Turbo Build

[Myrunr2010]

Starting to question the idea of using the turbo timer. Seems that other folks who do rear mounts (other cars, not 4runners) often just run a check valve after the turbo. Thinking about doing a 90 deg swivel fitting out of the turbo and then a check valve.

Think that would work? My only concern is that pressure of the oil pushing back on the check valve from unreturned oil would be greater than that trying to push out of the turbo and would end up not draining the oil from the turbo after turning the vehicle off.

 

[phattyduck]

My concern is just as much about the leftover oil in the feed line filling up the turbo as it is with the scavange pump outlet draining back into the turbo.

Delay-off relay: 12V Adjustable Delay Timer Relay (Delay ON/OFF) | 12 Volt Planet (I'm sure you could find something stateside)

Oil drain sump:

It uses both a drain to the pump and a vent to the oiling crankcase vent system (so avoid negative pressure on the turbo).

-Charlie

 

[Myrunr2010]

My concern is just as much about the leftover oil in the feed line filling up the turbo as it is with the scavange pump outlet draining back into the turbo.

Delay-off relay:
(I'm sure you could find something stateside)

Oil drain sump:

It uses both a drain to the pump and a vent to the oiling crankcase vent system (so avoid negative pressure on the turbo).

-Charlie

A simple relay like that is really ideally what I’d like to do. I don’t need anything super complex.

I’ve been googling around all day looking for a “rear mount oil sump” to no avail. Is there any reason an oil catch can couldn’t work? Put the inlet from the turbo in the top connection and the scavenge pump on the bottom connection? That would give the delta in height between the two for oil to fill up once the cars turned off.

I think I’m the meantime until I really figure out which way I want to go, I’m going to wire it to something that gets power in the ACC position and just sit there for a minute and let the pump do it’s thing. A very manual turbo timer, lol.

 

[phattyduck]

A simple relay like that is really ideally what I’d like to do. I don’t need anything super complex.

It'll be a challenge to find something off the shelf. And it is a 'refinement' sort of thing. You'll quickly find out how much of a problem it is, and a little oil past the seals isn't the end of the world - just annoying/scary if you don't know what it is.

A small catch can might be perfect. It'll have 3 ports to use, which is ideally what you need (oil from turbo, vent to crankcase vent and drain to scavenge pump). Get the rest of the system up and running and then go from there.

-Charlie

 

[Myrunr2010]

Oil supply/return lines are in. Took me a good part of the day.

The “t” adapter I ordered from eBay didn’t end up working, and I didn’t want to wait around for more parts, so I ended up just t’ing the supply from the same place as my oil pressure gauge (the port next to the oil filter).

Instead of the turbo timer I ended up going with a DIY catch can that I was able to just hose clamp to the frame. I’ve not driven it a bunch yet as a proof of concept, so I’ll have to keep tabs on it.

The exhaust is a lot louder than I was expecting it to be. I ran the truck (at idle) before putting the muffler and rear of the exhaust on...they don’t really quiet it down, although I don’t hear the turbo the whistle, which was the goal with muffler.

The scavenge pump is loud, I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but whew. I wired it to the cigarette lighter, so it turns on when I put the key in ACC, and I can leave it in ACC when I turn it off if for some reason my catch doesn’t work out.

Just need to source my intake and charge piping now and I’ll be making boost. Maybe I’ll get stuff ordered tomorrow, we’ll see.

 

[Myrunr2010]

Well, wish I had a “man, she really rips” type post, but I don’t, lol.

Everything is connected and hooked up, I’m just not generating any boost. The first run out I got no boost. I realized I needed to adjust the waste gate, which I did (it was set to be half open all the time). Second time out it hit 6psi, but it didn’t start generating boost until like 3000 rpm, and that was only once. After going up and down the road it really only hits ~1psi. I’m wondering if I need to adjust/do some stuff on the waste gate some more.

Additionally, the AFR’s are all over the place, especially at idle, jumps from 10 to - - -, then back to 10. If I’m not careful it’ll shut off and I have to restart it. Is it safe to assume that this is perhaps the ECU “relearning” or is it possible I’ve already jacked something up?

Also, my oil sump seems to be working as far as letting everything drain back into it, however, i noticed yesterday that it had a small leak going on. I took it off and used some epoxy on it, we’ll see if it holds. If not I’ll have to re-evaluate it.

 

[Myrunr2010]

Looks like the cheap pipe clamps that came with one of my fittings came off, causing a boost leak, which would explain the lack of boost and weird symptoms. Running good now! Need to do a boost leak test at some point, apparently that can explain why there is lag in it generating boost (since I was expecting it to start generating boost around 1500-2000 in lieu of 3k).

It’s running and producing boost though, so I think I’m going to lick my financial wounds (spent closer to 1300 total in lieu of the expected 800) and enjoy it for a little while.

 

[Myrunr2010]

I ended up just running flexipipe for the intake back to the turbo, now that I see how it all runs, I’ll probably slowly replace it all with silicone fittings and actual piping.

 

[Thebeastlives]

So overall how do you like the drivability of the turbo?

 

[Myrunr2010]

So overall how do you like the drivability of the turbo?

I think I may still have a boost leak somewhere, so I need to order a tester to give it a once over. I also need to order two t-bolt clamps too to replace band clamps currently installed. That being said, I still have some kinks to work out.

My only other experience with boost is with a supercharger on my MR2 (which actually has an electromagnetic clutch that engages/disengages based on cylinder pressure). So I’m still kind of learning the difference, since a SC is pretty much power on demand. Although if I start to build boost and hit the max around the range that clownmeat does, it should pretty much be boost on command.

 

[Thebeastlives]

It will be interesting to see how this works out for your 3rd gen 4 runner. Curious to see if you get close to the power of the 4th gen and 5th gen 4 runners. I know the SC 3rd gen do, at least a stock 4.0 4th and 5th gen. All my turbo vehicles have been faster than the SC version under the same build and psi. So keep going I enjoy watching your progress.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Glad to hear it's up and running! You'll get it smoothed out in due time for sure. I can't remember though, do you have the ability to tune it or are you at the mercy of the stock ECU?

 

[Myrunr2010]

Glad to hear it's up and running! You'll get it smoothed out in due time for sure. I can't remember though, do you have the ability to tune it or are you at the mercy of the stock ECU?

Mercy of the stock I believe. I’m not sure there is a need to tune it though. The TRD supercharger runs 7psi with no fuel mods or tune.

 

[sportscarfan]

The accordion hose is probably making the turbo work harder - especially at that length

 

[Myrunr2010]

The accordion hose is probably making the turbo work harder - especially at that length

Agreed. I want to get my charge lines checked for leaks then I’ll start working on replacing that with some hard line. It certainly makes it easier to determine what types of piping/fittings I’ll need though.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Mercy of the stock I believe. I’m not sure there is a need to tune it though. The TRD supercharger runs 7psi with no fuel mods or tune.

It does, but at WOT can run as lean as 15 AFR's. There's another guy who did a turbo build on here with no change to the fuel system and he melted a piston. Even Clownmeat had a older URD fuel/timing calibrator on his build. But, you do have an AFR gauge so that's good, you can at least keep an eye on it.

If you do decide to add more fuel, the "pink tops" that many 2RZ guys use on their turbo Tacomas may work very well for your application, heck you might even have a set on your engine, not sure if the 3RZ do too.

 

[Myrunr2010]

It does, but at WOT can run as lean as 15 AFR's. There's another guy who did a turbo build on here with no change to the fuel system and he melted a piston. Even Clownmeat had a older URD fuel/timing calibrator on his build. But, you do have an AFR gauge so that's good, you can at least keep an eye on it.

If you do decide to add more fuel, the "pink tops" that many 2RZ guys use on their turbo Tacomas may work very well for your application, heck you might even have a set on your engine, not sure if the 3RZ do too.

I’ll have to do some research into this pink top and see what it’s all about. I hadn’t really considering wandering over to the Tacoma forums to see what they do.

I know clownmeat ran his with the stock fuel system for a while and eventually upgraded his fuel pump to richen it up some. Since i mostly did the upgrade for more power when towing, I don’t foresee myself doing too many WOT runs...once the newness wears off, lol.

 

[gamefreakgc]

I’ll have to do some research into this pink top and see what it’s all about. I hadn’t really considering wandering over to the Tacoma forums to see what they do.

I know clownmeat ran his with the stock fuel system for a while and eventually upgraded his fuel pump to richen it up some. Since i mostly did the upgrade for more power when towing, I don’t foresee myself doing too many WOT runs...once the newness wears off, lol.

Performance | Toyota Tacoma Forum is where I poke around and ask about performance tips. You'll see my thread on there asking about 3" intakes. The forum is sort of dead from it's hayday but the search uncovers and absolute wealth of knowledge about turbo and supercharged builds.

 

[Myrunr2010]

Few updates after a week or so of driving it around.

I tightened up all my t-bolt clamps (except one, which I broke), boost seems to be coming on much earlier/stronger. Can't wait to get the new one in tomorrow and see how it reacts with no leaks.

I did some research before installing my oil lines on the turbo to determine if i should use a restictor in line. All the turbo experts/manufactures recommend for a journal bearing turbo to use no restrictor, but most people say they use one. I opted for the experts opinion, but im getting an awful lot of oil in my charge line. I'm gonna look around for one that's the right size to put in line.


My sump seems to be working good for letting the turbo drain out when I shut it down, as i've been seeing no smoke on start up or anything, but i mounted it on the inside of the frame rail and its not been able to stand up to the heat.


Went and picked this up from my folks place tonight, which is ~30 minute away down the highway. I used to struggle when it on the highway, i'd have to stay in 4th just to keep up with folks at highway speeds. I was now able to comfortably cruise in 5th. Boost jump anywhere from 0 to 3psi while i was pulling it home. Overall very happy with how much better it pulled.


So about 5 minutes out from my house I started billowing smoke real real heavy out of the tail pipe (see video below). Got pulled over and noticed that my scavenge pump wasn't working. I guess it has a thermal overload on it that shuts it down if it gets too hot. Currently my pump is also mounted on the side of the frame rail next to the exhaust. So im planning to mount it and a new sump on the outside of the frame rail in order to help sheild it from any heat. This will also simplify my intake routing since there won't be anything between the exhaust and frame rail to dodge.

YouTube

 

[Myrunr2010]

Just a short update.

Moved the pump to the outboard side of the frame rail and made the reverse trip of the week before and it ran just fine, no issues.

Found a 0.075 oil restricter that’s a 4an male to female (biggest I could find when searching for restricters). Installed it this morning. Hopefully it’ll cut down on the amount of oil in my intake. It was starting to cause the truck to idle high from oil coating the throttle body.

Going to start ordering/running all my hardline intake next. Get rid of all the flexipipe, I think that’s probably hindering performance quite a bit.

Also, averaged my gas mileage over the last 20 fillips and I’ve averaged 12.73. Be curious to see how/if that changes dramatically at all due to the turbo.