Buyers Beware: C J Motor

[Stagzilla]

Afternoon All,

Just a warning for anyone out there who is looking to save a few dollars on aftermarket mods. I recently purchased a pair of HKS GT-SS turbo's which where fitted to my 260RS. I bought them from CJ Motor who sells alot through forums and that auction site everyone hates. My mechanic has a pretty good rep in south east qld for working with Nissans and is an authorised HKS dealer, Gavin Wood at Autotech.

A few weeks later I fitted a HKS EVC6, after a few hours of dyno and EVC tuning an issue was found where stable boost above .6 bar couldn't be achieved despite all the offsets being set to the max to increase boost. The issue was found with the turbo actuators. In summary, 2 hours of dyno wasted and 9 hours labour later to remove front bar, intercooler plumbing and adjust the wastegate actuator spring tensions. The additional costs meant I was out of pocket $910 due to the faulty turbo's received.

I told Jackie Chan (the person who runs CJ Motor) about this and he doesn't want to know anything about it, first he tried to blame the mechanic saying they dont know how to setup the HKS EVC, then later after proving the issue occurred either at his storage or that of who'm supplied them he says HKS test everything and has wiped his hands of it. It's obivous they were played with, Gavin said you could see in the colour difference in threading where it had been adjusted.

Just sharing this experience with you all so you dont make the same mistake with this dodgy supplier. No support and no warranty, Buyers beware!

[Habler]

In summary:

• It took your mechanic several hours to discover a boost issue even though this should have been evident straight away?

• It took your mechanic 9 hours to remove a front bar, intercooler piping and adjust a few actuators and put it together again...........................................................................

• You placed the turbos on without first checking the actuator spring tension even though it was obvious they had been adjusted with colour change?

I have dealt with Jackie several times now. Once he sent the wrong part (a 1.5 way diff instead of a 2 way) and when I talked to him he apologised and fixed the mistake asap. I fail to see how your small problem of adjusting a few actuator tension springs is a big enough deal to try and ruin his reputation? You should be more worried about your mechanic ripping you off!

Edited March 3, 2009 by gunmetalgrey

[madbung]

So in summary of the summary, the product he sent you was fine but wasn't setup-installed correctly first time around.

Personally the rare occasions I let someone else spanner my cars I make it a point of not paying for incompetence.

Edited March 3, 2009 by madbung

[Stagzilla]

In summary:

• It took your mechanic several hours to discover a boost issue even though this should have been evident straight away?

• It took your mechanic 9 hours to remove a front bar, intercooler piping and adjust a few actuators and put it together again...........................................................................

• You placed the turbos on without first checking the actuator spring tension even though it was obvious they had been adjusted with colour change?

I have dealt with Jackie several times now. Once he sent the wrong part (a 1.5 way diff instead of a 2 way) and when I talked to him he apologised and fixed the mistake asap. I fail to see how your small problem of adjusting a few actuator tension springs is a big enough deal to try and ruin his reputation? You should be more worried about your mechanic ripping you off!

They were brand new when fitted, the colour difference didn't show up until they had been on the car with the heat creating the colour difference.

It's not just 9 hours removing and repairing, it also inlcuded time wasted on dyno and tuning the evc which is when the issue was identified. So in summary, the labour costs are a combination of troubleshooting, fixing then re tuning the evc and more dyno. How is this the mechanic ripping me off? It's alot of work which had the tensions springs not been touched wouldn't have been required.

The facts remain, purchased brand new and fitted as received... they were tampered with in storage either at Cj Motor or his supplier. I would've been happy if he offered me something, a discount even would've been more than the tough luck story he gave me.

[Stagzilla]

So in summary of the summary, the product he sent you was fine but wasn't setup-installed correctly first time around.

Personally the rare occasions I let someone else spanner my cars I make it a point of not paying for incompetence.

They come from the factory with the correct spring tensions set. They were taken from the box and fitted on the car like anyone would normally do, it's not something you have to adjust or play with. This is central to the issue with Cj Motor, why had they been adjusted? Someone has played with them in storage, If I bought them from anyone else this wouldn't have happened. Granted it may have been a rare case of this happening though having paid $910 more than I should've I would've expected some better support than the crap Jacky served up. Zero customer support.

Are you guys friends of his? Something smells with the vein of responses, dont be fooled... this shouldn't have happened and you cant blame the mechanic when something out of the ordinary has clearly resulted.

[RBPOWA-(TJ)]

my 2cent on your last post .

brand new from box, and fitted straight to your car ...

maybe faulty from production line ? cant shoot the middle man straigh up

[R33GTRKid]

the actuators with my SS's needed to be adjusted and they were brand new?

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

dunno bout you guys, but i check everything that goes on my car, BEFORE it goes in the car

[Stagzilla]

my 2cent on your last post .

brand new from box, and fitted straight to your car ...

maybe faulty from production line ? cant shoot the middle man straigh up

Jacky said he contacted HKS and was told by them they're all tested and quality assured from factory which only leaves the tampering with somewhere in the supply chain. He's made a profit on this whilst I've lost out big time, having now paid more than the AUS retail price if you add the repair bill ontop of what I paid.

I was really nice to him and polite , asking what insurance or warranty claim options are open and told him I would be doing further work and would get more parts from him if he looked after this. Just another dodgy shark operator who doesn't care whether or not you get what you paid for.

[madbung]

dunno bout you guys, but i check everything that goes on my car, BEFORE it goes in the car

Berjiggity....especially labour intensive jobs such as this. By trying to "save" 5mins your mechanic has effectively cost you 9hrs.

Never make assumptions always check.

Not good.

[HEKT1K]

lol @ "Jackie Chan"

[Habler]

LOL @ Stagzilla taking the mechanics word of mouth as gospel. Read this and have a small understanding of wastegates and turbos before pointing fingers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbocharger

My thoughts would be HKS set the actuators un-sprung from factory to stop idiots from installing turbos with out checking them and blowing their engine then blaming the middle man.

Edited March 3, 2009 by gunmetalgrey

[Stagzilla]

LOL @ Stagzilla taking the mechanics word of mouth as gospel yet not understanding the basics of actuators and turbos.

Your making this out as if it's the mechanics fault when the fact remains, the tension springs are set correctly at factory, these where brand new when fitted, still in the HKS box with all the plastic bags , papers etc. HKS also confirmed through Jacky that they're QA'd on release with the correct spring tension set.

How can the mechanic be held responsible for a product which was clearly tampered with in storage? They know HKS set these right from factory and without contacting HKS directly how could you determine before fitting if they have been played with?

The whole matter stinks to high hell, I could've used that $910 to buy an oil cooler had I received the product as HKS intended.

Some lessons are learnt the hard way, I'll go back to Autotech and see what they have to say about the mistakes of not picking it up though I know already they will say you dont have to adjust these as they're already setup correctly from factory. How can Jacky free himself from liability when he supplied them in a way which is different to factory.

I'll get the facts from HKS and the mechanic, if it all checks out what they have said I'll be taking Jacky to the Small Claims tribunal. I'll also be lodging a claim with the Queensland Department of Fair Trading and ACCC as to his dealings.

[Habler]

The HKS GT-SS:

http://www.nengun.com/hks/turbo-kit-gt-ss-gtr

"In each kit reinforced adjustable actuators are attached. The spring constant is increased by 50% over the N1 spec. It prevents any pressure drop in the high-boost region. This gives you precise control in the 0.8~1.6km/sq.cm boost range."

The GT-SS comes with a an adjustable actuator from factory. There is no perfect set actuator tension on these turbos as different people/tuners are going to run different amounts of boost through them.

If you were not using an electronic boost controller you would control the boost via the adjustable actuator but what your telling me is that you and your mechanic believe they are set perfectly from factory for each individuals needs?

I have a mate with a GT-SS. He adjusts his boost via the actuator. He sets the actuator in a spot, tests what it is reading via a boost gauge then adjusts the actuator either tighter (for more boost) and looser (to run less boost). Maybe I should get him to sue the middle man who sold him the turbo because the actuator wasn't set perfectly to the boost he wanted to run.

Good luck with your claim... your going to need it.

Edited March 3, 2009 by gunmetalgrey

[(B1) MR_fanny]

whats fair trading gonna do really? It didnt destroy your engine. Can you without a doubt prove that it didnt come like that from factory and was adjusted durring his posession and not by anyone else down the supply chain.

I don't see anything that yells out "100%" dodgy in your story. Your mech has learnt a lesson to check it before installing. So by your reasoning if he gets another turbo that isnt adjusted correctly is he gonna tell his customer to send it back or adjust and fit it? +1 one for your mech not checking and just assuming. I'm sure he's gonna check next time around, then again maybe not for the extra bucks. Unfortunately you were the poor guy that he forgot to check it on.

[Stagzilla]

The HKS GT-SS:

http://www.nengun.com/hks/turbo-kit-gt-ss-gtr

"In each kit reinforced adjustable actuators are attached. The spring constant is increased by 50% over the N1 spec. It prevents any pressure drop in the high-boost region. This gives you precise control in the 0.8~1.6km/sq.cm boost range."

The GT-SS comes with a an adjustable actuator from factory. There is no perfect set actuator tension on these turbos as different people/tuners are going to run different amounts of boost through them.

If you were not using an electronic boost controller you would control the boost via the adjustable actuator but what your telling me is that you and your mechanic believe they are set perfectly from factory for each individuals needs?

I have a mate with a GT-SS. He adjusts his boost via the actuator. He sets the actuator in a spot, tests what it is reading via a boost gauge then adjusts the actuator either tighter (for more boost) and looser (to run less boost). Maybe I should get him to sue the middle man who sold him the turbo because the actuator wasn't set perfectly to the boost he wanted to run.

Good luck with your claim... your going to need it.

Fine tuning is a little different to not being able to hold above .6 bar of boost....They had been wound back quite alot. I can understand why you guys are saying that they should've picked it up but they certainly dont come from factory in the way I received them either.

Either way. I've learnt my lesson, I was sharing this more to warn others not to expect any support or customer service when dealing with Jacky... I waited 5 days before posting anything hoping he would do something but he only seemed interested in blaming the mechanic.

[Habler]

How do you know they don't come from factory wound back? It's a better idea than setting them at a higher PSI. At least because it couldn't hold 6psi no damage was done to your engine instead of it being set too high and over boosting because they were not checked.

Also as i previously stated Jackie has offered good customer service to me before when he was at fault but why should he have to offer you anything when nothing was wrong?

Edited March 3, 2009 by gunmetalgrey

[Stagzilla]

How do you know they don't come from factory wound back? It's a better idea than setting them at a higher PSI. At least because it couldn't hold 6psi no damage was done to your engine instead of it being set too high and over boosting because they were not checked.

Also as i previously stated Jackie has offered good customer service to me before when he was at fault but why should he have to offer you anything when nothing was wrong?

I'll get Gavin to get the official response from HKS to clear any of this up, though Jacky himself has said they come preset from factory, not sure what the default setting is though for most application say .9 - 1.2 bar I would assume it would be fine. My understanding is you only play with this if you want the wastegate to open later to allow for higher boost settings. It matters little, my anger was more directed at whomever played with these actuators which has cost me so much.

[Habler]

You assume too much and understand too little. I doubt anyone has played with your turbos instead HKS just don't set the actuator springs because each person runs it at different levels. I'm getting sick of repeating myself.

Get a mechanic who takes the time to check over everything instead of rushing the job.

Edited March 3, 2009 by gunmetalgrey

[eeiko321]

Afternoon All,

Just a warning for anyone out there who is looking to save a few dollars on aftermarket mods. I recently purchased a pair of HKS GT-SS turbo's which where fitted to my 260RS. I bought them from CJ Motor who sells alot through forums and that auction site everyone hates. My mechanic has a pretty good rep in south east qld for working with Nissans and is an authorised HKS dealer, Gavin Wood at Autotech.

A few weeks later I fitted a HKS EVC6, after a few hours of dyno and EVC tuning an issue was found where stable boost above .6 bar couldn't be achieved despite all the offsets being set to the max to increase boost. The issue was found with the turbo actuators. In summary, 2 hours of dyno wasted and 9 hours labour later to remove front bar, intercooler plumbing and adjust the wastegate actuator spring tensions. The additional costs meant I was out of pocket $910 due to the faulty turbo's received.

I told Jackie Chan (the person who runs CJ Motor) about this and he doesn't want to know anything about it, first he tried to blame the mechanic saying they dont know how to setup the HKS EVC, then later after proving the issue occurred either at his storage or that of who'm supplied them he says HKS test everything and has wiped his hands of it. It's obivous they were played with, Gavin said you could see in the colour difference in threading where it had been adjusted.

Just sharing this experience with you all so you dont make the same mistake with this dodgy supplier. No support and no warranty, Buyers beware!

lol @ "Jackie Chan"

lol

yeah i was about to say as well

is his name really "Jacky Chan"?!

ROFL