Water cooled turbo.

[burnout 180]

What are the disadvantages of not water cooling your turbo because i don't have my coolant lines connected to my T3/T4. I just want to know if its worth me connecting those lines.

[PulsarDet]

It's might be a good idea to put those is your planning boosting hight PSI , I was running my T3-T4 at 10 psi without the line since now I am running 15 psi I don't take any chance, a turbo is so expensive, compare to those 2 line.

[iliketocrash]

you don't really need the watercooled lines. i think it's just there to cool the turbo quicker before you shut your car off. so if your coolant lines aren't connected then just let your car idle for a little while before you shut it off or just get a turbo timer.

[sil_eightyRPS13]

you don't really need the watercooled lines. i think it's just there to cool the turbo quicker before you shut your car off. so if your coolant lines aren't connected then just let your car idle for a little while before you shut it off or just get a turbo timer.

agree'd! the japanese eliminate this as soon as they do an upgrade...even if its as small as a t28bb(s15 turbo)u might wanna run an oil cooler however....

[c-rad]

agree'd! the japanese eliminate this as soon as they do an upgrade...even if its as small as a t28bb(s15 turbo)u might wanna run an oil cooler however....

Umm.... ball bearing turbos MUST be water cooled as the amount of oil that passes through them is minute compared to conventional turbos. The oil is used solely for lubricating purposes. The water jackets in BB turbos are also huge compared to conventional turbos just for this reason.

[sil_eightyRPS13]

Umm.... ball bearing turbos MUST be water cooled as the amount of oil that passes through them is minute compared to conventional turbos. The oil is used solely for lubricating purposes. The water jackets in BB turbos are also huge compared to conventional turbos just for this reason.

so then every option/tengoku vid i have is wrong.?...oil is sufficient enough. its souly for the purpose of how fast u want o turn your car off!

[silvia_ca18det]

so then every option/tengoku vid i have is wrong.?...oil is sufficient enough. its souly for the purpose of how fast u want o turn your car off!

hehe i am with u on this one mark! water lines do not need to be used! its allways a good thing to have them yes! but if u have an oil cooler hooked up and ur oil temp stays nice and cool u are fine! its not like the coolasnt that is close to the same temp is going to cool it even more! its the fact that u need to leave ur car on just a little longer! IMO

[redamnavit]

Umm.... ball bearing turbos MUST be water cooled as the amount of oil that passes through them is minute compared to conventional turbos. The oil is used solely for lubricating purposes. The water jackets in BB turbos are also huge compared to conventional turbos just for this reason.

I'm with c-rad on this one but if you want a definitive answer call Garrett. They'll be able to tell you if the coolant is necessary for safe operation or just to avoid oil caking on the bearings when you shut off a hot car.

[c-rad]

I'm with c-rad on this one but if you want a definitive answer call Garrett. They'll be able to tell you if the coolant is necessary for safe operation or just to avoid oil caking on the bearings when you shut off a hot car.

Garrett will not even think of warrantying any of their GT turbos if you do not water cool them. There is absolutely NO WAY to cool a ball bearing turbo without coolant running through it. There is not nearly enough oil going through it like conventional turbos.

And chew on this-- All the conventional T-series turbos are available with a dry center section, but it is impossible to get a dry chra for a GT series... hmm...

[sil_eightyRPS13]

Garrett will not even think of warrantying any of their GT turbos if you do not water cool them. There is absolutely NO WAY to cool a ball bearing turbo without coolant running through it. There is not nearly enough oil going through it like conventional turbos.

And chew on this-- All the conventional T-series turbos are available with a dry center section, but it is impossible to get a dry chra for a GT series... hmm...

then why does my HKS turbo not have a water jacket????or any sort of coolantlines?????

[redamnavit]

then why does my HKS turbo not have a water jacket????or any sort of coolantlines?????

What model HKS turbo do you have? From looking through HKS's documentation it appears they use Garrett housings on all their GT turbos which, as c-rad noted, would make them water-cooled.

[sil_eightyRPS13]

What model HKS turbo do you have? From looking through HKS's documentation it appears they use Garrett housings on all their GT turbos which, as c-rad noted, would make them water-cooled.

it says in my signature! u americans dont understand...u dont need coolant?why are u being so stubborn??
Modified by sil_eightyRPS13 at 8:30 PM 1/2/2006

[biosehnsucht]

A turbo may or may not prematurely fail due to not using the water cooling that is available - but is it worth the cost of chancing that fancy turbo vs the cost of hooking up the lines?

Even buying expensive pre made fancy bling cooling lines is significantly less than the cost a new turbo..

Ultimately it is your own choice on whre to spend money, and should anything fail it was your choice. But then, many run them w/o cooling without blowing them up.. or maybe they just don't even run them long enough before blowing something else up first, and never have the chance to kill em? Who knows, but I personally wouldn't take a chance when I can do something the right way.

[redamnavit]

it says in my signature! u americans dont understand...u dont need coolant?why are u being so stubborn??

Modified by sil_eightyRPS13 at 8:30 PM 1/2/2006

You have a fancy picture in your signature, so do lots of people. I didn't assume it was your car. As for your turbo, the HKS website seems to indicate that your turbo (or any HKS turbo that isn't a GT) is non-ball bearing, which would offer some explanation as to why you don't have water coolant ports on the center section.

[c-rad]

You have a fancy picture in your signature, so do lots of people. I didn't assume it was your car. As for your turbo, the HKS website seems to indicate that your turbo (or any HKS turbo that isn't a GT) is non-ball bearing, which would offer some explanation as to why you don't have water coolant ports on the center section.

Yeah, T04E prior to the last few months is NON-ball bearing. The only company that offered any T-series in ball bearing fashion was turbonetics with their "ceramic ball-bearing" option. HKS gets their CHRA's direct from garrett. HKS only modifies the wheels and housings, not the center sections.

[float_6969]

+1 for coolant line. Part of the reason I'm not driving my car right now is because of breaking a stock coolant line and waiting for replacements.

[sil_eightyRPS13]

Yeah, T04E prior to the last few months is NON-ball bearing. The only company that offered any T-series in ball bearing fashion was turbonetics with their "ceramic ball-bearing" option. HKS gets their CHRA's direct from garrett. HKS only modifies the wheels and housings, not the center sections.

correct it is a non ball bearing....and hells ya for HKS and there housing tuning...u can order the GT-series however without coolant....why do the Japs do it???i dunno im all for not heating the fak out of my coolant...and would rather run a oil cooler instead....just more things to go wrong if she leaks.....

[flohtingPoint]

Havent ran coolant lines on my stock SR turbo in quite some time, and when I race, its for extensive periods (usually two or more laps around Nurburgring). No issues yet, but I got the turbo for pretzels and cheese so if it goes, no big loss.

[sideways danny]

no water needed on journal bearing turbos, I'm open to ideas on roller bearing but I'd still think it's less necesary

[redamnavit]

So, to SUM UP:

1) You don't need to run the water lines on a journal bearing turbo so long as you run a turbo timer or are willing to sit in the parking lot for a few minutes.

2) You SHOULD run water lines on a ball bearing turbo because they're designed for it. I'm quite surprised that, as sil_eightyRPS13 states, you can order an HKS GT-series turbo without ports for coolant. Upon looking on Garrett's site I noticed that GT does not equal ball bearing. GTR turbos (i.e. GT28R vs GT28) are ball bearing. Perhaps this is where the confusion comes in.

3) The only situation in which I could see someone (including the Option video cars) running a BB turbo without coolant lines is in competition drifting, where the car has relatively poor airflow across the radiator. If you had to choose between overheating an $8,000 engine or ruining a $1,200 turbo, which one would you want to lose? Even this situation is quite speculative.

[CA19DET]

i just wanted to add that air intake temps are lower with water cooled turbos cause the entire turbo assembly is at a lower temp = more power. i noticed the temp around the turbo to be MUCH higher without my water lines (t3/T4E with 5/8" SS water braided lines)

i have allot of water passing through my turbo, when one of the lines are disconnected this is how i bleed my system and i can see how the water helps temp, my water temps dont pass ~170-180* with twin elec 10" fans and 3 core copper rad.