Please Review: Rerouted Turbo Water Lines

[BREW]

Overview: 6-bolt block with a 2g head and water pipe, deleted water cooled oil cooler. Interested in ways to route water lines to the turbo.


First let me start off by saying this thread was started for educational purposes. (Mine and anyone else that may find this useful) These are questions that I don't have answers to. I am asking these questions in hope to find a solution as well as an understanding of the turbo coolant lines and related components.

In this first picture is the stock cooling system and the routing of the lines.

The only things that need to be noted in this picture are the oil cooler lines, and the water line to the turbo from the engine block.

On my application, I have removed the water cooled oil cooler for an air cooled oil cooler, therefore negating the need for water lines to cool the oil. Also, I am using a six bolt block that does not have provisions to source the engine block for the turbo water line as shown in the above picture.

As it is right now and using these components, I have essentially lost one coolant port (engine block coolant port), and gained two additional ports (water cooled oil cooler lines).
The result leaves me with an *Bonus* port if you will. With this *Bonus* port not being needed, I have decided to block it off.

Now that I have the proper number of ports for everything that needs cooled, I can start to map the new lines for the turbo. What I don't know is if the routing of these lines is *In Sync with the rest of the flow* through out the rest of the engine.
Example: Picture two sink faucets connected by one hose and turning them both on. The water can't flow it just builds pressure. I'm not sure if an engines cooling system works the same way but im under the impression it does. If I am wrong please enlighten me.

This is the same picture revised with my plans for rerouting the water lines for the turbo.

In this picture, lines marked with red square are no longer available. Red circles declare plugged ports and unused water lines. The blue and yellow represent the turbo water lines. Attention should be payed to the routing of the blue line as it is the water line that is in question. The blue line used to be used for the oil cooler and is now used for the turbo.

Will this setup cause the situation explained in the above example? Or will proper flow still be possible? If it is possible but not with this setup, please inform me of a setup that will.

Picture cleaned up deleting unsed lines and components

Thank you all for reading and your insight. Please answer only if you have experience or first hand knowledge.

Brew

 

[Mirage1]

The pictures are not showing up for some reason. I'm sure that has something to do with the lack of replies.

 

[sbiggi]

The coolant return is anything that comes off the big hard pipe running to the water pump.
The feed line should come off the thermostat housing.

If you have two line from either it wont work.
It really isnt that difficult to figuer out.

You pictures dont work so I cant tell you if you did it right or not.

-Seth

 

[BREW]

UUgh I'm sorry, I really can't get the hang of posting pictures.
Anyway, it should be working now :crosses fingers:

Seth if the cooling system flows the way that you are describing then I think I would be alright with this setup. But are the feed and return lines correct on the turbo or do they need to be switched?

 

[sbiggi]

UUgh I'm sorry, I really can't get the hang of posting pictures.
Anyway, it should be working now :crosses fingers:

Seth if the cooling system flows the way that you are describing then I think I would be alright with this setup. But are the feed and return lines correct on the turbo or do they need to be switched?

I don't believe it matters which way the coolant flows through the turbo, it should be symmetrical inside.

So as long as its flowing through you should be fine.

-Seth

 

[Enraged78]

I did something very similar to this on my 2G. I wanted to go with an external oil cooler due to the fact that my exchanger was crushed. Instead of screwing around with all of the random water lines that were left by the factory, I did the following:

Installed an Evo III oil housing with integrated thermostat to better control oil cooling, heating, and flow. Installed a B&M oil cooler with -6AN lines mounted in fender well. Removed all coolant lines for turbo and heat exhanger. Eliminated coolant lines on Evo III GT turbo, and installed stainless oil feed line tapped into Evo III oil housing. Installed four coolant caps with clamps to seal the coolant lines on the water pipe and thermostat housing. The whole setup is now MUCH simpler, and the elimination of the lines allows things to be swapped out easier if need be.

The end result was that the car warms up faster, (about a minute or two earlier until full operating temp now), and stays cooler, especially when running hard. I also dropped a few degrees of coolant temperature while running. The car now runs at 186-193 degrees Farenheit after beating on it pretty hard (18 PSI for 5+ pulls). The is down from 193-203 degrees farenheit. The ONLY downside to this modification is that cooling down your turbo has to be done religously, as it is easier to coke the oil lines this way.

Matt.

 

[Raph]

i ran my water feed and return off the lines going to the heater core(2 steel braided hoses with 2 t fittings.. easy as pie) .. and using the nt waterpipe..

 

[Enraged78]

can one do that to a oil/water cooled turbo w/o any ill effects

It depends on the turbo. Garrett Ball Bearing units need to be water cooled. Non-ball bearing Garretts are usually dry housings, so there are no provisions for water anyway. I spoke to a DSM shop about this, and they informed me that they pull the lines off of all their customers cars with MHI turbos (And Evo III GT's of course...), with no ill effects. The only downside is the fact that you HAVE to time the turbo, which you should be doing anyway. Also, your oil is now absorbing more heat, so an oil cooler is a good idea so you can shed some of it.

Matt.

 

[oldman]

No immediate ill effects perhaps but who knows what the long term effects are? IMO, if the turbo was designed to be water cooled then it should be water cooled. I would rather put the effort into fabing turbo coolant lines than taking a chance on damaging the turbo. It really isn't all that difficult to keep them connected really, especially MHI turbos, much easier and cheaper than an external oil cooler.

 

[Enraged78]

No immediate ill effects perhaps but who knows what the long term effects are? IMO, if the turbo was designed to be water cooled then it should be water cooled. I would rather put the effort into fabing turbo coolant lines than taking a chance on damaging the turbo. It really isn't all that difficult to keep them connected really, especially MHI turbos, much easier and cheaper than an external oil cooler.

To each their own, I can't fault you for wanting to keep the turbo alive for as long as possible. I eliminated mine after I had a water line kink on me, which caused all sorts of headaches, and killed my trusty old 14b. The Evo III Gt seems to have no issues with it, and I appreciate the simplicity in an already overly complex car. I also enjoyed the lower engine temps, quicker warm-ups, and the death of the evil heat exhanger that Mitsu calls our oil cooler.

Matt.

 

[BREW]

Here's a picture of the water lines installed on the car. I'm pretty sure everything is correct, but as stated earlier could always use your insight. Thanks again to all that have contributed.

Brew