Water cooled Turbo, can i plumb it like this ?
Turbo Mini Forums

I've done a bit of a search and found a couple of topics that helped, but what i need to know is could i plumb my water cooled Turbo in line after the heater where the pipe comes out the bulkhead, then into the bottom hose ? would this be ok ?
Or should i put it in line from the bottom hose and into the top of the radiator ? i have an extra pipe available on the top of the rad.

Cheers
Phil.

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i would say phil

you could just make it an extension of the heater ?
and leave it at that
theres many options but this would be my feeling

I would recomend not water cooling it, in a mini especially a turbo you struggle with high water temperatures anyway, dumping turbo heat into the water would only make this much much worse, unless your running a front mounted rad and some serious fans.

The Renault 5 turbo used a air fan remotely mounted and some ducting to push cold air at the outside of the turbo and carb something similar would be useful.

Alternatively if you do have the facility in your turbo to water cool then an auxialary water circuit not connected to main water circuit and using a oil cooler mounted low down below the subframe at front or high up on left hand side of engine bay with a rear fan and an electric pump might be workable.

There are plenty of spaces for sticking these things, just need a little lateral though.

Paul

An oil cooler used to cool water is a waste of time. They do NOT make good water radiators, mainly due to the fact they are designed to deal with a completely different viscosity of fluid passing through them.

and a water cooled turbo is a good idea

phil, i'm going to try doing as you have suggested myself, but im dumping the hot water back into the top hose via an adaptor.

jim's got a good thread about his somewhere and there was a lot of discussion on it.

Phil, I'm taking the water from the bottom hose, through the turbo, then I have a y connector, taking water from the turbo, and the heater output on head, through oil cooler as second rad, and then into top house, (via metro thermostat housing)


I have heard a lot of people say that oil coolers do not make good rads, and I understand the logic, but if you cut an oil cooler core in half, and do the same to a rad, you will find that the core sizes are very simular. id you look at an ally radiator (water) then you will see there exactly the same. I have used an oil cooler in the past as a water radiator, and I could noticeable feel the difference between the in and the out on the pipes.

I can see the only main difference between an oil cooler and a rad is where the pipes are, ie, top and bottom on a water radiator, and both on the top for an oil cooler. IMO if you simply turn an oil cooler on it's side, so you have water inlet and outlets top and bottom it will be a help. It may not be as effecient as one designed for the job, but far from a waste of time.

Anyone else got any thoughts on this. I'm just a computer geek, and not an engineer

Team Racing

Cheers guys ! Nearly done now, should be back on the road tomorrow so i can test out the new Turbo.

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what turbo you gone for phil?

Team Racing

yeah, what turbo have you gone for Phil?

Late spec Renault 5 jobbie. Was gonna stick with the T3 so i sold my Mirage set-up to Iain. I knew my faithful old T3 was about ready for a rebuild so i was gonna get it rebuilt by Turbotechnics,but this wasn't cheap ....
When an almost new T2 came up for sale for a similar price, i bought that !
It now sits on a modified Metro manifold as per Turbodave.
Just about to go and test it out !! :cool:

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you will never go back to a t3

Team Racing

I wouldnt return into your bottom hose as it will feed hot water back into the engine.

To make a cheapo return into the top hose get a bottom hose, chop it down so it fits in as per normal top hose, remember the leave the take off bit in the hose! Return from the turbo into this point.

I personally take the water off the end of the head with a T piece and return into the top hose using the cut down bottom hose method

Thank Greypride for the idea of choping down a bottom hose, im not going to take the credit for it!!!!

Dan

+ i run with a 2 core side mounted rad, plumbed in turbo and have NO heating problems what so ever. I found it made no difference to the temp at all.

Old a+ block with no large cast number on the front if you are interested

Yeah that's what i was thinking about putting hot water back into the bottom hose.
Have plumbed it up after the heater and then into the top of the radiator, so the hot waters going back where it should.

Phil.

WWW.TURBO-MINI.COM

bodge?

looks factory to me!

Ive cut mine differently, my bit from the turbo faces forwards!

I'll post a pic next time im home

anyhow, with any luck it will heat your car up phil, if your unlucky it could be as hot as your sister

ive got a sandwich plate to put on the thermostat housing that will allow me to put the return there instead