Hello, right now I have a Garrett T3/T4 57 Trim .63AR. It's smoking at the moment, checked the feed and drain and feel like it's sufficient. I can get it rebuilt at Pure Turbos but that'll be $450.
I'm looking at possibly getting a turbo in the 600hp range and less than $800. Has to be Precision though as I have a good dealer in line. Any recommendations on what size turbo to get or should I just save the money and rebuild my turbo?

My setup now:
Piston/Rod B18C with Stock Sleeves. (Will get sleeves in the future but need to get a turbo now)
Speedfactory T3 Flange Top Mount
Hytech 3" 4 Bolt Downpipe

Goals are for drag racing. Under some circumstances, not looking at changing the rest of my setup at the moment.

 

Precision and Ball bearing is fine reliability wise and perform very well.
Precision and journal bearings is a very unreliable choice. Here no one that i know managed to keep the JB precision from smoking for more than a year...
What i would do:
Send my turbo to Speed Trapp Consulting
Ask him to put a stage 5 turbine wheel and a 59 - 60 mm billet compressor on that .63 housing.
Your sleeves will blow before stage 5 .63 combo runs out of steam.

 

 

Agreed with Balor's sentiment on JB Precisions, at least from my limited experience. I was disappointed in the 5558 I had, didn't even make 5K miles before it somehow made contact with the compressor housing and needed a rebuild (which was the same cost as a new turbo...)

For that record I avoid Precision now entirely, but I know by your topic you said you want to stick with them. I've heard from other people as well their ball bearing units aren't as shitty.

 

 

If i had a drag only car it would run a precision BB for real. BUT in the long run JB they use cause problems.
T3 with stage 5 will flow around 25 lbs/min. More than .82 GT(x)3076 and the same or more than a GT(X)3582 with .63.
It will support 500 to the tyre or more depend8ng on fuel and cpnpressor.

 

I emailed STC. He says it may get expensive to play around with my current turbo but to check out his one or two from his line of turbos. Which I may lean towards.
Thanks for the suggestion to STC though!

 

Do you have a vented catch can? I had an issue with a turbo smoking and found out that the filters in the top of the catch can were clogged with oil. When I removed the filters the turbo stopped smoking. Seems the clogged filters were causing the crankcase to pressurize and stopped the turbo from draining into the oilpan. I went through replacing seals on the turbo and running a clear drain tube before I found the issue. Its possible that this could be happening to you. The other could be that the seals really are worn out.

 

 

So your goal is drag racing, but you are not looking at changing the rest of your setup...hmm, you are going to have to make up your mind what you want to do now if your question is which turbo to buy. A bigger and better turbo alone will not make your car ready for drag racing, it will take a lot more money to build a true drag car. Plus a bigger turbo for "drag racing" wont work on your setup at all without a lot of other changes. Because of your budget constraint and indecisiveness, I would have your turbo rebuilt and save that cash for when you are serious about making the change. Do it once and do it right is what I always say, otherwise pay twice or more down the road to fix it. PS, there is nothing wrong with journal bearings for your power level as long as your oil is clean and turbo is not starving of oil. I pulled a Garret with journal bearings apart with over 100k and you wouldn't know it had any wear, maintenance is key, can't say the same about Precision but others have chimed in with their JB experience with that MFG, I can tell you their BB turbos are worthy. good luck

 

A Borg Warner S257 SX-E can be had for ~$850 and offer you BW's proven JB durability with a 65 lb/min flow rate. I ran a Holset Super HX40 on my 84x89 LS/VTEC and was very happy with the results.
As mentioned by others, frequent oil changes are key and using a good oil.

STC's product offerings are also rock solid and 'The Shodan' will give you the best, most accurate advice/guidance out there. With regards to PTE, some people have great success with their products and others have issues within a few hundred miles.

I like 'heavy-duty' journal bearing turbos like Holset and BW, and I've personally seen my drift customers put their Holset turbo's through some serious abuse. The GT-series and PTE stuff have often suffered more complications in this environment.

 

Id like some results on this.

 

I can say that I have been using a journal bearing Precision turbo now for a while and it is performing very well. I have it installed on an B18 LS swap. Makes very good power for me, but I am only pushing through 10-12 PSI. So there could be the difference.

 

Power levels are all at 5500ft elevation through a 3" full exhaust;
400 whp @ 10 psi
470 whp @ 15 psi
530 whp @ 20 psi
570 whp @ 24 psi

I ran "sh!tty" Crower 63401T turbo cams which I believe became a restriction. I was going to upgrade from a 9:1 CP/Eagle combo to a 10:1 CP/Pauter combo and GSC T1's but never got to install the parts as I sold the car. On a customer's GM 2 litre (Opel C20 engine), the same turbo produced ~600whp at the same elevation and had 18psi by 4200rpm. I have another guy running the same turbo on a 84x89mm with stock B16 head and cams also making ~540whp.

 

Yours were with the cast or billet compressor ?
Its was 58mm comp / 64mm turbine? Did you used divided 2 wastegate manifold?
Id like to know spool rpm also.
Thanks!

 

Cast 60mm "Super" profile (OE Holset performance turbo)
Divided manifold yes
16cm2 housing
Ended up putting the 50mm wastegate feed tube (~150mm) in the turbine housing and that added a ton of lag. Turbo was producing positive pressure from about 3200 rpm from what I remember when I ran twin 38mm gates in the manifold. The spool is really impressive for the size of the turbo.

 

My old PTE SC61 did the same thing after 10mos. Had to send it back to PTE for a rebuild under warranty.

 

FWIW, I'm certain you will see that "JB unreliability" rep diminish over time as changes in "production" of some units have already been made.

 

I dont know whats going on but GEN2 BB problems already kinda plague the used parts sites in greece with a lot low mileage BB gen2s that smoke. Im not sure if moron mechanics here ever reccomend restrictors but thats allways a bad sign... For the love of god i want a GT35R CHRA with GEN2 6466 wheels

 

Heh. That's already been done by way of the aftermarket with some 67mm wheels. Your issue is it's not locally available in your area. It's not your fault.

 

Why not just run a Borg Warner S360, S362 or S363?

 

Replacement parts availability has been increasingly shrinking despite the cast wheel pricing being so low. Plus, no ball-bearing option.

And don't say ball-bearing isn't a big deal, because in many circumstances it is the more robust option for the need. Including "daily driving"

 

because most BW turbos are T4, which will require an adapter plate. It's not hard to convert but most folks prefer not to do so

 

Also True. At least the less expensive ones

 

T3 Turbine housings for the Borg turbines listed there are fairly common. (ie T3 .70 a/r vband outlet or .55 a/r 4/5 bolt outlet).