First off it is a brand new Garrett GT42 360 thrust billett wheel. Installed the charger cranked the engine over until we got oil out of the drain. Hooked everything up correctly, and took it and ran it for 5 minutes break in. Went to the event, made a 17 second pull and loaded on the trailer. The bearings are eat out of it. Took the charger apart and the outside of the bearings had wore down considerably, the thrust collar was purple also. Running 30 wt Brad Penn oil and 60 pounds oil pressure. So I get the spare which is the exact same setup charger, changed to a larger feed line (3/8). Ran it for just a second and shut it off. You can tell the bearings are dry again.

How can this be getting oil out the drain but bearings dry?

 

Ever check volume of oil coming out of the drain? Could check pressure at the turbo just to make sure feed line, and location are supplying enough oil.

 

We checked the volume after the first charger took a crap. Hung the line in a bucket, plenty of volume. The supply to the charger is the first thing fed in the system.

 

Could the fitting at the turbo be blocked or not drilled?

 

A few pictures of the last carnage

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what does the oil feed line and fitting look like

as mentioned above maybe the fitting has a small hole???

 

#6 fitting with large hole feeding turbo.

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Not that it makes any difference, but we've always ran -8 feeds on our pullers with good sized turbos as thats what most had stock.... as long as the drain was capable, we gave them as much oil as possible with 55-70 psi worth of boost.

 

what is the inside dia of the stainless fitting

 

Some of the precision turbo's I dealt with had the oil line fitting screwed into the housing. The tip of the fitting actually had a nozzle that lined up with a window in the bearing shell/sleeve. The turbo came with a stern warning to not loosen or remove the fitting or damage would result. Looking at your bearing something is touching the outer diameter of it. This is either cutting off the oil supply or is forcing the bearing sleeve into the shaft. There shouldn't be anything in the housing to groove the outside like that if it's a full floating bearing.

Edit: Just saw where you put a separate turbo on. I guess you need to verify you have a good supply and drain. Also check crankcase ventilation. If crankcase pressure reaches oil pressure you won't have any flow.

 

I was thinking crankcase venting too, but he said the second turbo seemed dry after only running it a few seconds, and you'd think there would be signs of it elsewhere as leakage.

 

any word from the manufacturer ??

 

Is running a rubber hose as an oil feed to turbo a good idea? Been working on diesels for over 30 years and no one uses rubber oil feed lines.

 

There is something basic wrong. Clogged oil passage... something along those lines.

 

Is the kink in the turbo drain as bad as it looks?

 

Is there any rubber on the charge pipe to isolate the compressor housing. If not this can cause force being input into the compressor housing an cause unusual failures similar to what you describe.