Oil lines ???

I have done a lot of research on turbos, but I have not figured out how to setup the oil line to the Turbo. Do I need to setup a dry sump and use some kind of pump to push the oil to the turbo? or does the turbo have a way to pull oil into it? Also on a water and oil cooled turbo, I have the same question for the water lines.

I have a remote turbo setup in my carburated truck and i have a remote reservoir and pump set up. If this helps any haha i just thought i would input since no one else has.

your engines oil pump supplies pressurized oil for the turbo. you need a place to tap into your oil system, such as where the stock oil pressure sender screws into the block. you then need to route a return line to the oil pan (oil is carried away via gravity, so the turbo needs to be mounted higher than the oil pan).

Oil is supplied from a fitting on the rear left side of the cylinder head. This fitting also has the oil pressure sender. The oil return is gravity flow, and should be larger than the pressure line. You can drill and tap a hole in the side of the block, or do the same thing on the oil pan. You want it high on the pan up by the pan rail.

Water is fed from the heater input hose(they are metal on a factory turbo), and the water output goes into the side of the block. You can run this line to the pump input line.

Turbo's on 83 thru 86 t-coupes were oil feed only, no water. shady

Thanks!! This is very helpful.

Are you running manifold-mount or remote-mount? If it's remote, you're going to need an oil pump to return the oil up to the block, because you aren't going to get the oil to gravity feed with it lower than the block.

The sending unit is the easiest spot to tap onto. Then, either tap a fitting to the oil pan, or tap a fitting into the oil filler neck for it to drain back into. Make sure it's lower than the crankcase vent line, though. If you go with the oil pan (like Shady said) make sure it's high up to keep the flow as high and unrestricted as possible.

The plan is to run the turbo remotely, from where the y connects to the cat. That just looks like the best location for it. What kind of oil pump will work best for the return line? Or would it be easier to fabricate a dry sump system, just for the turbo, using a pump to send the oil and then gravity for the return?

quikshift444 said:

The plan is to run the turbo remotely, from where the y connects to the cat. That just looks like the best location for it. What kind of oil pump will work best for the return line? Or would it be easier to fabricate a dry sump system, just for the turbo, using a pump to send the oil and then gravity for the return?

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You're going to have a hell of a time making gravity pull things uphill. Remote mounts typically sit lower than the level of the return fitting for the oil pan. You will want to run a pump just to be sure. Even if the hose was level, relying on the oil pressure backing up in the turbo to push the oil back to the block is going to cause a leak in the bearings. It takes hardly any pressure to get oil leaking from the bearings. A manifold-mounted turbo has a vertical (or very near-vertical) return line so restriction isn't a problem - a remote mount isn't oriented in a way that will let this same concept work.

The engine provides perfectly sufficient incoming oil pressure for the turbo. You just need a pump to get it back to the engine after it's gone through the turbo. The easiest spot to tap oil from is usually the oil pressure sending unit.

My CarDomain page (link below) has some pictures of what my oil system looks like. The pump I'm using is actually an agricultural sprayer pump. It's been used time and time again on numerous turbo'd applications with great results. The only real concern with it is the incoming fluid temperature has to be reasonably low (less than 170F). I used steel line feeding oil to the turbo, then an oil cooler between the turbo oil outlet and the pump to get it as cool as possible. I haven't had a single problem with it so far. I wired it on a relay to the ignition (key on, pump on). I've also seen people use differential pumps as return pumps. Whatever works, the range is pretty broad.

The last thing you will want is a small sump tank below the turbo to let the oil drain out after the pump shuts off (when you shut the truck off). There will still be a little bit of oil in the feed line, and it needs a place to drain out of the turbo to keep from burning and caking up in the bearings. A half-quart capacity would be more than enough. I used a small chunk of channel steel with the ends welded shut as a tank. Looks clean, works great.

Awesome! Your turbo setup is almost identical to what I was thinking! Now I have a new question. I see on your setup you said you used a small turbo. I have a turbo from an 88 subaru GL 1.8L is that to small? I have another from a 6.5L diesel which I know is way to big, but if the 1.8L size is to small could I run a sequential turbo setup to acheive a near constant 8psi?

Yes the turbo from the subaru would be too small. And the turbo from the 6.5 is too big. DO NOT go sequential, it is WAY more complicated and gathering from your posts you aren't ready for that yet. Please don't take offense, just trying to help. I you might want to get a T3 turbo from a turbocoupe, probably the .60/.63 from the 83-86 5-speed models. I am not sure though about sizing a remote mount turbo, I've never done it.

No its cool like I said I've done a lot of research and thats it so far. I've done some engine swaps but thats pretty much just bolt on stuff. I'm new to the turbo world and appreciate all of the help.

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