I am new with FI and I did search but i did not see any specific answers. My question is do I need an oil restrictor? I have T3/T4 Turbonetics.. Some thread says to use one to avoid to much oil preasure and other says no, it may cause oil starvation. Thanks in advance!

 

For the standard series of Journal Bearing turbos from Turbonetics, no. a -3AN will work fine without a restrictor being needed.

 

I would definitely run one, especially on that turbo. ~.070" would be good.

 

No you will not need one

 

dont mess around just get one for the peace of mind. U can see oil pressure spikes up to 70-80psi in ur feed line which is not good for a turbo that is designed to only see 10-25psi.

 

agree get on unless you like blue smoke

 

no,yes,no,yes,yes. understand?

 

i've yet to see a clear answer on this. i run one on my t3/t4 57 trim but its ssauto junk

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TheShodan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">For the standard series of Journal Bearing turbos from Turbonetics, no. a -3AN will work fine without a restrictor being needed.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Call Turbonetics and they will tell you don't run one. I did two weeks ago and thats the answer I got.

 

Thanks for all the replies! Here's what i've found from turbonetic's website:

Q: What size oil inlet and oil drain line sizes should I run for my turbocharger?

A: Turbonetics recommends no larger than a -4 oil inlet line and no smaller than a -10 (1/2") oil drain line. For most street vehicles a -3 (1/8") is ideal and if a -12 line can be accommodated for the drain even better. NOTE: For racing applications and large frame turbochargers ie. Y2K and Thumper units, a -4 is perfect to accommodate the extra oil capacity and pressure that these units are usually faced with.

Here's another one where they are saying it can handle 50-70 psi under boost:

Q: How is a turbocharger lubricated? Where does it come from?
A: A turbocharger is lubricated with regular engine oil. It comes from anywhere that you can provide clean filtered oil to it. Usually this is anywhere after the oil filter, before the oil gets to the block. Many turbochargers are oiled however from a fitting tapped into the block itself. As long as you have filtered, cool, and sufficiciently pressured oil your turbo will be happy. Note: Oil PSI should be at least around 20-30 PSI at idle and 50-70 psi under boost. Race applications do not apply here.


here's the website: http://www.turboneticsinc.com/faq.htm

hmm...

 

Use one.

Whats a good reason not to?

 

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

Whats a good reason not to? </TD></TR></TABLE>

It might get oil starvation??

 

If the company that built is said it's not necassary, than it's not necessary IMO

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NoahJob &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If the company that built is said it's not necassary, than it's not necessary IMO</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm sure honda would say you shouldn't lower your car either. I dont really care what manufactures say if it contradicts what my real world experience says. Apparently everyones is not the same in this case but I always run .070 or smaller on journal bearing turbos, garrett or turbonetics, and have never had a turbo failure due to starvation.

 

So what is the answer here. THis is a frequently asked ?? with alot of inconsistencies. I spoke with phoenix turbo and they said not to run one as it may lead to oil starvation. I am still iffy about that as my turbo was brand new and my drain was fine but it still had a slight leak,. I sent it back and they said it was fine just had a little teflon on the oil drain?? I don't know where that came from but I can tell you ths. I rearranged my drain to be at a 45 degree angle from the turbo to the oil pan -10 with the endyn style catch can and a -3 an line feed, and if it leaks again I will put the z10 restrictor I have sitting here. the turbo has like 3 miles on it and 30 minutes total of running time. I will have it up by next week so I will chime in. I see 40psi at start up OIl pressure, 15-20psi at idle, and 75-85 psi at full boost. phoenixturbo said that the turbo does not see that pressure/flow of oil due to the -3 line so I should not worry about it. I also spoke with some local racers who deal with Grand Nationals, to Rotary Rx7 race cars and they said as long as the drain is good there should be no restrictor on the turbo unless it is Ball bearing.

Sorry for the long response but this is frustrating for me too.

PS my friend has a sc61 in his b20 and has been running a restrictor bone dry for the past 5-7 months, before that he ran a t3/t4 57 trim rebuilt (looked new) and that turbo had no restrictor, it never leaked but it lasted like 6 months before it F'ed up.

Juan