Turbo Oil Coolers????

[JHG]

I've seen that a couple different turbo company's are cooling the turbo oil on the garret kits? Has there been any testing to show that this helps turbo life?

I wonder because(and I maybe wrong) I don't think cars or trucks use oil coolers before the turbo...do they? Garret has a water jacket made to cool the turbo so why the need to cool the oil? Would the increased viscosity of the cold oil not be harmful to the turbo? When I asked Garret about what oil to run in my 2860, they told me to run something pretty thin like a 0W or 5W oil because of the cold temps.

I know there's some engineers and kit builders out there, so what the deal....is an oil cooler really necessary? Is there any chance that raising the viscosity of the oil in the turbo would be counterproductive and possibly lead to a failure?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[devilrmk]

In my opinion its not needed. Mine is a mitsubishi not a garrett but my oil temps are only about 180-200 degrees, right in line with what they are on a car. Run a good synthetic light oil and change it as often as you wish. Its only a quart, just change it every few rides if there is any worry. Personally I would just change it preseason and run it.

 

[Outbound86]

Oil does not even start working good until 180F --- don't worry until it goes over 250F. Use full syn oil and you will be OK.