TeamSwift

This is a review in progress, as I have had to invest in it's installation. So welcome to Part 1:

It's listed on their website as 95A...

http://www.turbinetech.ca/produit_detai ... 20&lang=AN

Let me start off by saying...

This is NOT new, it has been remanufactured by an alternator shop local to TurbineTech.

This is NOT a drop in replacement.

It is physically quite a bit larger than the factory 55A Mitsu alt.

Pictures of the two with some measurements overlayed:

Front:


Back:


You'll notice the change in the electical connections, namely the wiring harness plug, which is completely incompatible with the factory plug, but it was labelled by TT to designate what each wire was for. As well the main charging cable mount has moved from the back of the alt to the black tower. So you will either have to order an adapter or you will have to somewhat permanently convert alternator wiring.

As you can see the bottom holes are too large to work with the stock bolts. So while it would slip onto the bracket the bolts were horribly loose, so I was left emailing TT. I was left with a 'I will find out from my supplier." reply and several days of nothing. With no alternator, is very annoying...

So I went and took it to the Machine Shop here in town, and asked them what they thought. They could make some inserts and knock out the bushing, drill out the 'threaded' hole and return it to a smooth bore.

A $100 later, they were nice enough to charge me a cash price rather than the standard $85/hr labour rate.

Here is what the bottom mounts now look like:



I did find out while the machine shop was half way done with modifying the alt, how the supplier says it's supposed to go...

They say you are supposed to do is to remove the bracket from the engine and drill out the mounting spots and use a long 80mm(estimated: it will work with the longest engine mount bolt used on a 4cyl mk2-5 car) M10 x 1.25 bolt, from the reverse side. The threads I found were lousy, looks like the stock hole was threaded a size smaller if at all, and then had a tap passed through resulting in half threads, so if you choose this install path, careful with the torque or you'll be buying a thread repair kit.

So now I don't have to fight with pulling out the bracket, drilling out the captive nut/bracket, and sourcing a very long 10mm fine thread bolt.

This is as far as I have gotten, I am ordering an adapter so I don't have to cut the wiring harness on my car. I have rebuilt the alternator used in this review for size comparison, and it's currently powering my car, quite well.

As far as dealing with TurbineTech has been thus far on this item, I can only say it has been dissapointing so far... I will further expand on the details in part 2 of the review.

I will post the updates to the install as soon as the adapter gets here and I install the alt.

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My cars:

J. McBean: '98 Suzuki Swift 1.3L 16v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk5" Made in Canada
The Mini Rattler: '94 Suzuki Swift .993L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk3" Made in Canada *The Winter Beater*
B. Berry: '90 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint 1.0L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk2" Made in Japan

I got 18MPG in a 3cyl with a 5 speed manual 4dr, '93 Metro!

i beleive thats the gm 3.8l alternator, there is an aditional bracket that you're supposed to use (i know this is with the samurai/sidekick motors) i think the swift is the same

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93 Swift GT White 3Tech cams, Sandro's chip, Lightned flywheel, Genie exhaust, Cultus header, Intrax springs.
08 Civic Wife's car

Find me the car it came off of, and I will take it down to the auto parts place and get them to toss it on the tester. I'll take a picture/scan of the report.

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My cars:

J. McBean: '98 Suzuki Swift 1.3L 16v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk5" Made in Canada
The Mini Rattler: '94 Suzuki Swift .993L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk3" Made in Canada *The Winter Beater*
B. Berry: '90 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint 1.0L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk2" Made in Japan

I got 18MPG in a 3cyl with a 5 speed manual 4dr, '93 Metro!

Progress update:

This is a Mitsubishi alternator.

The remanufacturing job, makes it look pretty but on the inside, it's complete trash.

The stator bearing had it's seal compromised by some rammy 'technician' when they pumped it full of what looks like motomaster wheel bearing grease. Remember kids not to stab the damn seal.

The stator brush contacts, the inside ring is suffering from the effects of worn regulator brushes.

The brushes for the regulator are obviously worn as the keeper holes have been completely worn down.

So far as I can tell in my opinion, Turbine Tech is fraudulently representing this product.

When I replace the stator end bearing with a new $5 Canadian bearing, I'll be putting it on a computerized tester to confirm output.

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My cars:

J. McBean: '98 Suzuki Swift 1.3L 16v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk5" Made in Canada
The Mini Rattler: '94 Suzuki Swift .993L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk3" Made in Canada *The Winter Beater*
B. Berry: '90 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint 1.0L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk2" Made in Japan

I got 18MPG in a 3cyl with a 5 speed manual 4dr, '93 Metro!

I bought one of these kits and went to a shop that rebuilds alternators and gave then my old alternator as a core and paid $60 for a rebuilt CS130 105amp alternator. I got the v belt kit, so you'd have to ask for the ribbed one. The pulley mine came with was heavy (3-4lbs) so I bought an aluminum one from summit (less than 1lb). I got March's aluminum fan too. The kit came with a wire adapter but I'm just gonna cut and splice the new connector to the harness. The bracket bolted right on, the CS130 fits, the top bracket works you just have to make sure you get the CS130 with the mounting hole at 12 and 6, and the belt it comes with fits. My project is still a ways from being finished so I can't say how it works yet. I know guy do this swap with their Samurai's and they work great for them. All in all the kit cost me around $200 but I have a rebuilt 105amp alt, aluminum fan and pulley, and it was a complete bolt-on.

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1987 Chevrolet Sprint Turbo under construction

Trust me hindsight is 20/20.

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My cars:

J. McBean: '98 Suzuki Swift 1.3L 16v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk5" Made in Canada
The Mini Rattler: '94 Suzuki Swift .993L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk3" Made in Canada *The Winter Beater*
B. Berry: '90 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint 1.0L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk2" Made in Japan

I got 18MPG in a 3cyl with a 5 speed manual 4dr, '93 Metro!

Yeah but if you can get yours working the upgrade will definitely be worth it in the long run

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1987 Chevrolet Sprint Turbo under construction

So...

After disassembly was complete because I saw something that didn't look right... I am greeted by this...



Also they sandblasted all of the part markings off of the internal parts, making their look up as difficult as possible.

So the alternator that Jardamuth aka Jess Tremblay personally vouched for that was new, isn't even a good rebuild.

As well all the information I can find, and from the mouth of two seperate alternator guys, this alt isn't made to handle 95amp or 100amp, but is actually probably only capable of doing 70 maybe 80amps due to the thickness of the wiring involved in the windings.

Tomorrow it goes on the tester to see if it will actually output anything, with it's 'new' but very tired regulator, and it's 'new' but blown rectifier...

Remember kids in Quebecois French, new translates to 'something that came out of the junkyard, cleaned up quick, never tested, and sold as is'...

Edit: Yup, put it on the tester, fails damned fast... output voltage... 4 whole entire volts! woot!

Edit 2:

If anyone cares, it's an 80A Mitsubishi from various '91-01 Mazdas(the one I used to find it was a '94 Mazda 626 DX) and the '91-97 Ford Probe.

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My cars:

J. McBean: '98 Suzuki Swift 1.3L 16v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk5" Made in Canada
The Mini Rattler: '94 Suzuki Swift .993L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk3" Made in Canada *The Winter Beater*
B. Berry: '90 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint 1.0L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk2" Made in Japan

I got 18MPG in a 3cyl with a 5 speed manual 4dr, '93 Metro!

Well that whole deal blows! bummer you had to go through that crap.

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89 GTi Zippy (sold)
Search Teamswift via Google

How you contacted turbine tech about it?

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1987 Chevrolet Sprint Turbo under construction

Yes, he has offered to 'inspect and replace it'... Which I shot out of the water. I want all of my money back including the overpriced shipping, and they can pay for the shipping to get it back, like they were offering in the when it was at the machine shop.

Edit: After discussing it with the alternator shop, I have offered to allow Turbine Tech to pay for the repairs to the alternator. I had it down to the alt shop a second time, and they put it on the load tester, and it put out a maximum of 80 amps and then would fall down to around 70 amps. So it doesn't exactly live up to the 95/100 amp TT claims.

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My cars:

J. McBean: '98 Suzuki Swift 1.3L 16v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk5" Made in Canada
The Mini Rattler: '94 Suzuki Swift .993L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk3" Made in Canada *The Winter Beater*
B. Berry: '90 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint 1.0L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk2" Made in Japan

I got 18MPG in a 3cyl with a 5 speed manual 4dr, '93 Metro!

That sucks man!
Where is he to explain...even defend himself(TT)??

He feels he's not at fault for anything, he either blames me, or says I've sold many to many other people with no complaints.

I recieved an email, saying the alternator tested fine, and that there is nothing he can do for me. Odd two different places here tested it, and both places failed it hard, 4v out on the sensor line(evidence of a broken rectifier), and it couldn't even reach 100 amps of output, but instead barely reached 80amps before almost instantly dropping to 70amps. I mean in contrast the 13 year old stock 55a refurb which is what it was supposed to replace, after I installed new bearings in it, out puts 80 amps steady, and with the sensor line will illuminate a 194 bulb, the very same bulb didn't even glow with the TT alt(which would have caused me to have the charging system light illuminated on my dash constantly).

What really surprises me it that he has actively engaged in fraud(in my non-professional opinion), lieing about products, selling one thing, sending another, then openly refusing to offer a refund, let alone the costs incurred to ship it back to him or the modifications which were neccessary to get the alternator to atleast think about mounting using the stock mounts.

I still have no response from him after debasing his claims of it testing fine and his insistance that he will just return it. I gave him the option of refund or charge back, I paid with CC and I have already talked to them, so I will atleast get my original $286.13 back. Also I get the strong impression that he has no issues with 'creative truth telling' either.

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My cars:

J. McBean: '98 Suzuki Swift 1.3L 16v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk5" Made in Canada
The Mini Rattler: '94 Suzuki Swift .993L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk3" Made in Canada *The Winter Beater*
B. Berry: '90 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint 1.0L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk2" Made in Japan

I got 18MPG in a 3cyl with a 5 speed manual 4dr, '93 Metro!

Shame you've had so much grief.
I know here in Australia, we use a Ford Falcon 110A internally regulated alternator (mitsubishi branded alt) as an upgrade for the G series engines.

Bore out a couple of holes and source bolts of an appropriate length.
Swap over your pulleys and get a belt to suit. V groove/multi groove.
Grab a suitable loom plug from a wrecked vehicle, or use spade terminals.
Upgrade the power wire to the battery, and earth wire to the chassis.

All up it's an hours work for double the charging capacity.

Well an update, the chargeback via the credit card is processing, I sent the alt back in early November, and when Jardamuth recieved it, he attempted to lie his way out of it, and send the Alt back to me claiming no fault. When I confronted him on how he had it tested, how it managed to pass, when two seperate shops here tested and failed it. He stopped replying.

In my personal opinion, Jess aka Jardamuth aka Turbinetech are a bunch of lieing thieves, who won't stand up and take responsibility when their falsely represent a product, instead throw temper tantrums because of some percieved slight against their undeserved ego.

I have no alternator, I have no refund, and I am out the costs to atleast make the alternator fit without having to physically modify the factory mounting brackets. It's disapointing to see such sad behaviour out of a grown man.

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My cars:

J. McBean: '98 Suzuki Swift 1.3L 16v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk5" Made in Canada
The Mini Rattler: '94 Suzuki Swift .993L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk3" Made in Canada *The Winter Beater*
B. Berry: '90 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint 1.0L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk2" Made in Japan

I got 18MPG in a 3cyl with a 5 speed manual 4dr, '93 Metro!

Been lurking to see if this would work out in the end. Apparently not. Expensive stuff that don't work bums me out.

Here's my recommendation. There's a real good guy in New Hampshire who sells big alternators to the zuki 4wd drive crowd.
His store name is Adventure Off Road. He sells a brand new GM CS130 105 amp alternator, pigtail, belt, custom zuki bracket and pulley of your choice for $230. Before Lil Evil got crunched, she was pulling down more juice than was available on nasty mountain stormy days with every single accessory lit up like an amp sucking christmas tree. So I called this fella and he's the kinda guy we need to send our business to.

Check out the ribbed pulley version of his kit on ebay or at his website. Here's the ebay # 330511782485.

Mo Powah, mo powah, mo powah, as you yankees would say...

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95 Metro hatch "Tequila lime" all stock
F/S 3Tech economy cam
F/S 90 Metro hatch
F/S 89 Swift GTi body only
F/S 92 Tracker 2 dr rwd stock
93 Sidekick 4 dr 1.9 vw TD, WVO conversion, 6" lift over 33's

^ yep same guy I bought my kit from. I got my own alt though and saved a little money. Pulley my kit came with was really heavy though, bought an aluminum one from summit but it was a v belt.

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1987 Chevrolet Sprint Turbo under construction

He is a good guy, that Adventure Off-Road guy. IIRC he's name is Paul Dube.

I have the pigtail and the bracket from that same guy. A CS130 that's been rebuilt here is about a $100 for me to buy, and that's what the car will be getting. Although my little old 55a that was rebuilt in Winnipeg is cranking 80a, shocked the alt guy, that the little guy was putting out so much.

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My cars:

J. McBean: '98 Suzuki Swift 1.3L 16v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk5" Made in Canada
The Mini Rattler: '94 Suzuki Swift .993L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk3" Made in Canada *The Winter Beater*
B. Berry: '90 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint 1.0L 6v SOHC 5sp+ "Mk2" Made in Japan

I got 18MPG in a 3cyl with a 5 speed manual 4dr, '93 Metro!

You should try what I did. I took my old alt to a alt and starter rebuilder and asked if I could give him my old alt for a core for a CS130 and paid him $60 to rebuild it.

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1987 Chevrolet Sprint Turbo under construction

nice smokin info over here too...... i hope you got your money back from your CC....

I'm glad you took the time to post this. Earlier last year I was looking to upgrade my alternator for my project. I'm glad I didn't. I'm surprised jard hasn't replied to publicly rectify this situation.

I hope your alternator situation works out.

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I haven't replied because fighting against crook and a liar is a waste of time as I learned in the feedback section. You can post bitter comments all you like, I would't care, but do not post against me or slander my business with false or invented facts. If you can't start an argument against a product without presenting the facts as they are with no hiden thruth, then you do not deserve posting here.

After reviewing the case, your CC withdraw the hold and granted full payment on the item. I guess you need more than lies against solid facts if you want to crook a honest seller via Credit card.

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