Could very well be valve seals

 

i'm fairly certain it isn't the return. 45* fitting into the pan, no kinks, straight shot to it. my motor has under 30k miles on it, so i don't think there's anything wrong with it. my shop swapped a used 5857 they had lying around onto my car to let me get around on it while I send it back in, so far no problems with this one after the drive back (~130 miles).

 

very interesting. Was thinking about getting a precision unit.

 

this just seems like way too common of an occurrence. i don't care how high my oil pressure is, i've had journal bearing turbos on before these PTE ones. just seems like these newer PTE turbos are so damn sensitive, the slightest thing isn't perfect with them and they freak out.

 

my precision was smoking too. i took the motor out though and going for a complete rebuild of the motor and buying a new manifold to place the turbo a bit higher. and i bought a adjustable ball valve restrictor

 

This is why Im a fan of Garrett BB units

 

you like Mexican made turbos?

 

yeah i'm trying hard to find a garrett 3071 or 3076, seems like no one has one for sale now that i'm looking

 

doesnt matter where its made garrett has quality stuff. im not saying pte doesnt though. BUT american made doesnt sit very high on the list of quality lol

 

I agree that isn't the determining factor in all cases, but does anyone know where the Precision components are actually made? I'm assuming the assembly and balancing, etc., is done at their business location in Indiana, but that could easily be wrong too...

For that matter, nobody that I know of has EVER said where the Precision wastegates are made, which makes me suspect the answer is China. Again, that doesn't mean they're inherently bad, but it matters to me. TiAL makes good quality products, and it appears that they make them here in Michigan. Labor rates are insane here compared to China, so that makes a HUUUUUUUGE difference to how reasonable the price is. I.e. if the Precision is only a little cheaper, but it's made in China, then that is probably a ripoff.

 

As TheShodan said, you actually HAVE to check oil pressure to properly know if you need a restrictor and sizing to get the pressure ideal. Bottom line the CHRA has a range of pressure it was designed for and however you choose to do it, whether it be a bigger feed line diameter to drop pressure or a restrictor, you should not push beyond that max pressure.

You pushed a ton of pressure through the CHRA and it leaked into the housing... I dont see what the suprise is about or why the actual turbo or manufacturing is to blame. Running within those operating pressures is a must... when you run outside of them you can have problems.

I get that you can blame PTE for telling you not to run a restrictor but generally they are NOT going to advise you over the phone on a random customer service call to just add a restrictor, for fear thats not the problem and ends up damaging the turbo. Without the car in front of them or a whatnot they dont know first hand thats its not other issues like a return line problem, valve seal/ ring/ motor issue, feed issue, or really just too much feed pressure. So your going to get the "party line" general response, we recommend this this and this because 95% of the time its applicable and supplies ample oil.

I would bet money, if you said to them hey I am pushing over a 100psi of oil pressure to your turbo cause my motor runs very high pressures they probably would have told you something different. Since now your telling them you went beyond the rated max pressure for the CHRA.

PTE probably should take the time to specify conditions which need a restrictor instead of basically telling you no restrictor until you blatantly tell them outright your running to much pressure... but they dont.

PTE turbos still are kicking *** and taking names... even the best manufacturers have some problems now and again. That said I would buy another Precision turbo in a heartbeat. I have had 3 different units so far over the years and had GREAT results and support. People around me with them have had similar results as me. BTW I have always run a -4 with no restrictor on them all, journal bearing... seems to work pretty well thus far.

My 2 cents, sorry to hear about having to send it back. Hope they take care of it for you.

 

I blew the seals in a Garrett from not running a restrictor, these engines practically NEED them.

I am now running a BB 5857, and I love it. It seems to come with a built in restrictor (at least that's what it looks like) and I run a -3AN line to it and I've had no issues at all. Fantastic turbo.

 

If the quality control meets the same standards, yes. Cheap labor doesnt always mean cheap quality.

I had a small BB Garret on my integra and it didnt burnt a drop of oil. Probably the "cleanest" running turbo honda I've seen.

 

****, my 800+ hp JB borg warner didnt burn a drop either with a straight -4an feed. We've ran garrett journal bearing, precision, turbonetics etc. only thing i'll never run again is Turbonetics. What a joke

 

my problem with PTE right now is that their turbos are so damn sensitive. as i said earlier, i've had multiple journal bearing turbos on this car with no restrictor and this is the first to pop. google "precision turbo smoking", you'll see how common this is. PTE's turbos are awesome when they work.. but they seem to be 10x more sensitive than any other turbo out there and break with the slightest mishap. perhaps next time i will hire a physicist and a mathematician to come out when i'm installing the oil drain so they can calculate the most optimum angles and route of the oil return, since PTE turbos seem to require that. i think PTE needs to make their turbos a bit more robust. look on 8th civic alone, tons of people run journal bearings, the ONLY ones that smoke are precision's. it's ridiculous.

 

I like my HKS, and my big shaft GT BB turbos. All from Japan

But my GT3076R was also from Japan... The earlier units weren't from Mexico until a few years ago.

But never had any issues with the current GT BB stuff anyway. The amount of turbos I have ran, I never had any issues and I swap/upgrade turbos more than I change my oil.

 

i wish i could afford japanese made stuff. they dont joke around.

heres a questions. if say you dont run a restrictor and the turbo starts to smoke alot. does this automatically mean the turbo is bad and cannot be fixed even with proper oiling and restrictor.

because most people on the forum usually replace/rebuild the turbos once they start to smoke from too much oil pressure or bad drain line.
i would think it was just leaking through the oiling ring and if the oil pressure feed/drain were fixed the issue would be fixed. is there such things as seals going bad or blowing out

 

If its smoking and theres shaft play your most likely SOL. If its smoking with no shaft then you may be able to get it fixed. But I dont see why it wouldnt smoke for X miles and then out of no where start smoking unless the bearings went bad. I noticed immediatley when my new turbo starting smoking and promptly took corrective action.

 

well my turbo started to smoke so i tried fixing the drain and then put a restrictor on it. but it was still smoking. so then i took it off. when i was removed the engine the other day. inside the downpipe and exhaust which is 3" turbo back
their was water inside all the way through. little droplets covering the whole inside of the exhaust must have been like a gallon or so. maybe it was smoking because of that who knows. but that doesnt explain me losing 1qt of oil every 3500 miles. i didnt lose any coolant at all

 

i didn't check for shaft play, but i'd be surprised if there was any. what causes shaft play to happen?

 

bearing wear