eBay turbo
All-round "Good Guy"
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Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 414
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From: Savannah Ga.
If you're on a very tight budget some of the ebay turbos aren't too awful. I have tested several different ebay turbos with mostly good success. I have failed thrust bearings on a couple but I push them really hard (near 40psi occasionally). Never had a bushing style shaft bearing fail, just thrust bearing. Haven't tried a ball bearing turbo yet. Maybe the luck I've had is do to the fact that I dont really run them for many hours/miles??? Could be.
I will say though that I never ran ebay turbos before messing with this miata project. I have had other genuine turbo brands fail on other projects in the past. Everything from garretts to ancient rotomaster.
That being said, if you can afford a real garrett or borg chances are it will live longer. Also keep in mind if a turbo fails catastrophically it can take out the rest of the engine, so that is another factor in deciding on if you want to risk real vs knock off. Sometimes the budget turbo turns out not to be a budget in the long run. You just have to weigh your level of risk tolerance if you want to take that chance. Your gamble may pay off or it may not.
Just be sure to run good oil and change it frequently.
Run a blow off valve to reduce spikes in force on the thrust bearing. Stay out of boost until engine is warmed up. Also physically check the radial and in/out shaft play when hot for changes over time on a regular basis. Any noticeable change means its on the way out.
I will say though that I never ran ebay turbos before messing with this miata project. I have had other genuine turbo brands fail on other projects in the past. Everything from garretts to ancient rotomaster.
That being said, if you can afford a real garrett or borg chances are it will live longer. Also keep in mind if a turbo fails catastrophically it can take out the rest of the engine, so that is another factor in deciding on if you want to risk real vs knock off. Sometimes the budget turbo turns out not to be a budget in the long run. You just have to weigh your level of risk tolerance if you want to take that chance. Your gamble may pay off or it may not.
Just be sure to run good oil and change it frequently.
Run a blow off valve to reduce spikes in force on the thrust bearing. Stay out of boost until engine is warmed up. Also physically check the radial and in/out shaft play when hot for changes over time on a regular basis. Any noticeable change means its on the way out.
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Yeap. I've run Garret, Borg Warner, and Ebay Turbos. The Ebay turbos, I've killed thrust bearings in 3 of them. In every case, I was running the turbo off the (non existent) map for what it should have been used for. They work, but they are not as durable or efficient.
I've killed the thrust bearings in a garrett too, but it lasted longer before dying.
If you're only running low boost like less than 20 psi, I think it will be OK. But every time I went to 28-35 psi they didn't last very long in my application.
I've killed the thrust bearings in a garrett too, but it lasted longer before dying.
If you're only running low boost like less than 20 psi, I think it will be OK. But every time I went to 28-35 psi they didn't last very long in my application.
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