Fake BOV's-any good?

[turbovanman²]

Searching Ebay and I come up with a Greddy Type RS, it says Greddy on top but the side logo is covered up. Compared it to a REAL valve and there are some slight differences so Dur, its a fake. How do they compare in performance, I mean, there only $50

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-SPORT-GREDDY-RS-BLOW-OFF-VALVE-RED-TOP-UNIVERSAL_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33742QQihZ016 QQitemZ260016234935

Heres the real one-



http://www.greddy.com/img/PHP/products/jpg/511.jpg

[Darkapollo]

I would use one for moderate boost, just beware the crappy vac lines that they try and give you. I melted one shut LOL. thank god for overboost protection!

[Garret]

They are exactly the same minus the "Greddy" stamping and use of stainless fasteners. All the knock off BOVs are just made where labour is cheaper and perform exactly as the authentic ones do. With something as insignificant as a BOV, it's okay to cheap out and get a knock off ;)

[Turbodave]

A chinese blow off valve will complement the OBX diff nicely :D

[turbovanman²]

A chinese blow off valve will complement the OBX diff nicely :D

Funny guy, :lol: Where do you come up with this stuff, honestly! ;)

[rbryant]

The diaphram in the R BOV I bought seems a little cheaper than what I have seen on the web. I haven't hooked it up yet but it looks like it will work fine after having taken it apart and cleaning it up. It did have a bunch of junk in it that needed to be cleaned up like little pieces of plastic and fibers.

-Rich

[Clay]

which one is the "best" knockoff.......

oh and Simon, OBX makes their own branded knock off to match your locker! ;)

[Turbodave]

Some of the cheap imitiation parts work ok, but like most things you get what you pay for. They can sell them for less by using cheaper labor (also less skilled), less process and tolerance control, and cheaper materials. For parts like a BOV that's probably fine, it won't leave you stranded and the worst case failure only results in a boost leak or compressor surge.

Like the OBX diff, inspecting the parts before usage making sure it's put together correctly is probably a good idea, you don't want pieces of BOV or metal shavings from when they made it getting sucked into your engine.

[slasky]

I have the RFL knockoff and it works great. I had to put a ton of washers in it to keep it from leaking at 20 psi.

[BadAssPerformance]

Good to know they are not too good.

[DeckSetter]

if you look around on ebay long enough, you'll find a good deal. I got a REAL TurboXS RFL lightly used with a DSM flange adapter and the original instructions for under $100 shipped.

[MiniMopar]

+1 to what Dave said. For some things it is OK to try to use the cheap Chinese-made stuff. Things are pretty crazy over there. Some Chinese manufacturers do pretty good stuff, but they cost more. Most of these knock-off products are just concerned with price. If the thing barely works, who cares, they look for manufactures that will do it for the least amount of money. These manufacturers are very secretive about what they make, since they don't want to expose their clients. They can pay 50 guys to sit there and bend springs by hand with a pair of pliers for less than they buy and operate a machine to do the same 100x as fast. Eventually the guy gets pretty good at it, but it's a crapshoot as to the condition of yours.

[fleckster]

When I read the title to the thread, I thought you were talking about the fake BOVs that aren't really BOVs but actually noisemakers that the ricers use to try and sound like the engine is venting boost but the car is actually NA. I was wondering who would be dumb enough to ask if those were actually any good! I'm happy to see the real question in the thread.

[turbovanman²]

When I read the title to the thread, I thought you were talking about the fake BOVs that aren't really BOVs but actually noisemakers that the ricers use to try and sound like the engine is venting boost but the car is actually NA. I was wondering who would be dumb enough to ask if those were actually any good! I'm happy to see the real question in the thread.

Nice John, glad you think I am dumb enough to post that, :( :p

[MiniMopar]

LOL...Fleck I was thinking the exact same thing.

[WVRampage]

Im using the dual horn rfl knock off right now and its working fine,actualy the spring in it is a little st stiff I think since it doesnt realse at real low boost but other than that its not to bad at all and it only cost 50 bucks with shiping.+1 to the taking it apart and inspecting it before using it.

[cordes]

+1 for snaging a real one for cheap. I got a RFL for about $60 shipped.

[Dave]

Good to know the cheap ones are okay. I was looking into a SSQV BOV anyways because I can't find a damn flange for my Blitz.

[Ground Rat]

Im using the dual horn rfl knock off right now and its working fine,actualy the spring in it is a little st stiff I think since it doesnt realse at real low boost but other than that its not to bad at all and it only cost 50 bucks with shiping.
I also got the dual horn RFL knockoff and it's fine except for not opening at low boost. I paid $37 shipped.

[Tony Hanna]

Gotta bring this one back from the dead.
I just got my cheapie ebay bov today. It's one of these (http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Polished-BOV-Blow-off-valve-Turbo-TC-S13-S14-240SX_W0QQitemZ330099540220QQcategoryZ33742QQrdZ1Q QcmdZViewItem).
Overall I'm pretty surprised with the quality. It seems to be fairly well made. The only drawback I can see is that there's no seal on the piston, so there's a slight vacuum leak around it at idle. Is this normal for piston type bov's or do the more expensive ones have some sort of seal around the piston?

[turbovanman²]

That listing is no longer available?????

[Tony Hanna]

That's wierd. It looks like they pulled all their remaining auctions for that style bov.
Here's a link to the exact one I bought. It should still be up for awhile.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=014&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=330096021025&rd=1,1

[turbovanman²]

That's wierd. It looks like they pulled all their remaining auctions for that style bov.
Here's a link to the exact one I bought. It should still be up for awhile.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=014&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=330096021025&rd=1,1

Probably reported as bad fakes, copyrighted material etc. The ones I looked at earlier had Greddy on them then they were relisted without it.

[contraption22]

I wouldnt expect great results from a $16 BOV.

[Tony Hanna]

Yeah, I wasn't expecting anything great. I just hope this one will get me by until I can afford a decent one or find a nice 1g talon bov in a junkyard.

[Garret]

Well the HKS SSQ BOVs that are in the knock off section are ones that failed the HKS quality control but other than that they are mechanically the same.

[turbovanman²]

Well the HKS SSQ BOVs that are in the knock off section are ones that failed the HKS quality control but other than that they are mechanically the same.


Knock off's failed quality control, you dont' say? :p

[Tony Hanna]

Got the one I bought installed and I was pretty disappointed at first. It wouldn't vent at all. Just loads of compressor surge.:mad: My initial reaction was to take it off, pitch it in the corner of the garage, put the stocker back on, and write it off as a lesson learned.

I can't leave anything well enough alone though and in this case, that turned out to be a good thing.

I started fooling with it and since it's not adjustable, ended up cutting a couple coils out of the spring to reduce the preload some. That seems to have fixed it. I still get a tiny bit of surge when letting off from 3 psi or less, but at anything over that, it vents like a champ.:thumb:
Also, it doesn't seem to leak any boost up to 15 psi even with the shortened spring. Honestly, I don't look for it to leak at higher boost either because the design of the thing has boost pressure plus the spring holding the piston closed against the pressure in the IC pipe.
The slight vacuum leak I noticed from the piston not having a seal doesn't seem to affect idle speed or off-boost drivability, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Overall, I'd say it's a big improvement over the stocker and well worth the $15.99 + shipping if you don't mind having to modify it a little to get it to work properly.

[Mysterio]

I got a legit real Turbo XS RFL off ebay for $130 from a store... It's not much more expensive to go with the legit brand than the knockoff so I went with it. But hey, to each their own. If the knockoffs work fine then go with the cheaper one. I just prefer the real thing.

[Dave]

I got a knockoff SSQV. The BOV itself is an awesome piece, but the service behind it sucked. The Ebay dealer didn't send me the hardpipe, just a flange, after 2 months I finally got it. It came with only a snap ring and a gasket, which I've heard even the real HKS units come with. The BOV would pop off the pipe after anything over 10psi. I layered the both surfaces with some JB weld and it hasn't come since.

[Garret]

LOL how were you installing it? It takes me like 30 minutes to get that damned snap ring in there to hold that HKS into the flange, nevermind it coming out. My buddy runs one on his supra and never has issues with it. Are you sure you were putting it in right?

[turbovanman²]

The slight vacuum leak I noticed from the piston not having a seal doesn't seem to affect idle speed or off-boost drivability, so I'm not going to worry about it.

.

Well it won't affect your vacuum as its before the throttle plate. If it was leaking, it could affect spool up.

[4cfed]

i know a few ppl that have run the RFL knock offs and they sound and perform the same.... i happend to come across a real NEW rfl painted black with steel and alum flanges for $75.... will be ordering it and it wil be goin on the day it gets here

[Tony Hanna]

Well it won't affect your vacuum as its before the throttle plate. If it was leaking, it could affect spool up.


That's not true. If it was leaking at the other end (where the piston seals the air coming from the IC pipe) then you'd be right, but that part isn't leaking a bit. It holds boost like a champ.:thumb: A little too well before reducing the preload on the spring.

The leak is coming from the vacuum source on the top of the BOV. Since the piston doesn't have any kind of seal or ring to seal it to the body, it's constantly drawing a little bit through the vent holes around the piston when in vacuum. It's a really small leak though because the clearance between the piston and the inside of the valve is pretty tight.
At worse, a person could compensate for it by resetting the base idle with the idle speed screw, but I haven't found that to be necessary.

I'm sure the better quality BOV's have some sort of seal between the piston and bore (a little teflon ring would probably be perfect) to keep this from happening but for $16 I wasn't expecting much. At least it seems to work fairly well.:)

[Dave]

LOL how were you installing it? It takes me like 30 minutes to get that damned snap ring in there to hold that HKS into the flange, nevermind it coming out. My buddy runs one on his supra and never has issues with it. Are you sure you were putting it in right?

It was easy to install, just worm the snap ring around the shaft. ;) I'm sure I was installing it right. There's no groove or anything that you'd think for the ring to sit in.

[turbovanman²]

That's not true. If it was leaking at the other end (where the piston seals the air coming from the IC pipe) then you'd be right, but that part isn't leaking a bit. It holds boost like a champ.:thumb: A little too well before reducing the preload on the spring.

The leak is coming from the vacuum source on the top of the BOV. Since the piston doesn't have any kind of seal or ring to seal it to the body, it's constantly drawing a little bit through the vent holes around the piston when in vacuum. It's a really small leak though because the clearance between the piston and the inside of the valve is pretty tight.
At worse, a person could compensate for it by resetting the base idle with the idle speed screw, but I haven't found that to be necessary.

I'm sure the better quality BOV's have some sort of seal between the piston and bore (a little teflon ring would probably be perfect) to keep this from happening but for $16 I wasn't expecting much. At least it seems to work fairly well.:)


Ahhhhhh, that makes sense, I thought you meant the valve was leaking vacuum, as in the IC tubing, :nod:

[Tony Hanna]

Ahhhhhh, that makes sense, I thought you meant the valve was leaking vacuum, as in the IC tubing, :nod:

You got it.:thumb: I wish I even had vacuum in the ic tubing. That would mean there was at least a half decent size turbo on there. The little mitsu keeps it pressurized even at idle.:o