Precision PTE Turbo Issues - Blown, Smoking [Merged]

[1timehondalover]

I just picked up a SCM5031E to replace my E316g and after much searching can't decide on feeding from the head or the OF housing.

I want to hear from people that have had failures from their PTE's. I want to know where the oil feed was supplied from, how long it lasted, and if an inline filter was used or not.

Eric

 

[tonster]

I feeding my from the oil filter housing with a 1/16 restrictor.

 

[kris_stewart10]

i was feeding from the side of the head with a 1/16 restrictor

and a return line was regular

 

[JusMX141]

I have a PTE 5027E at my shop right now that I just rebuilt a month ago for a guy, and it died yet again from TOO MUCH oil.

It was being fed unrestricted from the filter housing on a built 4G63 with no balance shafts. Apparently the 100+psi of oil pressure caused the shaft to contact the journal bearings and the bearings to contact the housing. The shaft actually BENT because of this.

Too much oil will result in the same damage as not enough oil.

 

[1timehondalover]

i was feeding from the side of the head with a 1/16 restrictor

and a return line was regular

You were feeding? Does that mean you damaged the turbo?


I'm really tempted to run off of the head. I have no BS, and a relatively "tight" clearances. I did not port the oil pressure relief valve, so I am concerned with over oiling and damaging the shaft seals.

 

[kris_stewart10]

no i sold it i had no problems with it

i had a tial 38mm wastegate

set at 18 psi

but i had NO problems at all

so i dont think you will just if you restrict it right

just dont push too much oil out and i am pretty sure you will not have problem

 

[1timehondalover]

Only 2 replies?

I sure have read about a lot of PTE's failing, where are you guys?

 

[LTUDSM]

well my pte 50 trim lasts 3500 miles,then i fried the seal.I had the oil feed line from the oil housing 1/16 restrictor and bigger oil drain line,can't remember the size of it (daaamn).sent them back, They charge me 600 bucks for replacing the whole center cartridge,cleanedand powdercoated the exhaust side,i was happy with the turbo ,that they sent me back .....From now on,they are using 360 rotation journal bearings.not 270 rotation,that they used to make

 

[govproperty]

I had a PTE 5031E fail on me twice. First time was no balance shafts, oil feed from oil filter housing and a restrictor. I sent it back to PTE and they rebuilt it under warranty since it didn't even have 500 miles on it yet. They said it failed for lack of lubrication. When I got it back I drilled out the a restrictor and put it on again. It blew the oil seals not too long after I sent it back to PTE since it had less than 1000 miles. They rebuild it again under warranty but this time I am going sit it to the side and stick to the reliable 16g. Hope you have better luck with yours.

 

[twack]

ive got a pte 50 trim and love it fed from the head with restrictor with 10k miles on it atleast, and this is its second car with no rebuild

 

[kris_stewart10]

same as that guy^^^^^^^^

 

[m3etr]

I got a PTE 5031 DBB turbo on a stock bottom end 7 bolt w/balanceshafts removed, and i have the oil feed coming from the OFH. The oil feed line has a FP 0.030" restrictor with the inline filter. I havent had any problems so far.

 

[droppinbottom]

I got a PTE 5031 DBB turbo on a stock bottom end 7 bolt w/balanceshafts removed, and i have the oil feed coming from the OFH. The oil feed line has a FP 0.030" restrictor with the inline filter. I havent had any problems so far.

Reading owns some people. OP asked about Journal Bearing Turbos. I don't have a pte but my journal bearing turbo is being fed from the head. So far so good, I have a little over 2k miles on this one and have beat on it very hard for its 2k mile life.

 

[1timehondalover]

It seems to me that the only people that have had problems are feeding from the OF housing. I started the same thread on Talk and no failures on head fed turbos, but 4-5 on OF housing fed.

 

[1timehondalover]

Well, my turbo lasted 200 miles with the oil fed from the head so I sent it back to PTE. I was told it failed due to "oil contamination".

Two weeks and $330 dollars later the turbo was returned to me.

I decided to change my feed setup and run pressure from the OFH. I ordered a -4 feed kit from ExtremePsi.com and ported the pressure relief valve before installing the turbo. My oil pressure was 13-15psi hot idle and -70 psi hot 7500 rpm.

This time the turbo made it an impressive 82 miles before producing 007 quality smoke screens.


I'm done with PTE.

 

[95greentsi]

curious to this. you guys are talking about porting the relief valve. sorry if this is a dumb question but where is the relief valve? Im asking this because i will be picking an sbr gt-50, and as of right now i have a stainless line run from the head (no restictor or in-line filter) and when i boost on my 16g it smokes like a but if i dont boost its fine. would i be good putting a restictor and in line filter on my line from the head to my sbr gt-50?

 

[1timehondalover]

You shouldn't restrict an oil feed from the head unless you are using a ball-bearing turbo.

 

[JusMX141]

You shouldn't restrict an oil feed from the head unless you are using a ball-bearing turbo.

....or a MHI center housing, which uses a metal line from the head with a restrictor built into the banjo fitting at the turbo end of the line from the factory.


If you smoke a journal bearing Garrett CHRA from the head (too little oil?) and you move the oil feed to the filter housing just to smoke another Garrett CHRA (too much oil?) even though the pressure is within the spec recommended by the manufacturer....that says something. There is absolutely no consistency as to why some of these turbos will last and some will die repeatedly on a DSM.

I wish anyone who ever considers a journal bearing Garrett as a good, reliable turbo option for our cars would read this thread repeatedly.

 

[1timehondalover]

There is absolutely no consistency as to why some of these turbos will last and some will die repeatedly on a DSM.

I wish anyone who ever considers a journal bearing Garrett as a good, reliable turbo option for our cars would read this thread repeatedly.

And I wish this thread would have been around before I posted it.


Oh well, Holset power is coming soon. Hopefully it will prove to be a little less fickle.

 

[toofast82]

A few years back, I bought a brand new PTE SCM6031
I had no balance shafts and fed it from the head unrestricted.
The turbo lasted about 8 miles and was destroyed.
Not sure how it would have been from the OFH with a restrictor?

Oiled from the same spot, an Hx-35 lasted about 4k miles prior.

 

[USMCFieldMP]

Interesting. I've got a SCM5031E on my Cobalt SS right now... I was going to take it off and put it on my 91GSX, but I'm not too sure now that I read through this thread.

 

[cookmeup272]

I had a great day today. Had to drive about 60 miles today to pick up an xbox for my friend. Was starting to build boost on the highway and all of a sudden my car studderd and then didn't want to make boost anymore. I went from having ABSOLUTELY NO shaft play in my PTE 50 trim to having a blown turbo. I am beyond pissed. This turbo didn't even have 5000 miles on it. Drove 60 miles back home with a blown turbo and having to pull over to add oil just is not fun at all.

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Sucks. I can imagine day RUINED!

 

[Gamble97]

How are you feeding it?

 

[cookmeup272]

From the OFH