What makes a turbo long-lasting?

I've heard that bearings are a common failure in turbos.
What bearing designs or mountings last longer?

Is water cooling worth it?
Why some OEM designs are water cooled?
What do they cool, the intake or the exhaust side or both?

Some oiling features to look for?

Generally speaking, Do OEM style, long-lasting turbos offer reduced performance or efficiency?

Now talking about Precision turbos, How long do they last compared to other makes, say Garrett?

For high power applications are there big (70s - 80s mm) and long lasting OEM turbos? Maybe those used in heavy trucks or generators.

Will you kill a big and sturdy Diesel turbo by using it in a gasoline or E85 car?

 

The water cooled turbos only have water going through the center section, cooling the bearings, not the cold or hot sides. There are marine water cooled turbine housings, but they are pretty rare.

The big heavy duty diesel turbos seem to have a great reputation for lasting forever. Borg warner & holeset being a couple of examples.

 

From my experience, NOT buying a Precision turbo helps them last longer. Maybe it's just me, but i've had terrible luck with them.

 

I've run Precision turbos on everything, the old Garrett based turbos, still going strong, and I bought them used.

 

I too have had poor luck with them. I know alot of guys swear by them and they make great power anytime i use one. Then it fails. I personally have had better luck with master power and comp stuff then pricision. But again, thats me. I am partial to a holset when it comes to unkillability. Only thing that sucks is holset doesn't really make a turbo that is 800+ V-8 single turbo friendly that i know of.

 

Holset makes all sorts of turbos big and small... I have a HT60 sitting in the shop. The challenge is the turbine housings can be on the large side. Either way we are going to try a HT60 on a built 4.6.

Check out the HX83 on ebay...

 

Diesel turbos sure seem to last forever. Especially semi trucks.

 

I would venture to say that for the most part your common name turbos are pretty equal. I think it has more to do with properly maintaining your engine oil along with proper plumbing and sizing of lubrication lines and restricting oil pressure to the cartridge correctly. As far as diesel over gas goes I don't really think that is the issue. In a gas vehicle you are looking at 4.5-5 quarts of oil where in a standard turbo diesel you are talking 12-16 quarts of oil so you have much more oil for cooling which tends to give you a better longevity.

 

Basicly same setup I have been on my truck for last 40,000 miles and have almost 70,000 miles on my truck now. Never touched the turbo yet!!! Reliable is right there even at twice the factory power levels to the wheels!!!

http://www.hsperformance.com/ford-6-4l-powerstroke-dyno-results/

 

I think proper lubrication is key, followed by not over speeding. Look at heavy equipment, and large diesel trucks. They feed the turbo with 1/2" or larger feed lines with oil pressure in excess of 100 psi at times. They also have drains, and crankcase venting to to allow that, and the majority of them are only oil cooled. I think people underestimate the amount of cooling (along with lubrication) a proper amount of oil does, and in my opinion anyone using a restrictor on anything other than a BB turbo is asking for early failure. Sometimes a restrictor is an easy fix, and solves the problem short term. I have never run a Precision, but have seen enough fail to choose to stay away..... just my two cents.

 

I had no luck with Precision. Even sent them in and was told twice my oil set up was wrong. A reputable shop said set up looked just fine. After twin PTE62/62's went bad twice in 5 months I figured I must have something wrong. So until I could find out I put on a set of ON3 70mm's and figured I would rather ruin a set of $300 turbo's that are about $50 to rebuild until I find out. Almost 16 months later my On3's are still on there and no problems with over 20lbs of boost. Go figure. What I learned is I think with a ball bearing turbo that most people are putting too much oil too them and not enough line size to drain back to pan. Ran a big restrictor and -10 drain lines and no issues. Precision had me go from a -3 to a -4, to a -6 before I gave up. On3 had me throw a .060 restrictor and use a -4 and all has been fine.

I do think that you will probably make more power with a good name brand turbo but they can go bad just as easy but it costs you a hell of a lot more money when they do.

 

What ball bearing turbos have you used?