpms those things spin.
From what I'm reading jdlong has no oiling issue. I don't know what, exactly, he has but it sounds like it's the same as yours. No?
From what I'm reading jdlong has no oiling issue. I don't know what, exactly, he has but it sounds like it's the same as yours. No?
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From: Ellicott City, MD
When I rebuilt it, I checked the shaft play and condidtion of all the parts. The problem is, when sitting, oil would puddle in the tubo and once I started it up, it would blow by the seals. This is what was causing the inital boging down, this is when when I disconnected the return line to replace it, I had a ton of oil pour out of the turbo. That oil pump does not account for the 3 feet of gravity fed hose that just dumps all the oil not returned, back into the turbo, same goes for the feed line, that oil goes some where. Judging by where it was leaking from (the two halfs) I know that is where the Large o-ring is. When I get my parts in and get time to install them, I will eventually take the time, to dissasemble the turbo to determine what exactly went wrong. Tooo bad I don't have the time to drive to KY and hock it into someones window.
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From: KY
Originally Posted by Sciond
Originally Posted by TuningIsLife
Thats odd... What is JDlong installing and enuf2spare, and a guy in VA ?
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From: What's in your Box...
that is my point a retail ready kit should be bolt on and either come with a management set up or be manage ready which none ever were.......however the good news is other people have workable bolt on kits....that do not need many many hours of troubleshooting to be street ready....sad I was actually ready to buy this kit before I saw it and heard about ZPI's many isues....glad I avoided them
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From: South Carolina
Originally Posted by Steve60
...From what I'm reading jdlong has no oiling issue. I don't know what, exactly, he has but it sounds like it's the same as yours. No?
Pat, A few things come to mind from what you've mentioned. I'm sure you've probably exhausted (no pun intended) all the possibilites, but thought I'd throw a few out. The smoking (oil) in your exhaust and using too much oil could be a slew of things. But, a lot of times you get smoke (burning oil) because the air intake (filter in our case) is clogged. This also could mean it's simply not getting enough air. Also, I noticed in all of your pictures you left one of the bungs open on the turbo-to-exhaust piece. Maybe you just hadn’t put your wideband in yet, but ANY leaks in any of the components of the system, including air, can cause problems. Exhaust side gives you more oil consumption, intake side gives you smoke.
Also, did you use a turbo timer for shutdown on your car? Startup isn't really a big deal in our case based on design. You still should let your car idle without revving for 30-60 seconds so there is good movement of WARM oil in the turbo. But, the main thing is getting all of that hot oil back out when you stop. Sludge on any component of the turbo could cause those issues. Check my ‘too much in a header’ post to read my thoughts about how to solve this if you like. (Which I’ll post after this post.)
The last thing I can mention is did the kit come with an oil restrictor? We received a ball bearing turbo which traditionally doesn’t need as much oil as a journal bearing. At full boost on our turbo we need around 40 or 45 psi of oil to the inlet of the housing. At max. operating of our engine it’s probably pushing close to double that. Overloading a ball bearing turbo will reduce performance and potentially cause the problems you’ve mentioned.
Just some thoughts since you do still have the components there to play around with if you get bored.
As for those pictures I promised, I just decided to post them here. They’re not the greatest b/c of the lighting but here they are. I really don’t know why I’m even posting them though, because it’s a moot point really. If this was considered a “production kit” you still can’t get it anymore. Lol. Anyways…
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Probably why most 1NZ-FE tuners in Japan don't bother with turboing these motors. The supercharger kits from Greddy and Blitz seem to make decent power and are trouble free for the most part.
Also seeing more and more tuners install pistons/rods/cams and run ITBs. NA setups like that still push decent horsepower and you can delete a lot of stuff from the engine bay.
Oh well, my GVR4 handles all my go-fast duties...
GL to original poster!
Also seeing more and more tuners install pistons/rods/cams and run ITBs. NA setups like that still push decent horsepower and you can delete a lot of stuff from the engine bay.
Oh well, my GVR4 handles all my go-fast duties...
GL to original poster!