4NBliss

I have two friends that have turbonetics turbos and there oil feed lines are about 1/4 inch in diameter. I have recently installed a turbonetics turbo on my ride. Before I had a GReddy turbo so I just use that line for my new turbo. The GReddy oil line is about 1 inch in diameter. There is a huge difference in sizes. Do each turbo need different oil amounts? Does it matter the size?

pissedoffsol

yes it matters and 1" is way to freakin big.

most people run a -3 an

or 3/16" wich is jsut shy of 1/4"

Garcia-Racing

-3 here

djfob

i'm going to be using a -4 and thats already a little big.

FOrSfEd

yeah I'm running a -3

Garcia-Racing

the 1" line is probably for the oil return. I run a -3 feed(-4 = low oil press.), and a -10 return

Flamenco-T

-3AN, I never sells -4AN oil feed line..

stan

dfoxengr

i also always sell -3 lines only. with pressurized lines such as oil, you need a smaller diameter to keep velocity and thus pressure up...
-derek

Beanbooger

-3 is sufficient, although it has nothing to do with velocity or keeping the pressure up. The oil flow rate of the turbo is dictated by bearing clearances and the dynamic flow of oil through the turbo as it spins. These clearances are far smaller than the cross sectional area of a -3 line, so a -3 line is capable of flowing the required amount of oil. A -4 line is also acceptable as is any line any bigger because the turbo will only flow as much as the turbo bearings will allow. If the engine oil pressure is 45 psi, and the line does not have significant restriction, the the pressure at the turbo will be 45 psi. This applies no matter what the line size, again as long as there is no significant restriction. That said, a smaller line is usually easier to route, so why use a bigger line? In some cases engine oil pressure is high enough that you will want to step the pressure down to prevent oil leakage through the seals. Be careful here and refer to your local turbo expert who is familiar with your application for advice.

dfoxengr

so youre saying a -32 AN would have the same inside velocity as a 3AN. dont think so

Flamenco-T

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hybridvteceg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so youre saying a -32 AN would have the same inside velocity as a 3AN. dont think so</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree, not at the same original pressure source.

stan

gdrum

-3 AN here

Beanbooger

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hybridvteceg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so youre saying a -32 AN would have the same inside velocity as a 3AN. dont think so</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, I didn't say velocity wouldn't change, I said Flow rate wouldn't change. Velocity is a function of cross section and flow rate. The flow rate doesn't change because your controlling orifice is the turbo. Velocity will be much lower. Elementary engineering fluid dynamics, not just my opinion.


Modified by Beanbooger at 7:19 AM 4/9/2004


Modified by Beanbooger at 7:20 AM 4/9/2004


Modified by Beanbooger at 7:21 AM 4/9/2004

dfoxengr

so youre talking about acceleration now..?

dfoxengr

kind of like metres/second is velocity, and metres/sec/sec. is acceleration. velocity is the rate at which something occurs. and acceleration is the rate at which that something's occurence changes....elementary general physics, not my own opinion...

Beanbooger

Who said anything about acceleration?

Flow rate is a either volumetric-based (cc/min, gallons/min, cubic inches/min, etc) or mass-based(lb/min, ounces/sec, etc). In this case, oil flow rate is typically volumetric, since oil density doen't change drastically over the operating range. In english units, for turbo oil flow, gallons/min is typically used. Flow rates are in the .3 to .5 gal/min range. It is this flow rate that doesn't change for a given oil pressure, regardless of line size, again assuming that the line is not so small that it creates a restriction in itself.

Velocity is how far a single element of fluid moves through the line in a given amount of time. Have you ever been whitewater rafting down a river? When the river is wide and deep the current is very slow, but when the river narrows and/or becomes shallow we get rapids, and the current moves much faster. Even though the total water flowing in the river is the same, when the channel it is flowing through gets smaller, the velocity increases. Same thing in an oil line.

The equation is very simple:

Flow in cubic inches/min divided by cross sectional area of the hose (pi times radius squared) in square inches equals velocity in inches/min, or meters/sec in your example, doesn't matter, it is distance/time.

Again, my objective here is to show that the important factor in delivering oil to a turbo (the FLOW RATE) is not really affected by line size (again, within reason). Velocity is not really important and is just a by-product of the flow rate and the size of the line it is flowing through. I'm not trying to make you look bad, I'm just answering the original post and pointing out mis-information in your post.

Cheers,

dfoxengr

sorry buddy not going to get into a physics arguement online with you. i have better ways to spend my time. back to this guy's ?

Joseph Davis

Most OEMs went with a 1/4" feed, equivalent to the -4 AN line.

Since a hydraulic system is only as good as it's most restrictive point, which in most modern turbos is the bearing orifice through which the oil itself passes, oil line feed debate is a waste of time. Run whatever is on your car.

Rod.

I am using a -6. I see a lot of you running a -3. On my old car I had a -4 which worked good also. I never had problem with my -6. Is there any disadvantages?

WangChung

bump for ^^^^^ question.

dfoxengr

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by redturbocivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am using a -6. I see a lot of you running a -3. On my old car I had a -4 which worked good also. I never had problem with my -6. Is there any disadvantages?</TD></TR></TABLE>
wbelieved sometimes by me and others, that a loss of pressure will occur with incorect(larger) lines.

Garcia-Racing

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hybridvteceg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
wbelieved sometimes by me and others, that a loss of pressure will occur with incorect(larger) lines.</TD></TR></TABLE>
agreed upon

TurboCoop

I have a -4 on mine, but I have heard from some people that I should get an oil restrictor in it. Would that help at all?

ScrapinSi

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdog1277 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a -4 on mine, but I have heard from some people that I should get an oil restrictor in it. Would that help at all?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have a -4 feed, and i am running a 1/2" rubber drain line. I blew my turbo because the drain couldn't drain fast enough. I now have the -4 line with an oil restrictor, and have zero problems so far.

Flamenco-T

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ScrapinSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I have a -4 feed, and i am running a 1/2" rubber drain line. I blew my turbo because the drain couldn't drain fast enough. I now have the -4 line with an oil restrictor, and have zero problems so far. </TD></TR></TABLE>

or you can use a -3AN line without restrictor and it would work just fine. -3AN line that I sell have 1/8" of diameter

stan