I realize this has probably been asked many times over, but I am curious about the reliability of turbo maximas. I have been presented a rather unique opportunity to turbo my 95 max for a very reasonable cost. This would include a new engine (out of a 95 max, 10k miles), and everything associated with forced induction. I need a reliable car to get back and forth from college. I have a lot of faith in the person who will be doing the work, but would appreciate any more input I could receive. Thank you all so much in advance, I look foreward to joining the turbo maxima community!

 

To put it as simple as possibly... Can you name one person with turbo, that HASN'T had a problem?

 

bah, my car has only been down once yet (aside from me blowing my turbo) and that was an electrical failure. Things will break yes, but has anyone had any catastrophic failures after the initial "getting it right period"?

 

Im kinda having doughts on turbo now....i donno

 

Thas why you get a beater to drive all over, then turbo yer non turbo car. But hey if you are prepared to have a little downtime then do it. The rule is if your making power then yer gonna break stuff, Thas a fact of car tuning.

 

I concurr... Anytime your constantly pushing a lot more to your engine be ready for maintenance

I've been through a lot.. And that's just with the SC

 

I didn't know you were considering the "kit".

Go for it!

 

Yeah, im considering the kit. I would need a beater, though. Newman, still got the tempo?

 

I'm sure you could get by without a beater.

As far as problems, the kit that you're considing looks to be second to none in quality. Besides, if there are problems, you'd know who to call.

 

Quality is one of the main reasons I am looking at this. I am sure I wont get screwed. I should be finding out more about my financial aid package for college soon, and this will have a great deal of influence on my decision. BTW, I want to keep this off ubrf.

 

Ok.

Why are you getting a new engine? Just because you don't want to turbo your current one, or is there a problem with yours?

We're going to be good at engine swaps...3 in the same town!

 

I want to swap it because mine has 100k on it, which (I think) will prevent me from being able to run big boost numbers. Besides, I will be able to keep my old one as a spare, which will be nice I guess. 100k is too much for boost, wouldnt you think?

BTW, Hows yours doing?

Yeah, we will be good at the swap! Now you gotta jump on the bandwagon and dump that SC!!

 

The current engine is holding together. I won't get to doing the swap for a few weeks, so I hope this one doesn't just stop running.

 

Did you get another engine? Whay year? How many miles? ctn got a real nice one, and the one im looking at seems pretty nice, only like 10k out of a 95!

 

Yes. 99, 42k miles, 500 shipped. It was the best 99 engine I could find.

http://www.ericj.org/maxima/img/new_engine

 

Very nice engine stand!

 

Hey, I got a free tire and an extra pallet out of the deal. How could you beat that?

 

hmmm, that IS a nice stand...

 

I think he's just jelous that he doesn't have one.

 

what is this "kit" people are referring to?

 

I have had ONE problem with the turbo system itself while I have had it which was interference with a power steering line.

Ohter problems were clutch not being able to hook up and that's pretty much it. One other problem is having too much fun and wanting to turn up the boost which is way too easy with a turbo.

 

Nigel you dont need that power steering anyways. Power steering is for people that cant drive. Plus with all that power all you do is go in straight line LOL

 

After seeing I30tMikeD's thread of the "Top 10 ways you know you own a turbo maxima",and everyone talking about breaking down and needed AAA and all that, I was just wondering what other problems people run into with a turbo maxima besides charge piping blowing off.

Just want to hear some stories which might help prevent some problems when my turbo goes in and give others an idea who are looking to turbo.

 

charge pipe blowing off? thats why u buy some T-Bolt clamps from me... haha

 

Definitely using T-Bolt clamps and maybe beading the charge pipes. Didnt buy the clamps yet so what is your pricing on them?

 

There is more to it than most of what yall are saying.

I'll use and OLD expression, "It's not a matter of how fast you wanna go, it's a matter of how much do you wanna spend."

Read the FAQ, you basicly tell the ~100 nissan ENGINEER'S they don't know jack and do stuff they NEVER PLANNED for.

Now, I bet 99% of the people here who have had problems run more than ~7psi, SC or turbo.

You are also not counting the "getting it right" on alert spoke of.Unless you pay a shop lots of $$$$, YOU need to figure out what's right and wrong.

Look at ANY car forum that is an NA car and then becomes boosted, problems. Some are design problems, some are more power than the engine/tranny/drivetrain/etc can handle.

 

I actually have not really had any major turbo related problems. My "top 10" thread was making light of things. My car has been fairly reliable since the turbo went it.

 

I must agree on this point.. if you have a well thought out setup and your not being two rediculous power wise, it can still be very reliable.. Ive driven nearly 12000 miles on my setup with basically no turbo related problems. Even drove it to pheonix and back from chicago.

 

Im aware of that, I just bumped up the thread to see what problems turbo people were having so maybe I can change something to avoid having a problem like that or what to be careful of.

I guess there isnt many major things that can happen besides breaking driveline components when putting down a lot of power which is an obvious thing to watch out for. The other things would be mostly problems with bad installation or it was fabricated in a bad way.

 

Well I had mine for 2.5 weeks and so far no majors problems has happened. I up the boost to 6.5-7psi over the weekend and it ran fine. I had no CEL til tonight which is a ghost code 0505/0509. I cant get the damn thing to go away, I wonder if my IC being cover with ice has anything to do with it. Other than that I have had no major problems (crossing my fingers that I dont jinx myself).

On the reliability issue, I think its really depends on how hard you are on the car, if you have a decent setup and not always in boost I can see it not being a reliability issue. I think the problem is more stupidity and lack of awareness with maintance that causes failures...

 

Most are fabricated poorly. Not enough clearance here and there. Using T-bolt clamps will stop pipes from coming off, you can pick those up at NAPA for ~$2 each. Most is just basic stuff that was not done correctly in the first place. Im MY situation.

The other is people have to much air and not enough fuel. Most of the time this is due to boost controllers and the person using them without knowing how much fuel they need

 

I have very few left, most of everything has been sold out. I guess my pricing of $2.50 a piece was pretty good. I have a few 2.25, 2, and I think 3 inch ones left. The cost is $2.50 a piece plus shipping.