My overall bad experience from Kraftwerks
09-28-2015, 03:09 PM
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My overall bad experience from Kraftwerks
I've been through hell and back with this kit already. I feel that I need to share my story with the s2000 community. Its been too long since I've been quiet with it. After giving so many chances, I feel like i have to put it on blast now. Ill try to keep my story short and simple.
Bought the kit from Moddiction on tax refund group buy on s2ki around late February 2015. Got this kit installed by known s2000 mechanic here in South FL (KAB customs). The kit came with the wrong 4 bar map sensor so I had to wait 2 days while having the car apart. While getting that done, mechanic also noticed the kit had a few different brackets than what the instruction manual stated. Got in touch with Scott from KW, turns out they updated a few brackets but haven't had the time to change the manual. Lucky for me my mechanic knew about the kit so he worked it out himself.A few headaches later, installation done, motor seems to run fine and dandy. I drive it to get tuned that same day at STP motorsport in Ft. Lauderdale by a well known Honda tuner, Kenny ( aka turbogixxer tuning). Everything ran good at the dyno, car made 431whp/ 280 tq, until my tuner had his last few runs, he noticed the AFR's where running super lean at high RPM. I check the Grams fuel pump and noticed that its overheating. Being that I didn't trust it anymore, I told my tuner I'll be upgrading to a Walbro 255. After a week of downtime, i get my Walbro installed, got my tuner to fix my AFRs, car runs super great.
Exactly one month goes by, driving normal I come to a a red light and my motor shuts off. Clicks but doesn't turn, I cut the belt and the motor runs normal. I noticed the shaft and pulley are stuck and I see metal fragments all over the piping and intercooler. I get my car towed to my Mechanic again, pulls it apart and sure enough everything has seized. I contact KW, CJ tells me to email pics and tell me he has to send it to Rotrex in Denmark to get it warrantied but also tells me it would be a down time of 5-6 weeks. Instead of waiting he gave me the choice of buying just the blower at core charge, then when Rotrex gives them the warranty, they will refund me. I decide to go that route, and CJ sends me a brand new blower with a core charge. After a week of downtime, I get the charger installed by KAB again, everything goes smooth. I get the car dynoed and it makes 429whp/ 280 tq. Cars running great, and i get my core charge refund, so at this point I'm a happy camper. I even went ahead and lowered the max RPM to 8k just to play it safe.
A few months go by and I really start enjoying this kit for what it really is. Car runs smooth for about 3 months (around 3k miles) until today, I go for a safe pull on the highway and I hear big snap. I pull over and I notice the belt has snapped. I wait till the motor cools down and while removing the belt i notice pulley still turns. At this point I'm wondering what might have happened. I remove the air filter and spin the shaft freely but then I notice the shaft and pulley doesn't spin at the same time. I get in touch with Scott from KW and he tells me the shaft itself might have broke. I go ahead and send him some pics through email, I have yet to hear from him.
I'm so done with these kits already, its not only happen to me once but TWICE. I stayed quiet for the first time around, but now I feel like I have to let fellow s2000 owners what to expect if they decide to go with this kit. After spending over 4k on this kit, nobody should be going through all this bullshit.
Bought the kit from Moddiction on tax refund group buy on s2ki around late February 2015. Got this kit installed by known s2000 mechanic here in South FL (KAB customs). The kit came with the wrong 4 bar map sensor so I had to wait 2 days while having the car apart. While getting that done, mechanic also noticed the kit had a few different brackets than what the instruction manual stated. Got in touch with Scott from KW, turns out they updated a few brackets but haven't had the time to change the manual. Lucky for me my mechanic knew about the kit so he worked it out himself.A few headaches later, installation done, motor seems to run fine and dandy. I drive it to get tuned that same day at STP motorsport in Ft. Lauderdale by a well known Honda tuner, Kenny ( aka turbogixxer tuning). Everything ran good at the dyno, car made 431whp/ 280 tq, until my tuner had his last few runs, he noticed the AFR's where running super lean at high RPM. I check the Grams fuel pump and noticed that its overheating. Being that I didn't trust it anymore, I told my tuner I'll be upgrading to a Walbro 255. After a week of downtime, i get my Walbro installed, got my tuner to fix my AFRs, car runs super great.
Exactly one month goes by, driving normal I come to a a red light and my motor shuts off. Clicks but doesn't turn, I cut the belt and the motor runs normal. I noticed the shaft and pulley are stuck and I see metal fragments all over the piping and intercooler. I get my car towed to my Mechanic again, pulls it apart and sure enough everything has seized. I contact KW, CJ tells me to email pics and tell me he has to send it to Rotrex in Denmark to get it warrantied but also tells me it would be a down time of 5-6 weeks. Instead of waiting he gave me the choice of buying just the blower at core charge, then when Rotrex gives them the warranty, they will refund me. I decide to go that route, and CJ sends me a brand new blower with a core charge. After a week of downtime, I get the charger installed by KAB again, everything goes smooth. I get the car dynoed and it makes 429whp/ 280 tq. Cars running great, and i get my core charge refund, so at this point I'm a happy camper. I even went ahead and lowered the max RPM to 8k just to play it safe.
A few months go by and I really start enjoying this kit for what it really is. Car runs smooth for about 3 months (around 3k miles) until today, I go for a safe pull on the highway and I hear big snap. I pull over and I notice the belt has snapped. I wait till the motor cools down and while removing the belt i notice pulley still turns. At this point I'm wondering what might have happened. I remove the air filter and spin the shaft freely but then I notice the shaft and pulley doesn't spin at the same time. I get in touch with Scott from KW and he tells me the shaft itself might have broke. I go ahead and send him some pics through email, I have yet to hear from him.
I'm so done with these kits already, its not only happen to me once but TWICE. I stayed quiet for the first time around, but now I feel like I have to let fellow s2000 owners what to expect if they decide to go with this kit. After spending over 4k on this kit, nobody should be going through all this bullshit.
09-28-2015, 03:44 PM
#3
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09-28-2015, 04:10 PM
#4
Not one issue with the TTS kit. I'm glad I spent the extra money on their setup honestly. I love the rotrex blower for what it is. I suggest you sell your kit and go SOS but don't give up. A forced inducted S2000 is a lot of fun.
09-28-2015, 04:26 PM
#6
I hate to say this, but the original kits had several threads about a host of (mostly) minor issues but detailed a bunch of shortcomings. Now I get one might think, "Hey this is a new kit, they probably worked all the bugs out" but that just see,s to have created new bugs.
Sorry to hear people feel screwed out of hard earned money.
Sorry to hear people feel screwed out of hard earned money.
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09-28-2015, 05:00 PM
#8
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I've been through hell and back with this kit already. I feel that I need to share my story with the s2000 community. Its been too long since I've been quiet with it. After giving so many chances, I feel like i have to put it on blast now. Ill try to keep my story short and simple.
Bought the kit from Moddiction on tax refund group buy on s2ki around late February 2015. Got this kit installed by known s2000 mechanic here in South FL (KAB customs). The kit came with the wrong 4 bar map sensor so I had to wait 2 days while having the car apart. While getting that done, mechanic also noticed the kit had a few different brackets than what the instruction manual stated. Got in touch with Scott from KW, turns out they updated a few brackets but haven't had the time to change the manual. Lucky for me my mechanic knew about the kit so he worked it out himself.A few headaches later, installation done, motor seems to run fine and dandy. I drive it to get tuned that same day at STP motorsport in Ft. Lauderdale by a well known Honda tuner, Kenny ( aka turbogixxer tuning). Everything ran good at the dyno, car made 431whp/ 280 tq, until my tuner had his last few runs, he noticed the AFR's where running super lean at high RPM. I check the Grams fuel pump and noticed that its overheating. Being that I didn't trust it anymore, I told my tuner I'll be upgrading to a Walbro 255. After a week of downtime, i get my Walbro installed, got my tuner to fix my AFRs, car runs super great.
Exactly one month goes by, driving normal I come to a a red light and my motor shuts off. Clicks but doesn't turn, I cut the belt and the motor runs normal. I noticed the shaft and pulley are stuck and I see metal fragments all over the piping and intercooler. I get my car towed to my Mechanic again, pulls it apart and sure enough everything has seized. I contact KW, CJ tells me to email pics and tell me he has to send it to Rotrex in Denmark to get it warrantied but also tells me it would be a down time of 5-6 weeks. Instead of waiting he gave me the choice of buying just the blower at core charge, then when Rotrex gives them the warranty, they will refund me. I decide to go that route, and CJ sends me a brand new blower with a core charge. After a week of downtime, I get the charger installed by KAB again, everything goes smooth. I get the car dynoed and it makes 429whp/ 280 tq. Cars running great, and i get my core charge refund, so at this point I'm a happy camper. I even went ahead and lowered the max RPM to 8k just to play it safe.
A few months go by and I really start enjoying this kit for what it really is. Car runs smooth for about 3 months (around 3k miles) until today, I go for a safe pull on the highway and I hear big snap. I pull over and I notice the belt has snapped. I wait till the motor cools down and while removing the belt i notice pulley still turns. At this point I'm wondering what might have happened. I remove the air filter and spin the shaft freely but then I notice the shaft and pulley doesn't spin at the same time. I get in touch with Scott from KW and he tells me the shaft itself might have broke. I go ahead and send him some pics through email, I have yet to hear from him.
I'm so done with these kits already, its not only happen to me once but TWICE. I stayed quiet for the first time around, but now I feel like I have to let fellow s2000 owners what to expect if they decide to go with this kit. After spending over 4k on this kit, nobody should be going through all this bullshit.
Bought the kit from Moddiction on tax refund group buy on s2ki around late February 2015. Got this kit installed by known s2000 mechanic here in South FL (KAB customs). The kit came with the wrong 4 bar map sensor so I had to wait 2 days while having the car apart. While getting that done, mechanic also noticed the kit had a few different brackets than what the instruction manual stated. Got in touch with Scott from KW, turns out they updated a few brackets but haven't had the time to change the manual. Lucky for me my mechanic knew about the kit so he worked it out himself.A few headaches later, installation done, motor seems to run fine and dandy. I drive it to get tuned that same day at STP motorsport in Ft. Lauderdale by a well known Honda tuner, Kenny ( aka turbogixxer tuning). Everything ran good at the dyno, car made 431whp/ 280 tq, until my tuner had his last few runs, he noticed the AFR's where running super lean at high RPM. I check the Grams fuel pump and noticed that its overheating. Being that I didn't trust it anymore, I told my tuner I'll be upgrading to a Walbro 255. After a week of downtime, i get my Walbro installed, got my tuner to fix my AFRs, car runs super great.
Exactly one month goes by, driving normal I come to a a red light and my motor shuts off. Clicks but doesn't turn, I cut the belt and the motor runs normal. I noticed the shaft and pulley are stuck and I see metal fragments all over the piping and intercooler. I get my car towed to my Mechanic again, pulls it apart and sure enough everything has seized. I contact KW, CJ tells me to email pics and tell me he has to send it to Rotrex in Denmark to get it warrantied but also tells me it would be a down time of 5-6 weeks. Instead of waiting he gave me the choice of buying just the blower at core charge, then when Rotrex gives them the warranty, they will refund me. I decide to go that route, and CJ sends me a brand new blower with a core charge. After a week of downtime, I get the charger installed by KAB again, everything goes smooth. I get the car dynoed and it makes 429whp/ 280 tq. Cars running great, and i get my core charge refund, so at this point I'm a happy camper. I even went ahead and lowered the max RPM to 8k just to play it safe.
A few months go by and I really start enjoying this kit for what it really is. Car runs smooth for about 3 months (around 3k miles) until today, I go for a safe pull on the highway and I hear big snap. I pull over and I notice the belt has snapped. I wait till the motor cools down and while removing the belt i notice pulley still turns. At this point I'm wondering what might have happened. I remove the air filter and spin the shaft freely but then I notice the shaft and pulley doesn't spin at the same time. I get in touch with Scott from KW and he tells me the shaft itself might have broke. I go ahead and send him some pics through email, I have yet to hear from him.
I'm so done with these kits already, its not only happen to me once but TWICE. I stayed quiet for the first time around, but now I feel like I have to let fellow s2000 owners what to expect if they decide to go with this kit. After spending over 4k on this kit, nobody should be going through all this bullshit.
09-28-2015, 05:03 PM
#9
Exactly, rather then refining the old kit, they changed it to an unproven cogged system on such an application. Now you guys are all proving it for them. Never be the ginny pig. Sadly it happens more times then not in the aftermarket it seems, which is unfortunate since you get to pay for their beta testing and hope you dont get road blocks and shitty service trying to navigate your repairs and returns during the process. The other parts mix up issues aside (which are super annoying and costly down time) a cogged belt system puts a lot more strain on the related components, and if they aren't designed well with the proper strength for the stresses placed on them, then you break things, and once you make the weak link stronger you then move to the next week link so there is still no guarantee your problems will be over after the first round of refinements to your kit. Some belt slip isn't a bad thing in this regard, as it disassociates any large stresses from a dynamic fast high revving engine, and if you install a typical belt system properly with proper tension, it isn't an issue anyway. I hate sounding like a broken record, but SOS have got to be the single best kit on the market today that is a truly 100% bolt in reliable fuss free no matter the stage/equip level, its the only kit that really works properly, and all the parts are built to last. Coupled with the novi1200 option, which again is another proven blower for longevity, it has comparable if not still higher hp yield then the competition. SOS should be paying me to say this, but they aren't. The kit speaks for itself, talk to anyone that runs one.
09-28-2015, 05:13 PM
#10
I'm curious if the BRZ/FRS and Civic Si kits are having similar issues. I believe they use the same unit n belt system. I only have 300 miles on my kit so far and i really don't know what to do to be proactive with this kit. Nothing I can do really to prevent the issues members have been having. I pray mine will be different. But I doubt that will be the case. 