So the owens turbo i have on the car. From day one the car smoked on the 2.0 forged engine i put in but didnt last very long as from my thread you know. once the engine went i sent it back to Owens to be checked and they sent it back with a full ok health check,


Then my new 2.35 engine was fitted, at Area 52 when Jase was mapping it he noticed straight away a fine mist of smoke that was coming out, we thought at the time that it was a small amount of oil in the exhaust still from when the engine went. so i picked up the car from jas after it only boosting to 1.4 bar and wouldmt go any further. which again i thought it was a problem with turbo. got the car home from Jase only 60miles and it had used a load of oil! at this point the turbo had only done about 300 miles from new and then running in on dyno and map then drive home. So i drove the car for a week monitoring the oil level which went down. After speaking to owens on the phone they insisted that it has to be the engine and i got fed up with hitting a wall speaking to them

So i had a early finish from work and went home and stripped the car. Firstly doing a Leak down and pressure test both ok. then took, headers,up pipe, down pipe and exhaust off which were all ok. then came looking at the turbo. there was play in the shaft and could open the wastegate with my thumb. so sent the turbo to owens again! when i first sent it there was some slight play in the shaft and again on the 2.0 engine it would not boost past 1.4 bar.

so after a couple of days i get a response from Lee himself. saying the turbo is goosed and i need to pay £460 plus Vat plus P&P to fix it. that the engine has cause the damage and not the turbo failing and its over 12 months old yes but only done less than 700 miles! the fact that the turbo and inlet cost me £2350!!!! i got nothing but bad customer services from them. No compromise on costs or anything.. basically tough its impossible that its the engine and it needs a rebuild.

So i have managed to get £900 for the turbo as it is now off Simon at Chevron. i will never be using or recommending Owens again after this experience...

 

I would hate to be in your shoes. Sounds very frustrating!

 

unbelievably especially when i knew for so long there was a problem with it but just got ignored and mugged off over and over again

 

Only ever used them once, when I had a hatch in with an owen 18g on it and that too was rattling its t1ts off after less than 1000 miles.

When I enquired via email as to a solution the replies I got were both unprofessional and quite blunt, to the point of "what do you want us to do about it".

Ended up selling the turbo as spares/repair for the lad and putting something else on that I believe he sourced from CR Turbos/engineering.

 

Faarkin hell. Bad experience. I used turbo dynamics to rebuild and upgrade a turbo and it hasn't missed a beat even with track day.
I work in construction and seems the same horror stories happen in all aspects of life with various companies being either really good or complete waste of time.
I was recommended turbo dynamics and was slated on here for paying slightly over the odds for what I had done.
It's an expensive lesson learnt but hopefully move on.
Cheers. Justin

 

yep big loss for me 700miles on the tubo that cost £2350 and got £900 for it... Shame as you think you can trust big companies like this to stand by there mistakes and hold there hands up or even compromise with the rebuild. not being funny would cost them nothing to fix it.

 

Sound like a right set of cowboys!
Owens Developments is one to avoid then.

 

I found both owens and chevron to be unhelpful and disinterested never again will i use either company

 

In recent months, I have been looking at possible turbo upgrades. I rang Owen Developments but they seemed completely disinterested (to the point of being rude) and passed me onto Chevron. If/when I do upgrade, an Owen turbo will not be on my shopping list.

 

I bought a turbo after it had been refurbished by Owens,

Although i wasn't the guy who paid them to refurb it they were more than happy to go through their records and provide me with the record of work done and a nice explanation of why the upgrades where better,

So from the little amount of interaction i have had i can honestly say it's been a good experience and the turbo i have performs great and im more than happy with it

 

The turbo i bought of this forum was freshly rebuilt by them with bigger wheel better bearings etc.

 

not saying all owen dals are bad. they cant be as they wouldnt be in buisness. But on the small few where they supply a faulty turbo they should hold there hands up and admit it. Plus the after care with them


ryan