Oil feed line to turbo

[Anonymous_User]

This was brought up in another thread. Something I've never heard of so I thought I would start some conversation.

I've always run a hard line for the oil feed to the turbo. Piece of, I don't know, either 5/16 or 3/8 inch hard line bent to fit with a compression coupling in the middle for ease of head removal.

Now, another member mentioned that too much oil flow to the turbo could cause seals to blow. I have lost two turbos recently due to seals but neither one was new. They both went when taken above 15 psi for the first time.

Oil return from turbo is a large line that just gravity feeds to the pan, so I'm not seeing how excessive oil flow to the turbo could be a bad thing.

Also, I'm running the original oil pump. With an aftermarket gauge I have under 20 psi oil pressure at hot idle and 40 psi oil pressure at rpm.

Is this an area for concern? The return line IS NOT blocked.

[Frank]

I dont know if it should be thought of oil flow, but excessive pressure. Smaller lines allow the flow to the turbo be less and in turn reduce the pressure at the turbo. I am not sure how the oil chamber in the center section of the turbo is setup, however I dont think that making an overly large return line will reduce the tendency to leak.

The best person to answer this would be Chris Wright.

[Anonymous_User]

Maybe I wasn't too clear. The question is would a feed line being too large cause problems?

[tryingbe]

Have you done a leak down test yet?

[Chris W]

The restriction is in the bearing housing. A larger line could not cause the seal to "blow".

Chris-TU

[Anonymous_User]

The restriction is in the bearing housing. A larger line could not cause the seal to "blow".

Thanks Chris.

It is as I thought, but as always, an expert opinion is always appreciated.

[cordes]

The restriction is in the bearing housing. A larger line could not cause the seal to "blow".

Chris-TU

Wow, thanks. That pic sure does shoot down much of the theory regarding line size and pressure related failures I have read about recently.