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Kinugawa woes

Wesdunns70t5m

New member
Joined
Oct 4, 2016
Location
Jacksonville, NC
So I?ve slowly but surely been quietly building up my 1990 765 turbo. In the process I managed to find a 95 850 turbo in a junkyard and snatched it up. My goal is/was to push the 15g for all it?s worth. I purchased a 9 blade turbine wheel from someone up in VA, and purchased a billet 6+6 compressor wheel from Kinugawa. So I get home and dismantle the turbo itself, and USPS comes with the turbine wheel. The old compressor wheel fit perfectly no problem. Now Mr. USPS comes and drops off the compressor wheel. No bueno. The bore is too small. The wheel wouldn?t slide past the threaded part of the shaft on either turbine wheels. I contacted them on Tuesday last week and quickly received and email back. During that day and Wednesday it got to the point that they asked me ?if anything was on the wheel?. Which there wasn?t, and I provided pictures as they asked me to. Friday rolls around and I still haven?t heard anything, so I email them asking for an update. Crickets all weekend. So yesterday I email them saying that I feel like they?re blowing me off to push me out of my 14 day money back refund, and express general dissatisfaction. This morning I get an email at 4:30am stating that I can send it back for a full refund, and minutes later another email asking my turbo specs and stating ?I guess you need to change the thrust bearing or machine the bearing housing to fit the wheel? that?s copy and pasted from the email they sent me. I decided to email them back asking if I would get refunded for shipping costs in both directions, as I feel it would be unfair for me to be stuck with it. I?m still awaiting a response from that email...we?ll see. I?ll follow up on this post when I hear back, I just wanted to let the community know my experience with them. I?m sorry if this is in the wrong place! I plan on returning the wheel, and just running the stock compressor wheel now. Eventually I?ll go bigger turbo anyway so I?ll use the money elsewhere.
 
There is typically no joy, trying to cobble together random parts. As we say in the South, "You pay for what you get".

I bought a complete kit from ARD Tuning that I used to build my 19t..... everything fits, an Engineered solution. The hardest part I had was the custom WG actuator bracket for my KINUGAWA to bolt to the 19t compressor housing in a RWD application.
 
I turned my 15g into a 19t with a Kinugawa 11 blade turbine and 19t compressor wheel and housing. It all went together perfectly, with a genuine Mitsubishi rebuild kit.

I also have their wastegate actuator and overall, I've been happy with their products. I had some questions about wastegate springs, and I will say their customer service is not top notch. I'll echo the "you get what you pay for" sentiment.
 
I turned my 15g into a 19t with a Kinugawa 11 blade turbine and 19t compressor wheel and housing. It all went together perfectly, with a genuine Mitsubishi rebuild kit.

I also have their wastegate actuator and overall, I've been happy with their products. I had some questions about wastegate springs, and I will say their customer service is not top notch. I'll echo the "you get what you pay for" sentiment.

Sound like you should do a writeup about that ;)
 
On my s70 I used ard components to convert my 16t to a 19t. Much more straightforward since it?s fwd. other than that, now is the only other time I?ve messed with turbos. I guess it?s a live and learn thing, no more cobbling stuff together haha. Honestly I was expecting problems with the turbine, since it was off eBay from a guy who had several made but now needed money...something along those lines. I?m pretty sure I?ve bought one thing from Kinugawa before and there wasn?t any problems. The part where they suggested I either change the thrust bearing or machine the housing makes me uneasy that the customer service doesn?t know jack about turbos. The compressor wheel won?t even go on the shaft, so the bearing or housing isn?t even part of it yet.
 
The compressor wheel won?t even go on the shaft, so the bearing or housing isn?t even part of it yet.

Have you tried heating the compressor wheel?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8ndPYmfQuXU" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hA2CMih9iy8" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
You know I had actually thought about breaking out the heat gun. Only thing that deterred me was that when I upgrade my 16t to a 19t with ARDs conversion parts, the new compressor wheel slid right onto the old (presumably thicker with oil caked on the shaft) turbine shaft with no problems. I talked myself out of the heat gun saying ?if I have to use that, it can?t be right. I?m gonna go ahead and bust out my digital calipers and take some measurements, and if all looks good I?ll try the heat gun method!
Thank you so much for that! Shockingly enough after about 4 years dealing with Volvo?s, that?s the first time I?ve seen either of those videos! That video answered a couple other questions I?ve had, but haven?t had to deal with yet.
 
Currently waiting to hear back from them about the 16t kit they sent me. The wg bracket mounts on the underside of the compressor, sandwiched between both housings, they drilled and taped the underside of the compressor housing. Looks good on paper until your realize how little room there is once you try to install the oil drain pipe. Oh, and the actuator rod is too long, even with the adjustment arm bottomed out. Should've sent it back solely based on the fact that it wasn't the item shown on their website. We'll see how it plays out.
 
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