CBRD, Buschur, and SpoolinUP
Well there is a saying that all good things must come to an end....
Unfortunately my BBK Full just died. I sent the turbo back to Blouch (while CBRD was on vacation). All I can say is Blouch customer service is awful - one of the worst companies I have dealt with in a long long time. Chad and CBRD are amazing and wonderful, but the partner they chose needs some serious client service lessons.
Bottom line - called FP and was blown away with the service and support. So far Robert at FP has answered every question I asked (within a super short time) and has been flexible with options. Interestingly this is the same experience I had with Robert more than a year ago when I was looking at turbo upgrades.
Clearly I have made a few mistakes along the way and should have started with FP on day 1. I will start a new thread when the new FP turbo arrives (likely an HTA Green) and will post comparison data on the two (BBK Full and HTA Green). Now if only my motor were built....
Unfortunately my BBK Full just died. I sent the turbo back to Blouch (while CBRD was on vacation). All I can say is Blouch customer service is awful - one of the worst companies I have dealt with in a long long time. Chad and CBRD are amazing and wonderful, but the partner they chose needs some serious client service lessons.
Bottom line - called FP and was blown away with the service and support. So far Robert at FP has answered every question I asked (within a super short time) and has been flexible with options. Interestingly this is the same experience I had with Robert more than a year ago when I was looking at turbo upgrades.
Clearly I have made a few mistakes along the way and should have started with FP on day 1. I will start a new thread when the new FP turbo arrives (likely an HTA Green) and will post comparison data on the two (BBK Full and HTA Green). Now if only my motor were built....
Unfortunately my BBK Full just died. I sent the turbo back to Blouch (while CBRD was on vacation). All I can say is Blouch customer service is awful - one of the worst companies I have dealt with in a long long time. Chad and CBRD are amazing and wonderful, but the partner they chose needs some serious client service lessons.
Chad is great and I will buy ANY product that CBRD MAKES.
I really don't know why it failed - Blouch changed reports (over phone twice) but there was massive shaft play and it was smoking a ton. Interestingly it still hit and held boost. The turbo was used but got an OK bill of health before I bought it and less than 6K miles. I think part of the reason Blouch was so awful was that it was a 'used' turbo and thus no warranty from them. That said, I sent a letter stating all the facts and that I wanted them to rebuild it at my expense. What I did not expect was to be treated so poorly and thus my final decision to send it to FP. Let's face it FP's Green and Red have been the benchmark and were the driving force behind the BBK.
Some of the reasons I was given for the turbo blowing :
(1) Overspun...BS - I never took the turbo above 30psi....I did have a pin sized hole that was fixed (early on) on the hose going to the fuel pressure regulator, but other than that I never had a major leak...
(2) Metal in oil... BS - I have examined my oil every other change or so and no signs of shaft play on my stock 9 turbo (50K miles)
(3) Sucked something into the turbo...BS - Again I run the same intake I have run on my stock 9 turbo...
Basically there really is no way for me to know what happened. I just hated how I was treated by Blouch (Mike) - basically very short with me and in no way tried to help me with options. Just said I needed to buy a new turbo. Then when I asked him to send it to FP to fix he refused....Classic....Then he said he did not want to return the turbo to me. I have no idea what I will find when it returns to my house, but I can only imagine....
Chad has been great through all of this and tried to help, but I really don't want to have anything to do with Blouch after this experience. Additionally, I will get a new FP turbo and be able to provide a BBK to FP HTA Green comparison, will use a better oil supply (per FPs recommendation, and work with a company willing and able to rebuild their products).
Again, I think very HIGHLY of Chad and CBRD and want to buy his FMIC and anything else that he makes. Chad is a man of outstanding character and has offered to do more than I could have expected.
I really don't know why it failed - Blouch changed reports (over phone twice) but there was massive shaft play and it was smoking a ton. Interestingly it still hit and held boost. The turbo was used but got an OK bill of health before I bought it and less than 6K miles. I think part of the reason Blouch was so awful was that it was a 'used' turbo and thus no warranty from them. That said, I sent a letter stating all the facts and that I wanted them to rebuild it at my expense. What I did not expect was to be treated so poorly and thus my final decision to send it to FP. Let's face it FP's Green and Red have been the benchmark and were the driving force behind the BBK.
Some of the reasons I was given for the turbo blowing :
(1) Overspun...BS - I never took the turbo above 30psi....I did have a pin sized hole that was fixed (early on) on the hose going to the fuel pressure regulator, but other than that I never had a major leak...
(2) Metal in oil... BS - I have examined my oil every other change or so and no signs of shaft play on my stock 9 turbo (50K miles)
(3) Sucked something into the turbo...BS - Again I run the same intake I have run on my stock 9 turbo...
Basically there really is no way for me to know what happened. I just hated how I was treated by Blouch (Mike) - basically very short with me and in no way tried to help me with options. Just said I needed to buy a new turbo. Then when I asked him to send it to FP to fix he refused....Classic....Then he said he did not want to return the turbo to me. I have no idea what I will find when it returns to my house, but I can only imagine....
Chad has been great through all of this and tried to help, but I really don't want to have anything to do with Blouch after this experience. Additionally, I will get a new FP turbo and be able to provide a BBK to FP HTA Green comparison, will use a better oil supply (per FPs recommendation, and work with a company willing and able to rebuild their products).
Again, I think very HIGHLY of Chad and CBRD and want to buy his FMIC and anything else that he makes. Chad is a man of outstanding character and has offered to do more than I could have expected.
Last edited by cij911; Aug 8, 2010 at 11:02 AM.
Chad is great and I will buy ANY product that CBRD MAKES.
I really don't know why it failed - Blouch changed reports (over phone twice) but there was massive shaft play and it was smoking a ton. Interestingly it still hit and held boost. The turbo was used but got an OK bill of health before I bought it and less than 6K miles. I think part of the reason Blouch was so awful was that it was a 'used' turbo and thus no warranty from them. That said, I sent a letter stating all the facts and that I wanted them to rebuild it at my expense. What I did not expect was to be treated so poorly and thus my final decision to send it to FP. Let's face it FP's Green and Red have been the benchmark and were the driving force behind the BBK.
Some of the reasons I was given for the turbo blowing :
(1) Overspun...BS - I never took the turbo above 30psi....I did have a pin sized hole that was fixed (early on) on the hose going to the fuel pressure regulator, but other than that I never had a major leak...
(2) Metal in oil... BS - I have examined my oil every other change or so and no signs of shaft play on my stock 9 turbo (50K miles)
(3) Sucked something into the turbo...BS - Again I run the same intake I have run on my stock 9 turbo...
Basically there really is no way for me to know what happened. I just hated how I was treated by Blouch (Mike) - basically very short with me and in no way tried to help me with options. Just said I needed to buy a new turbo. Then when I asked him to send it to FP to fix he refused....Classic....Then he said he did not want to return the turbo to me. I have no idea what I will find when it returns to my house, but I can only imagine....
Chad has been great through all of this and tried to help, but I really don't want to have anything to do with Blouch after this experience. Additionally, I will get a new FP turbo and be able to provide a BBK to FP HTA Green comparison, will use a better oil supply (per FPs recommendation, and work with a company willing and able to rebuild their products).
Again, I think very HIGHLY of Chad and CBRD and want to buy his FMIC and anything else that he makes. Chad is a man of outstanding character and has offered to do more than I could have expected.
I really don't know why it failed - Blouch changed reports (over phone twice) but there was massive shaft play and it was smoking a ton. Interestingly it still hit and held boost. The turbo was used but got an OK bill of health before I bought it and less than 6K miles. I think part of the reason Blouch was so awful was that it was a 'used' turbo and thus no warranty from them. That said, I sent a letter stating all the facts and that I wanted them to rebuild it at my expense. What I did not expect was to be treated so poorly and thus my final decision to send it to FP. Let's face it FP's Green and Red have been the benchmark and were the driving force behind the BBK.
Some of the reasons I was given for the turbo blowing :
(1) Overspun...BS - I never took the turbo above 30psi....I did have a pin sized hole that was fixed (early on) on the hose going to the fuel pressure regulator, but other than that I never had a major leak...
(2) Metal in oil... BS - I have examined my oil every other change or so and no signs of shaft play on my stock 9 turbo (50K miles)
(3) Sucked something into the turbo...BS - Again I run the same intake I have run on my stock 9 turbo...
Basically there really is no way for me to know what happened. I just hated how I was treated by Blouch (Mike) - basically very short with me and in no way tried to help me with options. Just said I needed to buy a new turbo. Then when I asked him to send it to FP to fix he refused....Classic....Then he said he did not want to return the turbo to me. I have no idea what I will find when it returns to my house, but I can only imagine....
Chad has been great through all of this and tried to help, but I really don't want to have anything to do with Blouch after this experience. Additionally, I will get a new FP turbo and be able to provide a BBK to FP HTA Green comparison, will use a better oil supply (per FPs recommendation, and work with a company willing and able to rebuild their products).
Again, I think very HIGHLY of Chad and CBRD and want to buy his FMIC and anything else that he makes. Chad is a man of outstanding character and has offered to do more than I could have expected.
Well although I am putting down some nice numbers, I seem to have an issue - lag...
If I start a 3rd gear pull at 2700, I don't see 27psi until 4900 rpm, so clearly there is something wrong. I don't have any boost leaks and I don't believe I have any exhaust leaks. What else could be causing the boost to hit so slowly ?
UPDATE : fixed the problem - bad WGA. Now 30 psi comes by 4100 in 3rd gear.
If I start a 3rd gear pull at 2700, I don't see 27psi until 4900 rpm, so clearly there is something wrong. I don't have any boost leaks and I don't believe I have any exhaust leaks. What else could be causing the boost to hit so slowly ?
UPDATE : fixed the problem - bad WGA. Now 30 psi comes by 4100 in 3rd gear.
Could this have been what killed your turbo? Your search for why it was laggy and then the realization that it was a bad WGA. Is it possible you overspun it afterall?
-Jalal
Last edited by MJ23FE; Aug 8, 2010 at 01:23 PM.
Jalal - NO. Maybe if the WGA was not open at all and the turbo over boosted, but that was not that was not the case. When I discovered the bad WGA, I discussed the issue with some reputableh mechanics here and they felt it should be fine as I had just a few pulls on the car. Also, my understanding with the WGA is it actually prevents the turbo from spinning too much by letting exhaust gas escape and thus slowing the turbine...
The more common / real cause (which I know I did not have) is when someone has a boost leak and keeps spinning the turbo harder to reach a certain boost pressure. Honestly I don't know what killed the turbo. These things can happen with mechanical parts
, but what I expected was to be treated like a valuable customer by Blouch.
The more common / real cause (which I know I did not have) is when someone has a boost leak and keeps spinning the turbo harder to reach a certain boost pressure. Honestly I don't know what killed the turbo. These things can happen with mechanical parts
, but what I expected was to be treated like a valuable customer by Blouch.
I really don't want to go down a path of why's....bottomline is Chad and CBRD are a great organization, but I will NEVER do business with Blouch until I get an apology and am convinced they have changed business practices. And even then, it would have to snow here in socal
before I would ask Mike / Blouch to make me something.
I don't know if it was posted else where, I haven't seen a dyno sheet, but did you ever get a complete full tune of your BBK setup? I know you were tuning it yourself... I'm assuming this was on the street via VDR or something. Or am I wrong?
-Jalal
-Jalal
. The turbo never was asked to put out more than 30 psi peak (29.x to be more precise) and the tune was setup at 28.5 psi peak (MBC) tapering to ~24.5 psi.I was told the turbo did not make more power past 30psi and took the recommendation from CBRD to set it to more like 28/29 psi peak. I believe the HTA Green can hold more boost (push more air) and will likely run more like 35 psi, but will wait until I talk to Robert. My only concern is that I am still on a stock block (and head) and don't want to create too big of a tq spike.
Last edited by cij911; Aug 8, 2010 at 05:40 PM.
