MHI turbo running without coolant.

[defrag010]

Just a simple Yes or No question.

Will running an MHI turbo without the coolant line attatched harm it?

If so, the reasoning behind it is.....?

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Yes

 

[Tallen]

Don't push the turbo into boost and keep load off of it, but yea you can "run" it like that. I am curious as to why you would want to do this...definitely not a long term solution.

 

[defrag010]

It's not for me. I'm helping a friend put a 13G onto a civic, yet we don't have a coolant tap yet. He needs to go to work, so if he can get there without coolant in the turbo, then it's bueno.

L2RTSIAWD: "If so, the reasoning behind it is.....?

If the turbo's getting oil for the bearings, does it NEED the coolant?

 

[Endz0r]

some people run without a coolant line...some also blow their turbos with the quickness.

brad

 

[defrag010]

how quick is the quickness? a few days or a few hours?

Is it because the center cartridge is overheating from the lack of coolant being in there?

 

[Endz0r]

what do i look like? a turbo scientologist?

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Just a simple Yes or No question.

That's what I responded to.


Without coolant to cool the oil it will coke.

I burnt out a T-25 in 2 months without the coolant lines hooked up

 

[Shadowfax]

And I've ran no coolant to numerous 3/S's running 9b's, 13G's and yes even 14B's for years without coolant, as well as half a dozen DSM's from T25's to an E16G.

Coolant is there so that if you shut down without turbo timing that it helps to keep it from coking. I also know my DSM currently hasn't ran coolant lines since september, and spoold u has ran without them since he installed his 14B in july - did I mention he has made like 75 passes on it along with a million street runs?

Don't accept something just cause- and turbos often blow if you mistreat them- yes coolant lines will help give you more abuse tolerance- but if you maintain your car, and don't do WOT blasts for 2 minutes then shut the car straight off, there isn't a difference between coolant and no coolant. You should make sure your oil is changed when it should be, and you should ALWAYS turbo time.

Water and oil cooled turbos accept abuse better than oil only- but the oil is the only thing that actually lubes or does anything with the internals of the turbo. I've also tore down enough turbos ran without coolant to have seen no ill effects internally either.

 

[defrag010]

l2r and shadowfax, thanks!

Should I seal off the coolant part of the center cartridge by putting the eyebolts in? or does it even matter?

I think for the trouble of tapping coolant feed and return lines, I'm just gonna tell my friend to time his car everytime he shuts it off.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

You don't need the eyebolts in.

Just run a hose from the 2 water lines from the block that would go to the eyebolts into each other.

 

[91 white tsi]

Apparently i miss treated mine then :thumbdown I had a new 14b and ran in maybe 5 times for less than 10 mins each time and let it idle for about 10-15 before shutting it off. i know have the slightest bit of shaft play in it i was waiting for the lines in the mail and i have them now. I dont know if thats what caused it but still it didnt have lines and now has shaft play go figure

 

[Shadowfax]

Apparently i miss treated mine then :thumbdown I had a new 14b and ran in maybe 5 times for less than 10 mins each time and let it idle for about 10-15 before shutting it off. i know have the slightest bit of shaft play in it i was waiting for the lines in the mail and i have them now. I dont know if thats what caused it but still it didnt have lines and now has shaft play go figure

But that's the issue you're blaming something that is about 99.5% unlikely to cause it.

Crap in your line, poorly built turbo, clogged oil line didn't give you enough oil in those few times?

Again, I've done this on LOTS of turbo cars, DSM's, 3000GT/Stealth's, Turbo Dodge's...

I think even turbonetics has a page dedicated to explaining coolant line need -

http://www.turboneticsinc.com/faq.html#11

Q: Do I need to run water-cooling lines to the turbocharger?
A: Water provides a certain margin of safety when the engine is shut off. Thanks to engine heat, coolant normally continues to circulate through the bearing housing, thus drawing heat away from the bearings. If the car is shut down properly and the engine is allowed to cool it is not mandatory to use water lines. Whether to use water lines depends on the convenience of plumbing the car and the vehicle's intended use.

 

[Tallen]

Coolant is there so that if you shut down without turbo timing that it helps to keep it from coking.

Ummm...I won't touch half that b/c its not worth the time, but a watercooled turbo does not allow for as much heat exchange from the oil becuase its just not built to be cooled by the oil such as a T3 or T4. Is your radiator there just to keep oil from coking when you turn it off?

Your freind will be fine running it without coolant just to get to work.

 

[Shadowfax]

Ummm...I won't touch half that b/c its not worth the time, but a watercooled turbo does not allow for as much heat exchange from the oil becuase its just not built to be cooled by the oil such as a T3 or T4. Is your radiator there just to keep oil from coking when you turn it off?

hmmm... I'd expect a bit more thought before insulting me.

If you have coolant and oil in close proximity as in the CHRA, the coolant does provide some cooling during engine operation- but you have coolant running thru passages that do not touch ANY of the moving parts - all it does is wick heat from the metal - the oil does ALL the cooling and lubricating function- and really, mostly just lubrication. The oil temps in a DSM are helped to stay cool (also helps to keep pressure higher) by having an OIL COOLER, this is either 90 version that is air to air like on the 3/S, or water cooled on 91+ DSM's - so again, the oil is cooled by the coolant- which means that in a way, YES the radiator IS there to help keep the oil cool.

The coolant in the turbo is there mostly so that when you shut off your car, the coolant will still continue to circulate some, not like it's being pumped still, but convection will say that if you heat up the water in the turbo, then it will rise away to be replaced with slightly cooler water, it's just convection that will keep the coolant moving as it tries to evenly heat. So the coolant in the turbo will slowly help keep the temps of the CHRA from skyrocketing as the turbine and the exhaust manifold and the exhaust pipe will all be quite hot, and since the oil won't be convecting like the coolant, there is nothing to prevent this. So, if you shut down after hard runs with a high temp still held in the exhaust components, and you aren't water cooled, then there is nothing to keep the oil from heating to the point of coking.

However should you follow smart turbo shut down and let it cool down, then you are again in a safer zone.

The long and short is that coolant in the oil/water cooled turbos helps at shutdown, not really during operation. The coolant touches nothing moving in the turbo - and if you have an oil cooler, then you'll be okay without.

My Garrett T3 50 trim on the Turbo II LeBaron ran 50K+ miles without an oil cooler, or the coolant lines attached. Still boosted to 20+ psi just fine.

Again, before you insult someone that has both knowledge and experience, perhaps you should develop a better thought out arguement than "I won't touch half that b/c its not worth the time"

It is worth the time to some who see the need.

 

[marcmsj]

i was actually wondering about this myself. when i bought my car, it came with a 16g and i saw no coolant lines running to it, just the oil lines. it wasn't until recently that i found out that our turbos are water cooled as well. i recently had to put a 14b back in (don't ask) and didn't put the coolant lines in and was wondering if i had to, but i guess not. and i do have a turbo timer so i guess it's all good. where is the coolant line that runs to the turbo though? i don't think i've seen it on my car.