I am on the fence about buying a GT42 or 42R for my 20b project. I understand the performance benefits of a ball bearing center section, but the two people I know personally that had them both had the center section fail (one went through 2 of them at $800 a pop). However, according to Sean at A-spec, who I want to thank for all his input, the failure rate is very low. Therefore, I want to see what other people's experiences have been like with them.

 

^

 

mine has less than 10k, but still going strong. 35r/t66 hybrid from Sean at aspec. (not on my car anymore, on a buddies car though, waiting for a 42R from Sean for the 20b also)

 

I had over 15k on mine, but then sent an apex seal throgh the turbo. The bearings themselves were not damaged.

 

Make sure you put an extra prefilter to the turbo oil supply and that will lessen the debris that gets into to house, which would insure longevity.

 

with a 20B exhaust flow...I'd save some loot and get the GT42. how much would BB help out?

 

Most of the problems I've seen with BB on Mazda rotaries are related to the high turbine egt's. It's also important to run the water through the center section for cooling. A lot of people don't do it and the ball bearings overheat.

 

holy ****! who are these people and who's cars are they working on???

 

Exactly!! There is a small plastic(stupid) retainer in there it only needs to be run without water for it to fail.But people are lazy. Of all the turbo I have sold only two failed. Both were due to lack of oil. One the person put teflon tape too far down the threads and it found it's way down into the bearings and made a mess of everything. The other some one tried to small a restrictor. Nothing funnier than when you go to pull of a turbo and a bunch of BB's fall out the drain hose.