When I bought this turbo there wasn't much in the way of reviews on this place. I took a chance and ordered one on Feb 20. Here's my experience thus far.
I got the turbo. It looked decent for what it was. Came with a balance sheet and had the balance markings, which made me feel better about it. I'm running this turbo on a stock KA. I wanted to run no more than 10psi. I know a t28 would have been better suited for this, but everyone wants $400+ for their old turbos.
First contact was about the wastegate. It was stated that it was set at 14psi. I wanted to know if that was as low as it went, and if not if I could run a t28 actuator. I was told by Dayaway that I MIGHT be able to get it to 9psi. Ok. That's not very reassuring, so option 2 it is. He told me I could run an SR t28 actuator, or any other gt28r actuator for that matter. So I ordered a new Garret t28 6-7psi actuator. Here is where I messed up. The actuator took a lot of work to get on. I felt like this wasn't right but ran it anyways. More on that shortly.
Second contact was about fittings. I was making my own lines and needed whatever to -6 adapters for the coolant lines and whatever to 4An for the oil feed. First they told me I needed a 1.5mm restrictor. But it was listed as having one? They told me I should run one just to be safe... It's either restricted or it isn't. No worries, a banjo bolt to male 4AN restrictor adapter helped with clearance anyways. Here's where I had an issue. The sizes they told me for both the coolant and oil adapters were wrong. This set me back over a week as I had to order more. Cool.
So now I have everything worked out and the car is ready. I get it to the dyno and the tuner does a base tune and runs it on it's first pass. It was run straight wastegate so he had the map table set up for 11psi max. It shot to 14psi, where he had the engine cut at. It obviously leaned out and could very well have blown my motor. Turns out, the wastegate they told me I could use was too short and barely opened. That's my fault. So I've lost gas money, trailer rental money, and $150 of dyno time just to have to come back when I get it fixed. Whatever, not the end of the world.
So I ordered a gt28r adjustable actuator. Get it in, it's still too short. But it's closer. So I modified the bracket and got it fit perfectly. I decide to hook a compressor up to make sure it's opening when it should. It does. Cool. I release the air and when the wastegate closes, the flap binds on the port. I felt like the port was large, but this is a good thing right? Apparently not. It's either that or the flap has too much wiggle room on the arm.
So I'm obviously upset at this point. It has been one thing after another and other than installing a very obviously too short of an actuator, this all comes back to being on them. So I emailed dayaway demanding a properly working turbo. I state that this whole ordeal is beyond ridiculous. The reply I get this morning was "You need to calm down. Text Josh". He also forgot to give me Josh's number. No problem, I can find this guy on facebook. I message him telling him his employees remarks are unprofessional and unacceptable. Yes, I was upset, but so would anyone else be after what I've dealt with.
His response? He all but told me I'm stupid and don't know what I'm doing. I'm done. If this turbo blows, it blows. I highly suggest to not do business with these guys.
Here is the messaging that took place.
