eBay - Plastic turbo

[Tranquillity]

That's right, I have too time on my hands... I bought a $45 plastic turbo from eBay for shits and giggles, it's supposed to add about 3 PSI or about 10-15% HP gain... Stuck it in the 91 3.0L IROC. It was a bit wet out so I couldn't really try it out too well, I didn't hook it up to any switches, just plugged it in. The hood wouldn't close quite all the way >.< so I had to take it off, like I said it was a bit wet and everytime I tried to take off in 2nd gear at about 3000RPMS it just broke the tires loose. Wanted to know if anyone has an ideas aside from moving the battery and putting the turbo there, I love my hood I would like to keep it and would love to use it by making a box... or something. Also I would love idea on a switch, where to mount it, I'm bad at customizing things to look good.... This is probabaly all temp anyhow, I don't have the knowledge yet or money/tools to put a real turbo on it for the time being and almost done a TII on my 86 Turbo Z a friend is helping me out on.

Here's a shot of the hood closed as much as I could get it with it on


Here's a shot of the hood up... sorry for low quality shots


Here's a picture of the turbo itself... again sorry I know bad pictures

[jimduchek]

Do you have a turbo gauge on it? I'd be very suprised it it manages to produce any boost with the throttle open (assuming it runs @ 12V, anyway). Most electric superchargers can _maybe_ generate some 'boost' with the throttle plates closed at low RPMs, but end up simply being an intake restriction anywhere useful.

[Tranquillity]

No guage. And like I said it was rainy maybe it didn't really do anything, I'll have to try it again come summer but I'd still like to get it working and see.

[roguetrip]

What a waste of 45 bones, could of built a good CAI and had actual gains that are better than the supposed 3hp it claims to give.

If anything the 3.0 engine pulls more CFM at WOT than the electric motor can spin, so over time going WOT it will overspin the electric motor and it will damage the diodes for the coils and seize up the bearings making it more junk than it is now.

Now there are real electric superchargers out there, the only one if seen work required a extra energy source, it was 3 starter motors tied together and then geared to a compessor housing, even at that they only worked for about 15 seconds at best before they overheated and drained the electric system.

Maybe this is a bad joke that I didn't pick up on, but those ebay chargers are junk.

[Tranquillity]

Well seeing as you didn't give me any advice I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[EvilcowRoland]

It would be nice to see some dyno numbers on it. That would prove if it's a help or a hinderence. This same debate comes up when people discuss using an electric fan to help spool a turbo. It was theorized that the only viable way to do it would be to run a Y-pipe so that when the turbo (and engine) were drawing more air than the elec. motor could handle then the motor wouldn't be a blockage. The issue with that in your case is there's no simple way to make a Y-pipe since your electric turbo needs to pressurize the intake tube. Maybe you could set up something like a reverse D-valve so that it opens above a certain RPM (since it's unlikely the electric turbo could keep up with the engine at higher RPMs). But definately do some testing and let us know what you find.

[roguetrip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tranquillity Well seeing as you didn't give me any advice I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

What kind of advice do you want? Anyone can tell you those cheap ebay electric turbos are junk!

[phantomrt]

No real advice from here, either. It'd make a pretty good bathroom fan though.

[Tranquillity]

Well it would be nice to do some testing but I see the advice I'm getting is just about worthless. I don't think I'm going to even carry this on, I'm just going to make a switch so I can turn it on or off when I want and see how it works.

[moparfwdsleeper]

im interested in seeing what you come up with... I dont believe in them, but doesnt mean ill be an ass to you for how you spent your money. keep this updated

[EvilcowRoland]

Everyone has an opinion. But that's all they are. Don't let anyone talk you out of doing something you want to do. I've played with some electric fans, but never an electric "turbo". If I had the $45 I'd probably play around with it just to see what would happen. What kind of advice are you looking for exactly?

[m90daytona]

hey guys, dont bust his balls so much! he didnt know any better.

yeah for future refrence, your motor pulls alot more air than that thing makes. it might work on a tractor or something but it will actually decrease power on a 3.0 v6 because it will be a restriction to the intake air supply.

the only electric supercharger i have seen work is this guy who takes actuall superchargers (roots or screw style) and connects them to an electric motor and runs it off of car battery or two. the benefits are you can put the s/c where ever you want. it doesnt have to be driven off of the engine serp belt. it doesnt absorb the heat of the engine. it can be turned off and on. it doesnt have any parasitic draw which is a huge bonus. the negatives are it takes up a decent amount of space. it adds alot of weight w/ 1 - 2 more batteries in the car. and i dont think the cars alternator can keep up the the electric motor so you cant run it all the time. if you google it you can probably find him and others too.

[roguetrip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moparfwdsleeper im interested in seeing what you come up with... I dont believe in them, but doesnt mean ill be an ass to you for how you spent your money. keep this updated

I'm not trying to be an ass seriously, but I don't want tranquility to get his hopes high (doesn't look like they are even in the first post). I'm not trying to stop anyone from doing it, nothing learned is nothing gained. I even asked what kind of advice he was looking for!

Most everything has already been stated though, get a boost gauge and hook it up, then go out make a few pulls, from there you will probably still see vacuum @ WOT since our engine breathes more than that turbo can make, maybe on a 1.5L it could make 1/4HP LOL.

I know it was bought just for shits and giggles anyways so have fun with it.

[Tranquillity]

How about this, I'll stick a boost guage on it and see if I get anything... thanks guys

[mwinkle353]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tranquillity How about this, I'll stick a boost guage on it and see if I get anything... thanks guys

Now that's the spirit!!!!