93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 SuperDork
3/26/10 3:19 p.m.

Alright, just how bad are they, REALLY?

One of the big knockoff companies is local to me, that being E-Motors or EMUSA. They make a Greddy Type S BOV for cheap, i can probably pick it up for $40.

Is my car going to spontaneously explode with this thing? It would be a temporary situation, probably be on the car for two months, tops, while i attempt to find a good deal from a non-flakey seller on a real Greddy to replace the one that was stolen off my car.

Has anyone used any of these things? I wouldn't trust a knockoff wastegate for sure, but a BOV? I'm not sure.

RexSeven
RexSeven Dork
3/26/10 3:27 p.m.

There's two problems that can occur with a BOV/BPV that's mismatched with the car or improperly tuned. It can leak boost, or it can cause compressor surge. The first one costs you horsepower, the second can cost you your turbo.

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 SuperDork
3/26/10 3:37 p.m.
RexSeven wrote: There's two problems that can occur with a BOV/BPV that's mismatched with the car or improperly tuned. It can leak boost, or it can cause compressor surge. The first one costs you horsepower, the second can cost you your turbo.

That's exactly what i'm worried about. My Type S did neither of those things.

The turbo, i'm not REAL worried about, it's getting replaced in the next couple months anyways, but it'd be nice to be able to keep it as a backup afterwards.

Unfortunately with the situation at hand, i'm just trying to replace what was stolen with similar parts, but balancing that with getting the car running again as soon as possible. But if flakey sellers are going to flake, then i'm starting to run out of choices. I COULD just buy a new one, but i'm just not real comfy spending that money right now without knowing what else may have been damaged on the car.

Basically, would it be a terrible idea to grab a knockoff bov for now and make sure that everything else is buttoned up, and when that's done, junk it for a real one? Or would i be stupid to not just wait or shell out the dough for a trusted quality one now?

AutoXR
AutoXR Reader
3/26/10 3:37 p.m.

I have had good luck with them I usually pull them apart to make sure the bore is clean / debris free and without burs. It's the wastegates i am leary of

J

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 SuperDork
3/26/10 3:43 p.m.
AutoXR wrote: I have had good luck with them I usually pull them apart to make sure the bore is clean / debris free and without burs. It's the wastegates i am leary of J

That's encouraging... I think i know one of the guys that works at EMUSA as well. I guess i could just ask him if his products are crap or not.

Dr. Hess
Dr. Hess SuperDork
3/26/10 3:44 p.m.

I bought a HK$ SSQBOV from a big name national dealer just to make sure I didn't get a knock off. You can run without a BOV, and one leaking or stuck shut wouldn't be the end of the world or necessarily instantly grenade the turbo (hopefully), but no way I would ever consider a knockoff wastegate. That could blow the whole motor.

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 SuperDork
3/26/10 3:55 p.m.
Dr. Hess wrote: I bought a HK$ SSQBOV from a big name national dealer just to make sure I didn't get a knock off. You can run without a BOV, and one leaking or stuck shut wouldn't be the end of the world or necessarily instantly grenade the turbo (hopefully), but no way I would ever consider a knockoff wastegate. That could blow the whole motor.

Oh yeah... that's why i got a Turbosmart Ultragate for the wastegate.

I think i'm going to run down there tomorrow and grab their knockoff bov for now, and just keep looking for a real one until the time comes to fire the car. And then if it runs with no issues, ditch it asap for a quality one.

sobe_death
sobe_death Reader
3/26/10 5:29 p.m.

Is this one of the "remade" type S bov's? The ones with the redesigned diaphragm? If so, get one. They are 10x better than the original Greddy product

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 SuperDork
3/26/10 5:32 p.m.
sobe_death wrote: Is this one of the "remade" type S bov's? The ones with the redesigned diaphragm? If so, get one. They are 10x better than the original Greddy product

I'm not real sure.... It'd be this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EMUSA-Turbo-BOV-Type-RS-Blow-Off-Valve-Type-S-Universal_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem230610f1d3QQitemZ150425629139QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Keith
Keith GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
3/26/10 6:54 p.m.

I wouldn't be afraid to try one. A bit of compressor surge isn't going to kill your turbo if it doesn't open early enough. More likely it's going to leak, and that means a loss of boost. Annoying but not dangerous.

MadScientistMatt
MadScientistMatt Dork
3/26/10 8:18 p.m.

Jerry has a no-name Chinese BOV on his MR2. It had a couple leaks and loose parts, but they weren't too hard to patch up. All in all it worked well enough we don't have a reason to remove it from the car, not well enough that we'd consider selling that particular line. Also a fair number of the sellers don't quite seem to have their suppliers' real spec sheets, one I bought (planned to use it on the Dart but lost it) that was advertised as "billet aluminum" was actually cast pot metal. Not really "stay away" parts, they'll generally function as intended but you do get more for your money with name brands.

Raze
Raze HalfDork
3/26/10 10:18 p.m.

We put one on the XR4, $20 cheap Chinese crap, works great, just no fancy flute/noise maker, just a straight dump outlet. I've had to reseat the seal once when we boosted 35 psi and I had the springs at full compression with the screw and it popped out of the groove, 15 minutes later it was good as new, it gave a funny whistle which let me know it was unseated. For the price and for what it does, it works great, plus if it breaks I can buy a few more for the limited use the XR sees. If this was on a daily, I might spring for a nicer one, but alas, either way it doesn't matter much, I mean a BOV is a BOV is a BOV, it's a pretty simple mechanism, Really the condition of the diaphram is more important than anything else, but even that's replaceable in 10 minutes...

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