Single Turbo RX-7's Questions about all aspects of single turbo setups.

water cooled VS non water cooled

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Old Jun 25, 2003 | 03:15 PM
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water cooled VS non water cooled

just wondering what you guys think/reccomend... i was going to get one water cooled, but now i am not sure...

so what do you think?

thanks harrison

ps its a t04s .84 hot .7 cold

and yea i have a turbo timer and all that....
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Old Jun 25, 2003 | 04:14 PM
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watercooled makes it last a bunch longer right?

want it to last longer or not? seems kinda stright forward to me

-Jacob
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Old Jun 25, 2003 | 06:05 PM
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I supose that Depends on your Oil cooler System.

If your oil stays cool it should last? they would'nt sell them if it was only going to last a few months.

But having said that the wet core is a newer design, its all down to keeping heat to a minimum and not using the Oil (Lube) to do the Coolants job as well.

Chris
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Old Jun 25, 2003 | 06:06 PM
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Personal choice.

My personal choice dictates that if a water cooled turbo is available for my street setup then I'll buy water cooled over oil cooled. Less issue with cool down and can tune leaner (higher egts) since not constantly on it. I believe the result of water cooling is lower bearing temps especially at shutoff; this may reduce oil coking and generally makes me feel better.

Conversly, if I'm choosing a turbo for road course application I'll go oil cooled. Less complicated, fewer leak paths with fewer hoses and connections, and I'm tuning richer to keep the rotors cool (lower egts).

I've thought about designing an oil rundown system for years, should do wonders for oil cooled turbos. This system would slowly fill with pressurized oil while the motor was running. At shutdown, it would discharge at a controlled rate into the turbo oil inlet line to cool down the bearings.
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Old Jun 25, 2003 | 08:39 PM
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yea, i agree with everything you guys say about watercooled being the better choice, why is it then that some turbos are just oil cooled? like the rx6 and the gt35/40... is it cause they are ball bearing? what about the t78 is that watercooled?
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Old Jun 26, 2003 | 07:21 AM
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Just speculation: could it be that the water-cooled turbos originated from cars that did not have oil coolers, and therefore elevated oil temps. I'd would seem to me that as long as the temp at the "cooled" turbo bearing remains within a design spec, then it doesn't care what is fluid it keeping it at that temp.

Of course, I have a RX-6 so rationalization maybe part of my logic! ;-)
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Old Jun 26, 2003 | 02:20 PM
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Yeah, another nice thing about oil cooled is that it takes some of the load off the otherwise overtaxed RX-7 cooling system. Wish I had an oil temp gauge so I could see how well the R1 oil coolers are functioning.

You're not ditching your RX6 are you, harrison???
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Old Jun 26, 2003 | 05:58 PM
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no harrison is my friend... i have the rx6 on my car. we work at the same place and he didnt notice that he made the post under my name...lol we do it all the time. it must be confusing as hell. anyways my name is john and i have the rx6 and love it.
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Old Jun 26, 2003 | 10:23 PM
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Carlos,

Oil coolers are not the answer, oil temps are not an issue when the oil is flowing. When oil stops flowing so does the cooling, heat conducts down the turbine shaft to the bearing and from the turbine housing to the bearing housing and oil cokes. On a water cooled bearing the coolant system will thermosiphon for quite awhile after shutdown, providing flow and cooling to the bearings almost eliminating coking. Synthetic oil adds a layer of protection by increasing the allowable temperature before oil breakdown.

OEMs found that water cooling extended bearing life significantly on street driven cars. Turbo life is important to the OEMs when they are competing with non-turbo cars.

Kyle
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Old Jun 27, 2003 | 12:43 PM
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Originally posted by apexkw
no harrison is my friend... i have the rx6 on my car. we work at the same place and he didnt notice that he made the post under my name...lol we do it all the time. it must be confusing as hell. anyways my name is john and i have the rx6 and love it.
OK, cool. I didn't think I had ever seen you post your name before. Us RX6 guys gotta stick together!
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Old Jun 27, 2003 | 05:21 PM
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"why is it then that some turbos are just oil cooled? like the rx6 and the gt35/40"

Isn’t the GT35/40 water cooled??
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Old Jun 27, 2003 | 07:40 PM
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Originally posted by rotarypower101
"why is it then that some turbos are just oil cooled? like the rx6 and the gt35/40"

Isn’t the GT35/40 water cooled??
yea, my bad....
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