Today, while I was tinkering with my downpipe and had things semi-dismantled, I noticed a brass fitting ont he back of my turbo that corresponds to a similar fitting directly opposite it on the front of the turbo. I'd never seen an oil/water cooled T3/T4 before, and had always wondered what the fitting on the front was for, and hadn't seen the one on the back until now. So it occured to me that these must be for water/coolant. My question is, would it make a big difference to get these hooked up to coolant? I've been running the turbo for almost 2 years on just the oil feed, could there be any negative effects from this? What's the best way to do this? I know a lot of people run it inline with the t/b coolant lines, is there a better way to do it?

 

It makes sense in my head that it's nothing but better for the turbo... I have a water/oil cooled turbo also, t3/t04e hybrid, and its hooked up taking oil and coolant... I bought this turbo used for who knows how many miles and it runs like its brand new :D

 

Makes sense to me. Where are you getting the coolant from?

 

I just went through all this.

Get some plastic heater hose Tees and put one on the inlet to your heater core and the other at the outlet (near your firewall). Run one to the turbo inlet and one to the outlet (makes no difference).

I just had a near disaster and blew a hole in one line and overheated my car because the lines were kinked due to lack of space.

I ordered some fittings: Earls 3/8NPT to -10AN and a 90degree -10AN to 5/8 pipe barb. that will let me put the hoses at a vertical angle. I also got some aeroquip hose (on sale at bakerprecision now online) which I will cover with some firejacket insulation to avoid the problem I had yesterday.

 

So you basically plumbed it parallel with the heater core hose? Interesting. I take it this is preferable to doing it in series with, like, the t/b line or something? If I stay away from tight bends and kinks, can I get away with using regular coolant hose and hose clamps, or are the Aeroquip hose and Earl's fittings absolutely necessary? Since I'm on a budget, I figure I can keep the hoses unkinked if I run them a little longer with less turns, or does this affect coolant flow?

Thanks for all the help.

 

yes, parallel to the heater core. there is more than enough flow through there (Giuseppe gave me that suggestion). If you run in series with the throttle body line you may get idling problems.

I assume your fittings are 3/8 NPT into the turbo? If so, and your fittings come straight out you may run into problems with clearance for the hoses. if that is the case, you can go cheap and get a straight 3/8 to 3/8 male male coupler and then a 90degree elbow to a hose barb end. that will allow you to make the angle turns easier. you can use regular heater hose but you should thermowrap it around near the turbo.

just my suggestions after a bit of a nightmare on the highway yesterday.

 

hrmmmmm

 

Should make that heater work real nice

 

3/8 NPT sounds about right, but they're already 90 degree fittings, so I assume it would be Kosher to use regular coolant hose with thermowrap like you said?

 

Im about to order the Revhard Stage 2c kit which comes with a Water cooled turbo. I realize this runs on coolant rather than oil to cool thr turbo but I dont understand why people are running both oil and coolant to the turbo?

And if its water cooled does this mean I dont need a turbo timer - or does it have the same effects as oil cooled turbos when they are hot and you kill the engine.

 

oil = lubrication
water = coolant

...never seen a center housing with water connection <U>only</U>

 

oh ok, thanks for clearing that up

But as far as cooling, if its water cooled then no need for a turbo timer or what?

 

hmmm ok... sorry for being ignorant here... but I have a T3 with a oil/water center... so you're saying you DON'T have to run the coolant lines to the turbo and just have it run off oil only?

 

Yes you DONT HAVE to use the coolant setup, you can run either both or just the oil.... the coolant is just a added bonus basically

 

Yup...the turbos are basicly the exact same design if they are just oil feed or have oil and coolant lines. Its just if you want to use it...and I dont ever tell people yo use the coolant lines.

 

thanks guys... happy to hear that cause I can't be bothered with the hassle of coolant lines, and the turbo is used also and the coolant inlet fitting is like stuck (I wanted to use a new fitting). All good. I have a turbo timer and patience to let it cool down after driving anyway.

 

If your turbo has water cooling capabilities, I would definatly suggest that you use it. If you measured the outside temp of an oil cooled turbo compared to a water/oil cooled unit, its a BIG difference. Ever see your turbo glowing red after beating the hell out of your car? its almost impossible to get a water cooled turbo to get that hot. The oil in your car will live a much much longer life since its not doing double/duty to cool the turbo. It also really reduces the need for a turbo timer.
To attest to the water cooled turbos, the one on my car right now is over 15 years old, and has never had a rebuild. Its just now reaching the point where the shaft play is exessive.

 

I think that just made me change my mind... although i could just set it up without coolant lines and add them later... but damn that sounds more appealing now

 

and in that case... what WOULD be the best way to route the coolant lines to the turbo on a honda?

 

Here's a question for us dumb-bastards that don't have water-cooled center sections...

Would it be better to get an oil cooler or to get some small diameter brass/copper tubing and form it around the center section and run coolant through that?

I PAID for a water-cooled turbo, but that's not what I got Fuggin' internet retards...anyway, I'm assuming it might not be as good as an oil-cooler, but would there be any benefit from this, since it could be alot cheaper and I don't want another piece of crap taking up space in my bumper (oil-cooler)? It would make me feel like a better person atleast. haha

 

For my setup, i used the smaller coolant supply lines from the throttlebody, and just ran them down under the distributor and over to the turbo. There is one problem with using the heater lines for coolant... if your heater valve is closed, you wont get any circulation through the lines. You would have to hook one line to each heater hose, so it would be able to circulate past the valve, if you follow what i'm saying.

If your turbo is oil cooled only, i wouldnt stress over it. Just keep up on oil changes and letting your car cool down and your fine.
I think adding an -small- oil cooler in the oil supply line might work out half decent.

 

i heard that running a cooler between the oil feed line might cause pressure loss and not too safe. is this true? because of this i just bought a sandwich fitting to just cool down the whole engine instead of just the turbo. any thoughts on this?