Water cooled turbo without water (Merged 9-8) coolant lines oil

[JoeGSX]

Just seeing what everyone opinions on the use of water lines on turbos.

 

[HIGHPSI4]

You can remove the coolent lines. I would not recommend it. You can block off the coolent lines or loop them.

 

[sillyme]

I want to bypass the feed line and return line. is this a good idea? makes it alot easier to pull the turbo out and seem like it won't heat up the coolant as much.

 

[The_EE]

I want to bypass the feed line and return line. is this a good idea? makes it alot easier to pull the turbo out and seem like it won't heat up the coolant as much.

If the turbo requires coolant, I say run the coolant. If it doesnt then reroute. Ball bearing requires coolant so you MUST run it. Its your choice to not do it on a journal bearing. Just make sure to turbo time it. I always say, better safe than sorry, coolant when asked for.

 

[xdxoxuxgx]

I would leave the lines how they are. How often are you taking your turbo out that this is an inconvenience?

 

[FonZ454]

Last time I removed my exhaust manifold, I ended up cracking one of the turbo oil lines. So I got rid of them, put on a N/T waterpipe and thermostat housing and haven't had any problems since. What kind of turbo is it? Chances are you'll be fine.

 

[1992awdlaser]

There is a pretty good thread about this on dsmlink forums. There are a few guys that said they got rid of their coolant lines. None have had problems

The only people on there that said "don't do it" are ones that never tried it.

 

[1992awdlaser]

From the dsmlink thread:


jeffgst- "I have never water cooled any of my "R" turbos. The coolant goes into the motor, out to the radiator and back in the motor. No coolant to the turbo, throttle body, oil filter housing etc...

On my 2G years back, I had a 20G that was not water cooled for over 70,000 miles.

My 1G has had, a GT30R, GT35R and currently a T67 "GT37R", all non-water cooled. I never had an issue regarding turbo life. I do have an oil cooler on the oil filter housing and run the car at 163F constantly. Mobil 1 synthetic probably helps too. Remember I drive this car in 120F summer heat also."

awddsm97- "I have never had one fail. 3 of the 5 are running 30+ psi. Garrett actually now has non water cooled BB turbos. I saw them at the PRI show in Orlando. Just as an interesting fact."

jeffgst- "As I stated ealier in the thread, I have not water cooled any of my 3 ball bearing turbos. (Combined milage of around 60,000 miles)

But, I do run an external oil cooler and a 160F thermostat. The motor never sees above 170F coolant temps. So I run a cool car even in the summer heat."

 

[kahl23]

Last time I removed my exhaust manifold, I ended up cracking one of the turbo oil lines. So I got rid of them, put on a N/T waterpipe and thermostat housing and haven't had any problems since. What kind of turbo is it? Chances are you'll be fine.

Perhaps you meant water? Although it would be interesting to see how long a completely dry CHRA turbo lasts, I'd give it 20 min, if that.

 

[1992awdlaser]

Perhaps you meant water? Although it would be interesting to see how long a completely dry CHRA turbo lasts, I'd give it 20 min, if that.

I'm sure he meant water since he said he put on a n/t waterpipe and t-stat housing.

 

[kahl23]

Sorry, apparently my sarcasm was missed. We really need a "sarcastic" smiley, it would make life so much easier.

 

[blackGSX2g]

The problem with removing water lines on a BB turbo is that they have nowhere near the amount of oil flowing through them. This means there isn't much fluid to absorb the heat generated in the cartridge.

Before people jump on me saying I never tried getting rid of the coolant lines, I ran my BB 5031 with the small factory water lines for a few months when Garrett was backordered on their coolant lines. During that time, my turbo made a very noticable whining sound when spooling up. I thought I got a bad cartridge and was about to send it back when I got the bigger water lines in the mail.

Once I put the larger water lines on, the whining went away immediately and has been running fine for some time now.

On a solid journal bearing turbo (20g, green, red, etc) removing the lines might be fine if you take care in your driving, but on a BB turbo I wouldn't think of it.

Just my personal opinion and my personal experience, thats all.

 

[FonZ454]

Perhaps you meant water? Although it would be interesting to see how long a completely dry CHRA turbo lasts, I'd give it 20 min, if that.

water, my bad.

My next turbo (FP green sitting by my TV) is also a dry center section. If I was running a BB turbo, I'd run the lines. But for these mitsu style turbos, i think I'll be fine.

Turbo timing is a little more crucial without water lines, keep that in mind.

 

[DSMopar]

Note the ones listed are aftermarket turbos. The factory water cooled them for a reason, I'd leave them on. Also note it depends on the driving, most people drag race their DSMs and only see WOT for brief periods of time. I'd like to see what happens when they try road racing their water cooled turbo with no water running to them...

 

[1992awdlaser]

Note the ones listed are aftermarket turbos. The factory water cooled them for a reason, I'd leave them on. Also note it depends on the driving, most people drag race their DSMs and only see WOT for brief periods of time. I'd like to see what happens when they try road racing their water cooled turbo with no water running to them...

Post number 7:

On my 2G years back, I had a 20G that was not water cooled for over 70,000 miles.

A 20G IS a Mitsubishi turbo.

 

[DSMopar]

Your 20g was a non-water cooled turbo? Or water cooled that you bypassed?

 

[andy4g63]

The only reason, that I see water cooling is needed for BB turbos is, cause they require very little oil- feeding / most times with restrictor/, so this is not enough to cool down the turbo, compare dto non BB turbo, which requies a lot of oil.

- And yes, he said it was a Mitsubishi turbo, so obviously it was just bypassed on the water cooling side...

P.S. Oooh and BTW I have a friend who works for some Porsche racing team and as you know most of the older cars were only air-cooled, so they run thicker oil-SAE 50, or 15-50, or 20-50. The thicker the oil, the better it cools...

 

[324vr4]

I have a small crack in the housing of my Chinese turbo and there is absolutely no water contamination into the oil. I know people have done this but we're thinking that if we plug the coolant lines to the turbo that we would in turn eliminate the coolant going out the tail pipe. The motor passed both a leak down test AND a compression test so there's no fear of a blown head gasket. This problem stemmed from a prior post when I went to a car wash and found our exhaust to be spitting coolant out the tail. http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/appearance-interior-exterior/333229-car-wash-vs-4g63.html

SO my question is what should I look out for when attempting this band-aide fix?! I know we'll need to pay close attention to our gauges (oil pressure, water temp) and let the turbo cool down properly once done running it. Is there anything I'm missing? I understand that this has potential of ruining the turbo in certain conditions but its merely a band-aide until a future turbo opportunity comes to...

Thanks in advance...

-Lieb-

 

[toofast82]

I run my MHI turbos without the water lines hooked up. Just let it cool a little longer before shutting it down. I've never had a turbo fail from it. The water lines do obviously have benefit, too.

 

[324vr4]

I run my MHI turbos without the water lines hooked up. Just let it cool a little longer before shutting it down. I've never had a turbo fail from it. The water lines do obviously have benefit, too.

Is it true that the "main" benefit from water cooled turbos help with cold starts? I appreciate the advice and experienced information...I'm looking to drive this thing tot he dyno if this works. However, the turbo is not MHI so we'll see how well this Chinese metal holds up...

 

[toofast82]

They're used to cool the centersection while operating as well as aid in "hot shutdown"
I'm not sure how it will work out since you're saying its cracked, its worth a try though

 

[324vr4]

They're used to cool the centersection while operating as well as aid in "hot shutdown"
I'm not sure how it will work out since you're saying its cracked, its worth a try though

Right on, we're trying it tonight...as far as the "plugs" on the turbo to be dealt with...you wouldn't happen to have the sizes available?! are the banjo bolts 16mm? and for my mild retardation's sake...how did you do this?! We're plugging the water pipe lines until we locate a N/T water pipe and using a plug on the turbo...does that sound right?!

 

[nlzn]

The coolant banjo on the turbo is a 14x1.5 IIRC - just replaced one two weeks ago.

 

[Kastigir]

Just grab a turbo timer to avoid a hot shutdown.

 

[324vr4]

Just grab a turbo timer to avoid a hot shutdown.

Got one...will be hooked up prior to driving...thanks gentlemen!

 

[slick06emp]

is it safe to run my t28 with out coolant lines hooked up to it? im just running stock boost right now.

i also need to know weather to run the oil feed from the head or the ofh. and if its from the head to i need an orifice to reduce the pressure? thanks guys