water line broke off turbo

[Shawnethan]

I have an 89 daytona ES Turbo, 2.5L SOHC, water and oil cooled and running 10psi. Stock tiny little mitsu turbo.
new motor with synthetic oil, maybe 5 miles on fresh oil. very loyal to oil changes.

When i was removing the turbo for some repairs to the exhaust and o2 sensor(sensor was seized) the water line on the top of my turbo broke off.. a few threads was still inside the turbine casing and i used a screw extractor to extract the pipe and the casing broke....

I have used jb weld and it was solid but didnt sealed.. coolant everywhere..

So i have a few questions on this.

1- Can i block off the water lines and just have my turbo oil cooled?
if so what are the long term effects?

2- Can i break off the jb weld and normally weld it back together?
if so how do i do that properly? my neighbor is an experienced welder but we dont know what the metals are.. to my knowledge the turbine casing is cast iron and the water line is brass?

3- if all else fails, where can i find a replacement turbo? i cannot find one that the intake and exhaust even match up. i've searched every average auto parts store i know of, ebay, craigs, etc...

thank you guys for your time and effort!

[DetroitTurbo]

I woulldnt trust that housing anymore, especially with the heat those turbos make. I have a blown T2 garrett turbo laying around I could sell you for $50 plus shipping. Then you just have to get it rebuilt which is the expensive part.

[GLHNSLHT2]

you broke the center section casing on the turbo?? DAMN! As DT said I wouldn't use it. JB weld won't hold up. The crack could start mixing oil and water.

Use this as an excuse to upgrade to a T2 garrett with the braided coolant and oil lines from TurbosUnleashed.com

http://turbosunleashed.com/shop/high...rret-p-31.html

[ChargedDust]

That brass fitting isn't anything off the shelf, but I think you can still get them from Chrysler. Search on Ebay and you can find new center sections for the turbo. If you're trying to stay as low buck as possible, just replace the housing and the brass fitting, but be forewarned that a lot of times the steel fitting won't unscrew from the brass fitting, so then you need a new steel line also. Again, nothing off the shelf because of the really short tight bend there. So now you have to get the stainless line/kit from T.U. - so maybe that's just the way to go from the start. Oh, you end up changing the center section, at least get new bearings and seals, and remember to mark the alignment of the compressor wheel to the shaft so you maintain the balance when reassembling.

[Shawnethan]

thanks guys for the input! but sadly i'm probably making a bad decision but i'm way over my budget and i need my car, this is my daily driver.

i plugged the water lines on the motor so no water goes to or from the turbo, i've drivin about ten miles so far and did a few 1st-3rd gear pulls once i got to temp and then checked the temp of the turbo and i didn't notice any difference. i know the oil can seize inside the turbo if you kill the motor right when you park. will be getting a turbo timer off of a friend soon, but for now will be sitting in my car for a minute after a drive until i turn the motor off.

and once i get the money i want to get a garret turbo with steel braided lines but i wont have the money for awhile :/

I love this forum because i always get replies quick!
Thanks again for all the help guys!

[DetroitTurbo]

No sweat man just don't expect that turbo to last too long with no water cooling, I don't think the oil goes by fast enough to keep it cool for long drives. But good luck I hope it lasts until you can afford a new one.

[Shawnethan]

Just to let everyone now i've drivin about 200 miles with no water lines to the turbo and haven't ran into any problems! the main trip i was worried about was 4 miles to the freeway, 30 miles on the freeway and then another 2 miles on road, stopped once on the freeway to check and everything was good so i proceeded. on my way back i did not stop and not a single problem! it's been over a week since that trip and everything is normal so far! I've been idling for a min of 30 seconds to let the turbo cool down a little and let the oil circulate and my oil hasn't changed density or color.

I hope this post helps somebody else out!

Stay boostin!

[yellonoma]

I would not worry, I drove all summer (12,233km) on a original mitsu turbo running 14psi with the coolent line cut off and blocked with no issues. That being said I felt the shaft tonight and it's not going to last much longer. So wouldn't recommend doing this unless your planning for a new to you turbo in the near future, which in my case I have a rebuilt T2 waiting for the spring.

[ChargedDust]

Yep, think about what's happening inside the turbo when it heats up.....

The center section is cast steel, so when that heats up all the tolerances inside increase, so your bearings aren't fitting as tight as they should, this will allow the shaft to deflect more and possibly let the compressor rub against the housing. You won't feel any of that driving, but as it happens more and more your turbo will loose efficiency from the compressor and the housing being rubbed. You'll even see this on good running turbos properly hooked up, now take away the cooling, and do enough hard pulls and you're taking a toll on the turbo.

I'd start making plans for a turbo swap if you're gonna leave it like that for any period of time. Start scouring the classified for a good used turbo, or maybe the scrap yards, recondition it before hand and then pick a day where you do the swap,

[danboturbo]

what are you using for oil?
is it 100% synthetic?
if not, i think conventional oil will break down very fast in the extra heat in the turbo and could cause oil related problems in your motor.

"""" edit """"just looked at your first post again, and see you are using synthetic."""

[4Daytonas]

The TDs are practically the only cars using water cooled turbos. Even the big rigs(think Holset) only use oil cooling. I'd bet it'll last a long time if it's in good shape to start with.

[yellonoma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Daytonas The TDs are practically the only cars using water cooled turbos. Even the big rigs(think Holset) only use oil cooling. I'd bet it'll last a long time if it's in good shape to start with.

That was my thought, I mean my 12k on a hacked coolant/oil only mitsu could have been on the way out anyway. However I bet the center bearing housing is designed differently in oil only cooled turbos to allow more efficient use of oil circulation

[The Pope]

the mitsu set breaks off really easy, just drill and tap the housing and blow it out with air good and stick it back on the car.

However this is a great excuse to put a Garret on the car, the car is persuading you to do this at this point lol

[ChargedDust]

I have no other turbo experience than with TDs, but if other mfgs are using larger diameter oil supply lines, then I would think it's reasonable to assume that the oil is carrying off enough of the heat. If you've ever seen the size of the passages inside one of our turbos, the actual passages that go to the bearings are real small. Even under pressure I can't imagine them flowing a lot of oil, not enough for sufficient cooling under load - moderate usage, some spirited passing on the hwy o.k. A hot summer day, some runs at the track, I just don't see it...?

[The Pope]

my Cummins holds 12 quarts + vs 4 quarts + in a TD. You'd need to add an oil cooler and a turbo timer to go without the coolant.