idea on keeping turbo cool...

[WazR32GTSt]

its gettign to summer and we all know that heat is one of the many enemies that turbochargers have, so i have been thinking of this idea to keep the turbo nice and cool...

would it work if i were to tap into the water lines that feed the turbo and run them into some sort of transmission cooler?

So that all the water that runs to the turbo runs through the small water cooler and cools nicely and then travels into the turbo to absorb the heat that the turbo has within it.

would it work? has it been tried?

and most importantly, am i being stupid (again!)?

(did a search but couldn't find anything)

just an idea...

Waz.

[Abo Bob]

Well that water already goes through the radiator although it also goes through your engine before getting to the turbo so you might have a point.

[aybee]

cause its running at such high temps it might not be good to run cold water through it. maybe it just needs water that is cooler than the turbo.

[WazR32GTSt]

well its not like the water is going to reach lower than ambient temp anyway so its not 'cold' more of 'warm' but its better than hot water me htinks

has this been done? what about on race cars?

[bangahh]

might be a bit drastic, what about a bonnet vent above the turbo to direct air down and flow past the turbo. or will it cause too much drag ?

[tang0]

they do this on the later model supras, aparently the exhaust manifold at No4 piston is very prone to overheating and cracking, so with the later models they added a little bonnet scoop to direct air over the exhaust manifold, and in turn the turbos ...

if it works for the manufacturers, why not ....

might be a bit drastic, what about a bonnet vent above the turbo to direct air down and flow past the turbo. or will it cause too much drag ?

[aybee]

well its not like the water is going to reach lower than ambient temp anyway so its not 'cold' more of 'warm' but its better than hot water me htinks

what i meant was that relative to the running temp of a turbo, ambient water is cold. just like when you have a over heating car, you cant put water straight in cause it may crack the block. so im assuming that running water through the turbo at considerably lower temps than itself may cause cracking. but i could be way off.

[WazR32GTSt]

where are the turbo experts?

[Busky2k]

I dont think running colder water in the turbo lines will do jack. Cos all your doing is cooling down the turbo cartridge ever so slightly and the temp of the oil will easily offset this, not to mention all the shitload of heat coming from the turbo manifold and turbine housing.

Best thing to do is get your turbine housing and turbo manifold HPC coated!!!!!

[Bass Junky]

Busky2k is right.

The oil going through a turbo will also have an optimum operating temperature.

Much like your engine.

I think the oil and water cooling should be fine.

Get an oil cooler insted.

[Guest RedLineGTR]

Get an oil cooler insted.

[Sydneykid]

Hi guys, maybe we should put some numbers down, it might help answer the question. The turbine is at 750 degrees, ambient air temp is at 30 degrees (it's summer time) and radiator water temp is 85 degrees. If you had a 100% cooler then the water would go down from 85 degrees to 30 degrees before it went into the turbo core. There is of course no such thing as a 100% efficiency cooler, about 70% is a pretty good effort. So that would make the water temp 44 degrees. Personally I don't think the 41 degree lower water temp is going to make much diference to 750 degrees, especially since it is going through the core which is isolated/insulated from the turbine.

That's probably why I have never seen this technique used, the most common turbo cooler is ducting blowing ambient air over the whoile turbo. That's arguably much more efficient method.

Interesting subject though....

[finch]

the most common turbo cooler is ducting blowing ambient air over the whoile turbo.

meaning.... a bonnet scoop?

[tang0]

Hense the supra turbo type mod ..

meaning.... a bonnet scoop?

[bangahh]

say if we dont want to put a bonnet vent, cause the rexxie boys would get point their fingers and smirk. well anyways, how much air does get flowed through the oem snorkel to the air filter ?

would it be worthwhile to custom make a snorkle from the front to direct air over the turbo ? Ie use the whole front grill to redirect air.

Just a thought and another project on the back burner. hmmmm maybe i should patent this idea.

[Bass Junky]

I reckon the R34 GTR NACA duct is the goods.

Right where the GTR one is.

I want one.

[psi]

Hey SK,

would not the slightly cooler water temp 'absorb' some of the latent heat stored in the turbos bearings and prolong the life of the turbo?

I see you point about the 750+ degree heat in the turbine, but ask yourself, why did garrett go from using just the oil for lubrication and cooling,

to water and oil? To help the bearings live longer.

Can the oil being fed to the turbo be slightly cooler than the engine if the engine has already cooked out the moisture? What i'm pointing at is this, could/would it work more efficiently with lower water and oil temps at the turbo to reduce the core temp and help the turbo live longer..

Cooler oil WILL prevent the turbo from spinning as easily because it would be thincker..! but the oil also absorbs a massive amount of heat, as does the water. Your engine uses water from the radiator at a much lower temp than the engine is running at, why then cannot the turbo?

If you could measure the outlet temp of the water coming out of the turbo, then compare that to the engines heat..

then add the cooler and do the same. that would end this part of the discussion!

thoughts..?

Aaron

[SECURITY]

the liberty rs turbos use their bonnet scoop for a air feed to the turbo. its a neat little design. it would be a good idea to copy it

[Omurru]

wooot 3yr old thread :sorcerer:

[paulr33]

I see you point about the 750+ degree heat in the turbine, but ask yourself, why did garrett go from using just the oil for lubrication and cooling,

to water and oil? To help the bearings live longer.

This was probably done to negate some of the risk with bearing failure if the engine is shut off and the core has excessively high temps, ie 1000deg

It probably helps prolong the life of the bearings as well so they dont need to service them as often, ie: it could be 100,000 instead of 50,000 for a rebuild