Here are the specs on my build/car to start.....

1997 camaro SS
5.3 LS swap w/th400 and QTP 9 inch rear
799 heads, ls9 cam, ls9 springs, ls9 head gaskets, arp headstuds/rod bolts, ls2 intake, seimans deka 80# injectors.

fuel system is factory tank sumped into magnafuel 750 pump with a -10 feed line amd -10 return. All magnafuel filters and a -10 holley FPR.

turbo setup is precision Pt88 turbo with truck manifolds and 2.5 inch merge with a tial 44mm wastegate, 4 inch downpipe dumping behind motor with an AEM wideband 12 inches from turbo. -4 unrestrected feed from filter housing into turbo and -10 return into side of pan. Just to make sure the return hose wasnt a problem at first I just hooked up a 3/4 inch heater hose and it is downhill both ways. 3" intercooler piping with a Tial Q BOV.

Cooling system is vertical Griffen 25241-X with dual 10" fans pulling with my steam tube ported into the very top of my upper radiator hose which is a hardline over my turbo.

Pcv setup is a 1/2 inch hose off each valve cover going into a vented catch can

Now to the problem..... I have started the car and it runs perfect. I drove the car a little and noticed it started smoking pretty bad so I decided to remove the turbo since I bought it used and make sure that was okay. Sure enough it was bad on the exhaust side. Sent it in to get a call back from them telling me the only thing usable on it is the 2 housings and the compressor wheel. Exhaust turbine, bearings, seals, whole center section and back plate and just under 1k bucks later I get my pretty much brand new pt88 back from precision. Put it back on and fire it up.......after about 5-10 minutes of idle time, never even putting the car in gear, it started smoking again just as bad as before. Also, aside from that problem, my cooling system seems to have an issue.....the system builds great pressure and the thermostat opens properly but after the t-stat opens and the temp drops a bit from 165 or so then it starts to slowly rise. After it hits 185 the fans kick on, but the temp just keeps slowly rising. I have verified this by my scanner, gauge and my autometer gauge. Once it hits about 210 I shut it off but it will not maintain a temp at idle at all.

I am to the edge of finishing this build and it is really testing my motivation with these 2 problems I can not figure out. If anyone knows whats going on with either 2 issues please help me out!!!!! Also, if it matters, my oil pressure is about 45 psi at idle and about 65 driving down the road. Turbo builds boost great but havent driven it since I got it back. Thanks again for looking!!!!

 

Sounds like you might need a oil restrictor for your smoking problem

 

Fans might not be sufficient? What fans are they? Most people run the derales as pushers and don't have much of an issue. I went with a dual pass griffen to make sure that it was staying cool enough.

 

Precision acted to me like a -4an wasnt even big enough for a pt88 and I should be using a -6an. Everyone else runs a -4an unrestricted feed on this turbo so I really dont think a restrictor is nessecary. As for the fans, im just running your standard 10" fans on the radiator. I really dont have room for a shroud as my fans are almost touching my turbo blanket as it is. Any setup idea will be appreciated.

 

You only need a restrictor if it's a ball bearing turbo. Did you pull the hose off the steam line coming off the heads and burp all the air out till only fluid ran out and no air was present?

 

Yes I made sure the steam tube was solid water. I dont think its air in the system strictly because the temp never goes up fast. Its always a very slow rise until I shut it off.

 

Ok. I have a foxbody I swapped a 4.8 turbo into and had cooling issues with radiator being to small and I have a fmic cutting down airflow. What I did to cure this is I moved the radiator into the core support to move it away from all the hotside turbo heat and put the biggest griffin radiator in it I could and it was a pain to get in but worth it. It's a dual pass 31x19x2.75 two row with 1 1/4 tubes with low profile dual electric fans set up as pullers. Before this my temps would just keep on creeping till I had to just kill the engine to let it cool. Now I can sit in traffic and the highest it has gotten is 207 and 195 going down the road.

 

Maybe I missed it. Where are you getting oil from. Did you prime turbo. Are you sure the line is blocked with debris.

Running hot. What is your timing set at. What about idle speed what is the rpm. Turn fans on sooner. Explain how you filled car with coolant.

 

The feed line is coming off my oil filter housing where the block off plate used to be and yes, it is definitely not blocked, it has great oil pressure out the end. And the way I filled my system up was filling the radiator up then filled up as much as I could from the upper radiator hose. Once full I started the car with the cap off and waited for it to open the t-stat. Once it did and the fluid started dropping I filled it as it was dropping till it was completely full. Then put the cap back on and called it good.

 

Idle speed is roughly 900-950 rpm and im not sure on timing. My tuner loaded a startup tune. At idle my wideband reads 14.5-15.2 and under boost its very rich at like 10.5 or so but I havent even had the car in gear since I got the turbo back from precision.

 

Any chance there was oil left over in the down pipe?

 

x2, did you check your down pipe?

 

When I removed the turbo to send it to precision about 3 weeks ago my entire cold side was spotless (the problem was on the exhaust side of the turbo) and as far as I could tell there was absolutely nothing in my downpipe but the turbo was absolutely mutilated on the inside. Once I reinstalled it 2 days ago I had just changed the oil so it has zero run time. (Precision said oil contamination) but I think that is either just something they say or it was the previous owner. And the plugs look good as well just to give more info.

 

I was having cooling issues on my set up at idle as well. So far switching to a SPAL fan has helped a good bit. It will hover around 210 in 90* weather. If it is only at idle it might just be those fans or airflow to the radiator is insufficient.

 

Okay UPDATE!!!!!! My father came up today to help me out for a bit and with his extensive experience with older cars/ equipment he was able to almost immediately tell me what the smoking problem was which is something I never even thought of. My vacuum modulator on my th400 (which is new) obviously has a torn diaphragm and it was sucking tranny fluid into the intake. It kills me I never thought of it but obviously those old hot rod guys still know what they are talking about and im still ignorant with non electric trannys. The cooling system is still an issue but ive finally got my motivation back and want to know what the best 10" fans that will throw out the most power is. Please put a link or part number. Thanks!!!!

 

It is going to depend on how much room you hve but my 1050 cfm spal fans put out easily double the air that my old 800 cfm eBay fans did. I am very impressed with them.

 

How did you wire them up? My current fans I was able to just wire up to the factory fan location. Are you able to do that with them?

 

I just ran the trigger wire to a relay and they work off the factory computer.

 

I used Taurus fan with volvo controller and it runs 190 at idle on 90*day

 

^^^This has worked with many import guys that have limited engine bay space. I have never used them but one of my buddies is a big volvo guy and swears by the Volvo S60 fans which allegedly provide 1500+ cfm and can be purchased in "slim" configuration.