I am in the middle of building my manifold for my sfwd car(I know.....talk about a late start), and well; this is the first time I've built my manifold from my own design. I haven't had enough experience with other race cars besides my own, but it seem like placing the turbo high enough to not back up the return line, puts it damn close to the headlight. Now, I am currently planning to heat coat the exhaust housing, downpipe, dump tubes, and manifold, and run a blanket, as well as wrap the system in heat wrap, and tape the light with the gold reflective tape on the closer parts. I want to bounce a few solution ideas, and get some feedback from you higher level players, that have encountered such dilemma.......If you wouldn't mind.

1. It would seem that a turbo blanket would help, right?

2. How close can I mount it to the headlight before it will melt it with the coating, and blanket?

3. What other options do I have here(i.e. move turbo the oil is not an issue)?


I will try to take some pictures tonight to show exactly what I am dealing with.

 

With a good quality blanket you wont melt the headlight.

 

I can put my hand on my turbo blanket with the car running (PTP). It'll be fine

 

How about after a few passes? Can you add a little info on your build? Did you also hot coat your housing?

 

Buy a DEI Titanium blanket and call it a day.

 

Nothing is coated, just wrapped the top half of the manifold where the hood is close and the downpipe. But yes you can touch the blanket after a few passes and its not an issue.

 

i can make back to back passes and still put my hand on the turbo blanket. I got one off ebay from a distributor in dallas. I dont recall who the seller was but it was a quality piece. Beware of the cheapo ones on ebay though, they're junk and burn up. if you dont want t play games then hands down DEi Titanium blanket.

 

With a QUALITY blanket, you could have the blanket touching the headlight and have no melting issues. No need to coat the exhaust housing

 

I'll be getting a smoking deal on the coating, so it will get coated. But I ordered the DEI Titanium this morning. Thanks guys!

 

Baller

 

I drove mine an hour and a half straight and put my hand on the blanket when I parked. They work.

 

Good to hear these advantages, but what are the effects of a turbo blanket on oil temps?

 

No. there are no effects that are correlated concerning the oil feed and the turbine housing. This is where the better oils come into play to keep the thrust and journal bearings properly lubricated and protect from thermal breakdown.

 

That statement contradicts itself. If the blanket has no effect on oil temps, what is the relevance of oils that provide better protection from thermal breakdown?

My concern is upon testimonies of individuals who document an increase in oil temperatures after installing a turbo blanket. Better oils may provide better resistance to thermal breakdown, but is the blanket not ultimately increasing the temperature and therefore the stress on the oil and bearings of the unit, regardless of the type of oil being used?

 

No. It does not, and I'll explain precisely why. The turbine blanket, when used properly,serves a dual purpose which is 1) insulating radiant exothermic heat from inside the engine bay and 2) increasing turbine exhaust energy to go out of the downpipe. The proximity of the cartridge with the respect to the turbine and any changes in turbine energy temperatures are not that significant. The cartridge itself is already seeing over 1000-1200 degrees anyway, whether or not the turbine housing itself is bare, has a blanket, or is ceramic high-heat coated. In addition, the turbine heat shield dissipates a good portion of the heat that any oil on the turbine shaft receives, even with increased turbine energy temperatures.

THE DIFFERENCE, meaning, where there is a correlation between oil temperatures and turbine energy is when you shut the car off; in which the turbine exhaust energy transfers into the cartridge from the turbine housing. This is where the detrimental "coking" of oil would more likely occur. This phenomenon occurs when the oil that's being used has gotten so hot, that it converts into a carbon-like soot or "coke" to where it will eventually cause damage to the cartridge (specifically the thrust bearings, journal bearings, and the turbine shaft where the dynamic sealing groove sits), and not from any indirect or direct exposure to radiant heat from the turbine housing itself or from any turbine housing blanket, which is the correlation you're trying to create between oil and turbine housing.

This is why I always still recommend the use of water lines (be it journal or ball-bearing cartridge) to counter the effects of any additional heat created from increased boost pressures or any "turbine blanket heat increase" theories.

I posted the white paper on water lines in the FAQs, but in essence:
"Water cooling eliminates the destructive occurrence of oil coking by utilizing the Thermal Siphon Effect to reduce the Peak Heat Soak Back Temperature on the turbine side piston after shut-down. " -Honeywell Turbo Technologies.

I mean, I understand completely. This is what you're trying to avoid.



In which "coking" has occurred from the oil reaching its flash point in this example (New journal bearing is on the far left, compared to compressor side journal bearing [middle] and turbine shaft bearing that has suffered from "coking" [far right]. Notice the "coking" of oil on the turbine shaft sealing groove in the back closest to the turbine wheel itself. Remember, that has a heat shield between the turbine wheel itself and the sealing ring groove. (Called a "hat" shield, like this example below





Again, like I previously stated, the coking of the oil occurred from the turbine housing transferring its exhaust energy heat during [a "hot"] shutdown when the transference of that heat is at its peak; Not while the turbocharger is running at full pulse with a turbine blanket on it. These temp increases work WITH the exhaust turbine energy, not against it, unless you don't cool down properly.

The real lesson to this is to run good oil, check oil levels, and most importantly cool down properly during shut down.. idle time helps, but water lines help even more.

I'm sure the testimonial came from this:
http://www.importatlanta.com/forums/...tive-tape.html

And even the OP couldn't explain it.. But didn't correlate turbine blanket with oil temps.. Mainly because it cannot be.

 

Thanks for that thorough explanation.

EDIT: What brand/line would you consider to be a 'good' oil to help avoid these conditions that can be acquired somewhat locally? I'm barely on my third oil change after 1,1XX miles since completing my build, and haven't weaned off the break-in oils yet. My mains are .0015-.0017", and rods are .0018".

 

I had very similar clearances and run VR1 / Brad Penn 20/50 in the summer time

 

Isn't that a bit thick? I see guys with .0020" on their mains running that.

 

Answered Below


Well, it depends. I also use Brad Penn but in a 10w30 thickness. I may go a little higher to a 20/50, but that is standard weight for DSM/Evolution and Hondas running "loose" clearances. For the turbocharger, that weight is just perfect. But something that has a high ZDDP (Zinc) content like Brad Penn or Valvoline VR-1 are just what the turbo doctor ordered..

 

I was running 10-40 but when the oil got up to 210 + on hot summer days, the oil pressure was dipping below 70 at high revs/loads and I did not like that.

 

I run .0018 and use VR1. But this blanket looks tough!