A little over a month ago I bought a used STS turbo kit for my 2003 z (DE). The kit was advertised as a full kit with a blown turbo, meaning it included everything except fuel pump, injectors, and other supporting mods. Being that everybody that sell a FI kit used is shady, it did not come with everything. Im not too butthurt about the pieces missing because I didn't plan on putting this kit on until summer so I have time to get all the pieces I need.
My question about this is: the Garrett turbo is blown {Joe thinks it just needs a check valve (~$50)}. I talked to him about other options and he mentioned an oil-less kit they offer. For those that aren't familiar with them, I believe they use coolant to cool the turbo rather than having to run oil lines.
Does anybody have any experience with them?
Anybody know what kind is recommended?
And what pieces of the kit would be replaced by getting an oil-less turbo? Such as obviously the oil pump would no longer be needed.
I emailed Joe the other day asking about their kit but I have not heard back yet. And from my searching, there seem to be very few threads on this topic and I am just trying to gather some information so I can determine what I want to do with this kit.

 

Cooling system needs to be at 100%, because this will dump copious amounts of heat into the coolant. Other than that I've heard good things about them.

 

The term you are looking for is water cooled. Lots of those out there. Still need oil for the bearings though. Water is not a good enough lubricant at the rpms turbos spin.

 

Ok that makes sense. But as I read through this they make it sound like the oil is completely eliminated http://compturbo.com/spotlights/oil-less
I mean maybe Im just not seeing something right.
And trying to determine which turbo I would need is beyond confusing, they supply 6 different series and within each series they are numerous different options for each turbo. http://compturbo.com/turbochargers

 

Im pulling this quote from an ls1 forum so it may not be 100% true but this seems to be what I am finding
"The way the comp turbos work is that they use very high speed angular bearings, there are 2 opposing on the compressor side, and a third on the turbine side that is under light spring pressure to account for thremal expansion.

The oil less turbos are basically just a standard comp TBB center, the only big advancement is the addition of a very specific extremely high temperature capable grease that is used to pack the bearing unit with. This is expected to last 5 years or 40-50k miles.

They work unbeleiveably, the 70mm and smaller stuff is pretty affordable, but the best 346-408ci turbo is the 8079, and the oil-less version is around $2400. Size for size the Comp will make more power, spool faster, and has a stronger billet compressor wheel than anything else. This is jsut my opinion from experience"

 

use an exa-pump and a PTE 6266. Save yourself hassle and make a ton more power.

 

To be honest power isn't what I'm worried about. This is my daily driver and continue to be. Not only am I not aiming for super high number, i do not want to be over 400whp. With that being said I want reliability and the most sturdy kit.
And as far as cost goes wouldn't that pump and turbo still put me close to $1500?

 

If you dont want want to spend more than $1500 and have reliability you better find a different platform unless your doing a tune and bolt ons.

 

Oh I misread what str8dum1 said. I thought he said "save yourself money and get more power".
Money isn't a worry for me. Like I said I plan to do the kit this summer and even if I don't have the money to do it right then I will wait until I do.
My end goal is to make a very reliable and strong daily driver

 

Huh that's cool. Didn't know there was such a thing as an oil less turbo. Sounds like it's another maintenance point though if you've gotta repack it with super secret squirrel grease every 40-50k miles. I'll just stick to my oiled turbos.

 

40k miles without having to mess with anything really does seem too bad. From what I have been reading, the maintenance is roughly $400 every 40-50k like you said. And the other things I have been finding say that the Comp oil less turbos actually spool faster than traditional turbos

 

good luck if you go down that road. i'd try to find some actual owners before you drop your money.

 

Thats what Im trying to do. Seems like these were a big topic on an ls1 forum and many people said they purchased them but never did a followup on how they performed

 

Well after reading more about these turbos, my plan as of now is to talk to Comp and see what turbo they think would be best for me. And come this summer when more funds are available I think I may be the first person to put one of these turbos onto a 350z.

As a side note, does anybody know what a Garrett that could use to be rebuilt sells for?

 

any bb garrets cost basically full price for a rebuild. the only thing that can be reused in the housings

 

Im pretty sure I can get it completely rebuilt for around $500. And thats assuming that it does completely need to be rebuilt and its not just the check valve that needs to be replaced.

 

when you say it needs a check valve are you talking about the valve in the oil feed line to stop oil draining into the turbo after shut-off ?
because if this or the scavenge pump are faulty there will be lots of oil getting past the turbo seals making it look like a faulty turbo.

 

That is exactly what Im talking about. And after talking to STS on the phone, they said that from the descriptions I could give them, they are 95% sure the turbo only needs that valve replaced.
That is the main reason I bought this kit, the previous owner thought the whole kit was screwed because there was oil in all of the piping and even some in the intercooler.

 

its easy to tell if the turbo is bad. If you can move the turbine around, its bad.

The check valve isnt on the turbo either, and 1 way valves hardly go bad. its a basic spring with a seal.

 

That's exactlyl what I told the guys at STS as well. There response to that was that the oil check valve is actually one of the more common problems. And I told them the turbo did have some play to it. They said that these turbos do typically have more turbine play than people feel comfortable with.
With that being said, I still feel like it has more play than it should.

In the end, I'm pretty sure the turbo is done. But the question is is it worth rebuilding