after reading some issues with journal bearing PTE turbos, and at the suggestion of a few members on here, I decided to try and get either a ballbearing pte turbo or a bb garrett turbo. this turbo setup is on an 8th gen civic si, which are known to have ~100 psi oil pressures like most hondas.

well, after two weeks of searching and no luck finding anything, and then my turbo kit finally arrive the other day with the 5857 pte turbo (journal bearing) that came with it, i decided to take a chance. i figured if my feed/return was mint, i would be a-ok.

spent the last two nights installing everything with a friend. i spent a ton of extra time ensuring my feed and return lines were perfect. my feed is a -3an line coming from the oil pressure sensor, return is a -10an lines straight into the pan with no sharp curves, never goes up, etc. fresh oil, no contaminants from the oil change that I could see in the oil filter or magnetic drain plug.

got the kit in late last night. loaded up my basemap for the kit, pulled the fuel pump fuse, primed the engine for a bit to get oil flowing through the turbo.

let the car idle for a bit, checked everything over. no leaks, perfectly smooth idle, etc etc. spent the next day street tuning with a friend. car was/is pulling like a monster, everything was great. i put about 200 miles on the car today. at about 180 miles, i started noticing what i feared the most - SMOKE!!! lots of smoke coming out of the exhaust, specifically after i boost hard before coming to a stop/idle.

any ideas what could be the problem? i only turned off the car a few times today, but i let it idle for several minutes before each turn-off. i was really hoping this wouldn't happen! i'll get pics of the feed/return up shortly

 

almost off the page already. bump ;(

 

rings maybe

 

use a restrictor if you think it is pushing oil?

 

at over 100psi of oil pressure, that is not how most hondas are outside of the 8th Gen series. In many examples, 8th Gen civics seem to always have an issue with journal bearing Precisions on their cars. (WhiteEJCoupe comes to mind). As I expressed to him, there is a very good possibility that 2 things need to be checked first. 1) a .060" restrictor is damn near required because the higher oil pressures that the engines experience, and 2) check the routing of the oil return line to make sure there are no kinks, 90 degree fittings, and that the routing of the -10AN line runs smoothly into the pan (with the return line not running below the oil pan).

 

You pretty much have to run a restrictor on a Precision turbo these days. I had an essentially brand new turbo from Mac here and it smoke as soon as the oil got hot. Fixed the center housing to make sure it was as vertical as possible and put a .060 restrictor in and all is well.

 

unless the manufactur of the turbo states not to run an oil restrictor you should ALWAYS run one. they wont hurt the turbo. the seals are designed for 65psi max but should be run less than that so if your seeing 100 psi oil pressure thats yoru problem like mac said.

Ive been running a .060 function7 restrictor on my garrett journal bearing for years and it works just great. the turbo actualoy spools a little better when the center section isnt being flooded by oil as well.

 

Precision says not to run a restrictor and use a -4 line but I've personally seen situations where this is not true. It's pretty much a case by case thing. Some need a restrictor and a smaller line, others get away with the -4 line and no restrictor.

 

Also check your crankcase pressure.

 

i have a vented cc setup. I called precision and they told me if I put a restrictor on the turbo that they wouldn't warranty it because that will damage a journal bearing. my return is perfect - no kinks, no 90* bends.

my only thought is this from looking at it. the engine sits at a slight angle in the engine bay. i never noticed this, so i tapped the pan completely level. now that i'm looking at it, the engine/pan is sitting in the bay at a very slight angle back, only a few degrees. could that be the problem?

 

When I called PTE I was told -3 feed and no restrictor on journal bearing units.

 

And if it dies because of some other reason they'll say it was oil contamination. You cant really win

 

Most companies have good ways of not having to back up their products

 

I have the same issue with my pte 6765 billet. I run a -4 feed.

 

Garrett all the way,i had this happen with two diffrent pte units.NEVER again!!!

 

I used to sell these precisions daily. My rep and the tech have always told me -4, -10 for the billet stuff. Never asked why but I ppresumed it was because of their new air cooled only center housing.

 

air cooled?????

 

Those air cooled cartridges are only for their CEA Ball-bearing units, no?

People have to actually check what oil pressure that they are for their application before any general consensus can be made. It's not a general thing, despite what is understood as the "norm". Precision is only basing what to use from a general perspective. They don't know the oil pressure of every single engine platform that's out there, even though everyone expects them to. (don't know why).

On a precision or Garrett or Turbonetics. If your oil pressure is over 80-100psi at cold start and / or WOT, you need to make sure that the restrictor used is no smaller than .060". [.065" and .060" are standard sizes to use on journal bearing setups) As a matter of caution, or you're just not sure, pick one up. Install the turbo without it first to see if its necessary (by checking oil pressure at the line and/or block). if needed, put it on. (you don't want to starve it of oil at the same time attempting to save the turbo from potential damage)...

Better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.
If you're not sure what size it is do not use it until you verify the aperture size

 

Yes, the Precision Ball-bearing cartridges are air-cooled, not water-cooled.

 

I havent seen these new units yet. So its still oil cooled with cooling fins on the center section to further aid in cooling. looks like a good idea

 

I'm running a journal bearing 6265 on my 2.0L Neon, and had this exact thing happen with smoking at idle once the oil got warm. I was able to take care of it with a .070" nitrous jet "restrictor", and using Redline 50wt oil. Any other oil I've used loses too much viscosity when it heats up, and then it seems I'd need an even smaller restrictor to alleviate the smoking. As it is though, my setup is happy as a clam.

Oh, just to add, I went through ALL of the problem diagnosing measures with Precision, only to come up with the answer that I needed to send the turbo back in. I did the dumb thing of trying a restrictor first, and voila, just like The Shodan said!

 

had a shop put in a .060" restrictor, still smoking like a banshee. shop told me i'm going to have to send it back to be fixed.

if precision tries to duck out of fixing this, I will never purchase another pte turbo for the rest of my life. this is the 3rd journal bearing turbo on my car, and the first to have failed. and to fail within hundreds of miles? give me a break. i'm incredibly pissed off right now.

 

Have you run it long enough to ensure that you've burnt all the oil out of the exhaust?

And FWIW, my dealings with Precision have been really good. If you hold up your end of the diagnostics, they'll work with you real well.

 

And you've ruled out your motor?

 

And the routing of the return line? Size? Angle? No 90 degree fittings on the return, correct?