Forgot to Prime 14B, Am I Alright Still?

[talontsi01]

I while back, I installed a used 14b turbo. I forgot to prime it originally, and has only been driven a few miles. Can i prime the turbo now and be alright, or would running the car (not hard, just normal driving) for a short without the turbo being primed cause the turbo to eventually go bad?

 

[Black94DSM]

No need to prime it now as when you first started it up oil would eventually make its way to the center section. As to how much damage you will receive from not priming, im not sure. Just look over the turbo, check for shaft play (in/out and left right up down). Im sure its fine, the Mitsu turbos are beasts! haha

 

[xcelr8n]

Don't worry about it, too late now to do anything anyways... FWIW though Ive done 2 turbo swaps and just started the car and never primed it. Both turbos ran fine, one still runs today.. =)

 

[Black94DSM]

Just dont get into the habbit of not priming your new turbos, or any turbo that has been taken off and put on for that matter.

 

[Stapl3]

Priming a turbo is useless. You spin the hell out of it while it sits on your desk before install, but you worry about it for the second or so it spins without seeing oil while on the car? Because it is now bolted to a manifold and not powered by your finger it's a different situation? Do you really think it was primed when it was brand new on a new 1g? No way.

 

[my_precious]

All I plan to do when I finally start my car is remove the spark plugs and start it like that. Obviously it will not start, but will continue to crank over and spin the oil pump, pushing oil through all the parts of the engine including the turbo. Technically I'm suposed to remove the turbo dump tube that goes into the oil pan so that I can see if the oil is flowing or if I installed the metal lines wrong. However, that was a serious bi*** to get bolted to the pan and took me two days trying for an hour or so each day. No way do I want to go through that again. I'm just going to turn it over alot before I actually try to start it (with the spark plugs in). I have read that running a turbo dry can be a VERY bad thing destroying the bearings and seals from lack of oil chances are though the oil got in the turbo soon enough and you probably already had some oil in the bearings unless it was brand new or something, but even then I would imagine they'd grease up everingthing when putting the turbo together. Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.

 

[yangtech]

Priming a turbo is useless. You spin the hell out of it while it sits on your desk before install, but you worry about it for the second or so it spins without seeing oil while on the car? Because it is now bolted to a manifold and not powered by your finger it's a different situation? Do you really think it was primed when it was brand new on a new 1g? No way.

hahaha... when my turbo was sitting on the bench a couple of my buddies came over and they were spinning the hell out of it. they were also trying to check for shaft play as well.

 

[napkinthief]

Yea but your finger spinning is not nearly as fast or as continuous as your exhaust gas spinning. When your car is on, your turbo is spinning ALL the time, more rpms and its spinning faster. Your finger may spin it 100 times a minute, your engine spins it 1000 a second.

 

[my_precious]

I've read that spinning the wheel with say, a screw driver is NOT a good idea because the slightest scratch or dent could offset the fin and at rpms of 90k+ as turbos usually run, this can cause severe damage.

 

[Stapl3]

Your finger may spin it 100 times a minute, your engine spins it 1000 a second.

60000 rpm at start up? wow.

Take your oil feed off and have your friend start the car. See how long it takes for oil to squirt out.

 

[huafist]

60000 rpm at start up? wow.

Take your oil feed off and have your friend start the car. See how long it takes for oil to squirt out.

That doesn't relate directly to RPM. Turbo RPM is directly related to exhaust gases, not engine speed. I don't know what RPM the turbo is spinning at at idle, but I can guarantee you it's significantly more than the engine RPM.
You can not prime your turbos and say it's pointless all you want - an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.

 

[my_precious]

agreed