SO i picked up a percission sc61, it looks real good and the guy said it had barley any miles on it. So i removed the cold and hot housing sides and the fins are very clean and no scratches on them or the housing. Also no shaft play ect.. So i say to myself dang this turbo is almost new. Till i for some reason, covered the oil drain holes with my thumb, then blew into the oil feed fitting. No air was escaping threw where i was plugging with my thumb, but i did hear avery minimal air escaping out the turbine??? I could hear it comming out the cold side! Now it was very little and could not really be noticed but it was there. I know i am causing pressure by blocking the drain. But does this mean the seal are done? Or will it be fine since it will drain fast enough before it could even build pressure to escape threw the turbine. Please help.

 

The turbo doesnt have seals there oil rings simliar to a piston ring. If your oil pressure get above 60 psi at any given cold engine or in the higher rpm range then you should run an oil restrictor and as long as the oil rings arent blown you wont have an issue. you want .065-.060 opening on the restrictor

 

Ive never had any luck with PTE turbos. Ive gone through at least 6 of these things. For the longest time the were using i beleive a 270* bearing until they decided to go full 360*. In most cases turbos' with plug drain will start to leak a little and this should be fine. Make sure you get a big enough drain tube.

 

When you say blown what do mean ? Do they some how go out of shape from excessively high oil pressure ? I always thought that if you corrected the oil pressure/return then the problem should go as the ring don't get exactly get "damaged ". I could be totally wrong though so i'm interested in your opinion.

 

I couldnt tell you as im not a turbo engineer just know a little about the mechanics of it. I think if the oil leak is left unaddressed then it damages the oil ring probably by oil cooking onto it and not allowing it to seal or maybe debris getting in there. this is just a guess. Any turbo ive had with oil leaking once proper oil pressure to the turbo was established it never gave me problems. Since then any new turbo i run will ALWAYS hey a restrictor on it. Turbo oil seals are good to about 60-65psi of oil pressure and hondas make well over that. Someone correct me on this hopefully theshodan will chime in but i believe optimal oil pressure for most turbochargers is 25-30 psi oil pressure but i could be wrong.

 

I can see what your saying about the oil cooking onto the exhaust ring or the shaft its self. I'd agree that it may cause the rings not to seal or seat correctly to if the "coking" got excessive. I'd like to hear TheShodan's or any other experts opinion though...

 

Ive talked to multiple shops about this, because i ran a ebay turbo that i had a restricter on and was always told to run one because the seals were junk and such high pressure would wear them out quick. When i upgraded to a PTE SC3231, i was told to go no restrictor because the seals can handle the high oil pressure. Ive seen my pressure peak 90psi before, but i have a large return line with very little restriction/bends.

 

Shoot hopefully this turbo is good! I mean i never knew PRECISION to be junk?? So i should run an oil restrictor with this turbo then? Ive always ran them on NO name turbos because the high oil pressure blows the seals fast. But i never heard of one on a Name brand turbo...

The turbo is clean, real clean! I hope its good! and can atleast make 450hp.

 

I'd recommend trying without one first. If it smokes a bit put one on ASAP. Make sure the oil feed line is 3an.

 

It has nothign to do with precision being junk, its the simple mechanics of a turbocharger. If you call precision they will say not to run one, but if you read countless threds about precision turbos leaking oil you will see they had to run a restrictor.

precision doesnt tell you based on every application there giving as broad statement because most engines dont produce the kind of oil pressure a honda engine produces. IMO a restrictor should always be run on a honda engine. it will not damage the turbo unless you have oiling issues and that wouldnt be the restrictors issue it would be a pump or blockage issue anyway

some people have success not running anything BUT its a good idea to run one. If you dont believe me ask TheShodan, he is a turbo engineer and knows what he is talking abotu and can explain in greater detail than i can.

ive been running a restrictor on my Garrett turbo for years, spools faster because of less drag from overloading the bearings with oil and doesnt leak a drop

 

I thought it would be a good idea to run a restrictor on my PTE turbo, but as ive said ive talked to a couple shop owners and was told otherwise. These shops specialize in Honda's and turbo builds, so thier concensus wouldnt be a "across the board broad statement", its based off of thier own personal experience.

Now im not saying DONT run one, im just saying you should be fine without one.

 

also want to know if someone can answer this.
how does some oil escaping the oil ring and burning off damage the turbo.
i mean if im running a turbo and too much oil pressure all i would do is burn oil right and not damage the turbo itself since i dont see how a metal ring blows out or gets damaged from excess oil pressure.

And also i beileve you can blow in the feed hole and plug the drain and air will still escape because of the ring. it only seals when the turbo is spinning with oil pressure and whatnot