accord_raffi

So my turbo blew about 3 weeks ago burning oil like a ****. I shipped it to Garrett under a warranty claim. The engineer called me back finally and claimed that the oil was coked, and that I NEEDED to install an oil cooler onto my setup in the future. I basically got a big F*** You. This turbo has not seen past 5.8psi it's entire life so it's certainly a low power car. Garrett T3 Super 60 on an F22B2. Has anyone heard of an oil cooler being necessary on a stock motor honda before?

jsbayer

That sounds ludacris to me...was the turbo new when you got it? Often times when a turbo goes back for warranty work they make up a bs story so they dont look like the bad guy cuz their turbo failed. although garrett is great brand, sh*t does happen.

To answer your question, and oil cooler would never hurt, but on your setup i would say its far from a necessity

Just my .02

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

No, but he may be suggesting that course of action as he's not sure what application you're running or its nuances. The Garrett Engineer works on hundreds of engine applications, and won't know the nuances b/w an F22 or a K20 engine or whatever unless he/she is an enthusiast of THAT platform.

Sounds like the the turbo was shut down hot or running without proper cool down, or there is an issue with your oil return line in which oil is going back up the return line and coking on the shaft itself after shutdown. (psi has nothing to do with your issue here.)
Many OEM turbochargers run additional coolant lines (yes, the turbos are still journal bearing) so that the cartridge temperatures don't stay as high as long after shut down. This is why they have a less tendency to suffer oil coking. The designers and engineers understood the fact that the average SAAB owner wasn't going to cool down the car before shut down if they're commuting to work every day; they want to get in and out of the car after their errands and isn't worried about performance. The additional water lines assist in allowing the oil to focus on the job of lubrication, and not double-duty of lubrication AND cooling.

Garrett's warranty (if you want to call their rigid policy that) is not based upon something materially defective, as it stipulates. In this case, oil coking is not a result that occurred from defective construction of the turbocharger or its materials. It is a user-based cause of its demise. Unfortunately, you're out of luck with Garrett here.

The best thing to do is to check your oil return line setup to make sure that the oil is gravity-fed to the oil pan with no backups, and to make sure that you don't shut down the turbo hot after hot laps, or freeway runs, or any higher stress situation.

non-VTEC

what kind of engine oil are you using?

accord_raffi

Ya i knew psi had nothing to do with it. I was just saying that to show how low power of a setup it is vs. a time trial track car. I'm using Royal Purple 5w-30.
I don't have a turbo timer so I am pretty cautious about shutting down the car after the oil has cooled a bit. After an average drive, I'll give it 30-60 sec of cool down. If I get on the throttle at all, I let it idle for at least 2 minutes.
I'll take another look at my return line because I thought it was a pretty good setup. Not completely vertical like some setups, but it is certainly gravity fed.
I guess I might search for a used turbo or something if I can't get any help from my vendor.

BUT JUST TO BE SURE, does anyone think this is an issue that needs an oil cooler? The return line makes more sense to me than that.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

No. an oil cooler isn't necessary for this. The engineer was just offering suggestions as to what could be done

HiProfile

30-60 seconds usually isn't enough. Unless you drive for under 25mph for 3-5 mins before parking, 2+ minutes is a good idea. It's even worse if you have unwrapped turbine, manifold, and downpipe sections. My daily driver idles lean, so I don't mind spending some extra gasoline to run for 3 mins - turbo timer integrated into alarm.

Oil will coke, or burn up, above 300F in most cases. The turbine housing will be 600F under light load, and will transmit that heat to the oil in the turbo if turned off too soon. They recommended an oil cooler thinking you were giving it enough time after each run before turning it off, but apparently you were not. An oem-style cooler is a good idea anyway - it heats your oil to opperating temp, and keeps it a little cooler when you really push it.

accord_raffi

This is a very childish thing to say lol, but I take that back. I definitely let it idle for longer than a minute. I know for a fact because I try to keep track of time by listening to a song on my ipod and going by that timer. I usually get a third to half way done with a song from Incubus before I turn the car off. My friend's have actually told me I take too long sometimes but w/e. If I messed up in one of these spots, it's definitely not going to happen again.

kccord

****, i only gv my car 1min to cool down. how old is ur turbo? anyone thought of constant cycle of heating n cooling caused warped shaft?

accord_raffi

turbo had 7k on it.

non-VTEC

idling for 1-2min does nothing to cool oil temps down. it will take 10-15min of idle time for the temp to drop only 10-20f which seems like a waste of time. put an oil temp gauge on your car and you will see what im talking about.

oil coking on the turbine shaft is normal. even with synthetic oils. if you want to try and prevent that an oil cooler will help a little. and try using a really good synthetic oil. amsoil or redline come to mine.