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I'm finally nearing an end on my project. This has been a real DIY setup trying to keep the A/C. Anyone who has turbocharged a B series CRX knows how little room there is. Keeping the A/C is entirely another matter. I welded the last bend on my downpipe the other night and decided it was time for a test drive. It's currently dumping under the car and the wastegate is not routed, but I was taking it easy (below 5psi). The first drive was going so well until a major cloud of smoke filled the night air and neighborhood. I stopped quickly and found oil was pouring all over the downpipe from the oil supply line. Apparently it moved over enough to touch the manifold and melt the nylon inner core (SS braided line with nylon I believe).
Can a brake line shop simply make me a 1 foot section of hard line (solid/steel) with an4 female on one end and an4 male on the other, or will it be enough to wrap the SS braided line in a fiberglass wrap as well as the manifold, turbo, etc..? I'm always one part shy of completing this project and I have to wait yet again for a part to ship from California..
you can use a hard line as long as the proper fittings are installed, I had one on my delsol. you dont want the line directly touching the manifold ever so I couldn't recommend the heat wrap idea, perhaps you can route in such a way its not gonna touch the manifold
Yeah it was not my intention for it to touch but the line moved under pressure. I only had one rubber clamp holding near where the motor mount is on the drivers side and it slipped through the clamp to allow it to just barely touch the edge of the inlinepro manifold. Here's a better pic (circled in red). I should be able to keep it off in the future but man, it's hot down there. I would feel more comfortable with a hard line.
I got the an10 fitting as high as I could but left a tiny bit of room to rotate the nut if needed. I was surprised to have oil dump out of the fitting when I removed the oil return line. It was coming out of the pan, not the oil return hose... Over a quart's worth. Now, if you missed my other post, I added a little excess due to a melted oil supply line that was dumping oil pretty quickly. I was a half mile from home and needed to get the car back so I walked back with a few quarts of oil and added a little too much and drove it home as quickly as I could. So I know it was overfilled some.
QUESTION:
If I'm at the recommended 3.75-4 quarts of oil, how much is actually in the pan while the motor is running? I want my oil return to be clear for obvious reasons and I may take a measurement by simply adding oil at the recommended capacity and seeing if it comes out of the oil pan bung.
Let me know if you think I'm ok here. Also, how does my return line look? I put a 90' off the turbo and there's one semi-level area (no UP's) and then about the best down angle I could get:
I would try to eliminate that 90 elbow for something with a smoother bend. Id also clock the turbo center housing more vertical. The height on the pan is a non issue IMO. Thats about as high as you can realistically get it.
Thanks for your input. Yeah, I just put that 90' on there to keep it above the charge pipe but give me enough room to get around the exhaust. I think I may opt for a 45 degree to keep the downward slope.
As far as the center section, that's about the best I can do due to my oil feed line. It is tricky. I believe the overall angle is less than 20' but it's definitely not 15' or less. I may try rotate it a notch more..
If you wanted to be really safe what I'd actually recommend is getting the 45 degree elbow like LightningTeg recommended, and possibly even getting a slightly longer drain line so you can go underneath that black hose/line (radiator hose? I can't tell from the pictures) rather than having the line resting on it going above.
Especially if you're limited to how far you can clock the center housing. That would definitely help gravity flow the oil down.
If you wanted to be really safe what I'd actually recommend is getting the 45 degree elbow like LightningTeg recommended, and possibly even getting a slightly longer drain line so you can go underneath that black hose/line (radiator hose? I can't tell from the pictures) rather than having the line resting on it going above.
Especially if you're limited to how far you can clock the center housing. That would definitely help gravity flow the oil down.
It looks like pipe runs directly inline with the drain so that would have to slope back upward to reach.
honestly though, Id get a longer line and zip tie it out of the way. I still wouldn't trust header wrap or that sleeving that shodan posted above. It will break down and deteriorate over time, so just do it right the first time. get a longer line and zip tie it / secure it away from the manifold. might need to be a little longer than the typical 36-40" lines. ebay will be your cheapest route.
I have the same problem, also in a CRX lol, I run the thermal sleeve, but not the silicone jacket style, mine is some sort of ceramic fabric, forget what exactly it was labelled as, but got it from mcmaster carr, about $10 a foot i believe, I bought 3 feet and also did my drain line and throttle cable (RHD) since it was very close aswell. Think Ive had it installed for 2 years now, daily driven, no signs of breakdown or fraying at all. They have quite a few rated above the 1500* mark, I believe I bought the highest rated one they sold in black
Another option is the little sleeves they make for spark plug wires for v8s, as they have troubles with the wires contacting the header, they are convieniently about the same ID as your feed line would require and not look silly
Thanks for comments. I do indeed need to run over the existing chargepipe with the return line. My oil return is somewhere near 30 degrees...not happy at all and it's going to be a pain to pull everything back out just to rotate the center section. Is the 15 degree problem more related to residual oil after the engine is shut down or just flow in general while running? I don't know if it helps but this turbo happens to be water cooled as well.
The new supply line came in today. Being the DIY guy I am, I layered it in fiberglass wrap with SS zip ties and coated in high temp silicone. I've also got it well secured where it cannot touch anything up there. Ran the car for 20 min or so, no problems.
Thanks for comments. I do indeed need to run over the existing chargepipe with the return line. My oil return is somewhere near 30 degrees...not happy at all and it's going to be a pain to pull everything back out just to rotate the center section. Is the 15 degree problem more related to residual oil after the engine is shut down or just flow in general while running? I don't know if it helps but this turbo happens to be water cooled as well.
The new supply line came in today. Being the DIY guy I am, I layered it in fiberglass wrap with SS zip ties and coated in high temp silicone. I've also got it well secured where it cannot touch anything up there. Ran the car for 20 min or so, no problems.
Your EGTs are not nearly as high at idle as they would be in regular our spirited driving, so don't last yourself on the back just yet.
Also, the purpose of the position of the turbocharger bring at vertical is for oil flow consistency. It is based upon the use of gravity, and too large of an angle will cause oil back up issues.
That makes good sense. I took a 40 min drive today and all went well. The open downpipe really lets that turbo resonate with the surroundings. I feel pretty confident now with the oil supply line. I found an obvious burn mark and hole on the old line where it clearly was pressed against the manifold. Now the new line is very well insulated in layers of fiberglass and high temp silicone and away from the manifold. I'm planning on dropping the angle more on the center section to ensure better oil flow. It's a little frustrating because I was set on this angle for the charge pipes, water supply lines, oil supply, etc.. I'll even have to make up a new oil return line but I believe it will be worth it in the end. Just not the news I wanted after getting it all "set"
On a side note... I don't think I'm keeping the A/C. I tried.. I really really tried. I did well on the clearance on the ac compressor, but I need to run a full size radiator with pusher fans. I'm overheating with this dinky little single row civic radiator. I have an aluminium two row one that almost fits, but the turbo compressor ain't having it. I could run an oem one and have pusher/puller fans and probably be ok.
I think I have a solution. This radiator is actually pretty good. I think I'm having an issue with the so-claimed 1350cfm fan I got on eBay. It was a freebie included with another radiator I had but I can tell you it ain't 1350 cfm.
My solution is this:
two SPAL fans. One pushing on the outside of the A/C condenser and one pulling from inside on radiator. I need a pusher fan because I have a bar&plate intercooler causing a pressure drop up front. Secondly, I'm trying to get air through the a/c condenser. Additionally, I may try to seal the area under my intercooler so air is channeled through the a/c condenser. There's a 1-2" gap behind intercooler where air could be escaping at speed. Lastly, once everything is blanketed and wrapped, I think all will be well. I may be able to keep a/c after all.
OP
one of your pics has malware or something in it some how. my anti virus program always gets triggered when i visit this page. i think the pic with the title sleeved in it
OP
one of your pics has malware or something in it some how. my anti virus program always gets triggered when i visit this page. i think the pic with the title sleeved in it
That's weird. I'm not sure that's even possible. My job is in IT and I've seen some weird things. While it's possible to write malicious code in a picture, it cannot do anything because it has to be compiled and executed. That's not how images work. I shot these images with my smartphone (s5), and then later compiled them through a batch program in photoshop to reduce the quality/filesize, etc..
edit: wait.. I didn't post the "sleeved" picture. Are you referring to the image that TheShodan posted?
Last edited by mrdrpep; 09-12-2016 at 07:43 AM.
Reason: see above
That's weird. I'm not sure that's even possible. My job is in IT and I've seen some weird things. While it's possible to write malicious code in a picture, it cannot do anything because it has to be compiled and executed. That's not how images work. I shot these images with my smartphone (s5), and then later compiled them through a batch program in photoshop to reduce the quality/filesize, etc..
edit: wait.. I didn't post the "sleeved" picture. Are you referring to the image that TheShodan posted?
i cant see that sleeved tape kit photo if its up here on this page. but every time i visit this topic it trips my anti virus program.
Mac did you post a picture that had an extension of sleeved tape kit or something among that line?
09-08-2016, 11:32 AM
Oil Feed / Return line configuration feedback
