turbo stock h22 question

[jimmybean21]

This past weekend I was hanging out at a couple hangout and I met this guy with a boosted prelude. I got to talking to him and he told me he's running 15psi daily on a stock motor. He said all he had to do was upgrade the external wastegate spring. Car was tuned by joe tempest. Is that actually safe or could it damage something?

[deevergote]

15psi on an stock F or H is asking for trouble. Obviously, it can be done... but I wouldn't expect higher than 10psi to last for very long!

Things like the condition of his engine, the parts he chose, and how well it has been tuned will also come into play.

Also, you have to wonder how often he hits 15psi. MRX used to have his setup so he could drive around out of boost for normal driving (and get 32mpg in the process), and I think he hit up to 14psi on his F22... which did eventually blow. 15psi for a few seconds every other day is probably less harmful to the engine than a small turbo putting out 6psi during daily driving.

[mozzandherb]

I would not recommend running 15psi on a stock h22. Yes, like Deev said it can be done no problem, but the risks is there. I've been running 8psi on a stock h22a for 2 summers and it only took 2 summers for something to go wrong. Considering I do drive my car hard at the track, two summers is not that long. Tuning does come into play, but regardless pushing your motor that much will eventually take its toll.

[deevergote]

I'm probably going to be boosting my tired old block... but that'll be while I'm building another on the side. I pretty much expect it to blow (and I won't be running more than 6-8psi myself)

[PR CB7]

remember 15psi on a t25 and 15psi on a t61 are two completly different stories

first find out what turbo he's running since he's talking about internal wastegate, he's probably small
on a h most guys do to4 t3/t4 etc, so 15psi is asking for trouble on a stock
JDM H

also since its a prelude it could have 3 possible engines
being that you didnt specify, im going to go w a usdm H
15psi is not that big of a deal

he could have been h23 or f22, then 15 really aint shit

also with a good tuner you can do wonders (700whp f20c)

[deevergote]

The F20C's internals are more robust than that of an old H or F, though. The F22A1's compression is certainly 15psi-friendly, and the H23A1's compression is relatively low as well... but these old engines with their cast aluminum guts still won't hold up to 15psi for very long!

Most people with unbelieveable turbo reliability claims are basing it on a very short period of time. I bet this guy has been boosted for a month. If he's still running strong at 15psi in 2 years, I'll be impressed. Until then... I'm waiting for the boom.

[jimmybean21]

Thanks for the input guys I personally only plan 2 run 7psi when I do mine. It just really caught me off gaurd when he said he was running 15psi. I didn't even ask him what engine he had but he just got it tuned on 15 like last month making 310whp..

[MRX]

Also, you have to wonder how often he hits 15psi. MRX used to have his setup so he could drive around out of boost for normal driving (and get 32mpg in the process), and I think he hit up to 14psi on his F22... which did eventually blow. 15psi for a few seconds every other day is probably less harmful to the engine than a small turbo putting out 6psi during daily driving.

Just for clarification, I only ever went up to 10psi. Any higher and I would have had to switch the stock map sensor out. Also, the motor never really blew. The turbo seals were going and as a result it was burning about 3 quarts of oil a month. Couldn't replace the turbo or the oil fast enough therefore the lack of oil caused the rod bearings to disintegrate. Compression tests were always fine and the pistons were pretty pristine for having over 200k miles on them.

[deevergote]

Just for clarification, I only ever went up to 10psi. Any higher and I would have had to switch the stock map sensor out. Also, the motor never really blew. The turbo seals were going and as a result it was burning about 3 quarts of oil a month. Couldn't replace the turbo or the oil fast enough therefore the lack of oil caused the rod bearings to disintegrate. Compression tests were always fine and the pistons were pretty pristine for having over 200k miles on them.

See what happens when you disappear forever? I forget the details!

[h22sparkle]

I blew mine first thing youll start to notice is oil going past the rings before anything else. Even a headgasket issue wont occur before those rings jack and thats a fact. the pistongs will be okay its those rings and ringlands mostly rings though.

[deevergote]

Some people have managed to keep a low-boost stock block setup working for a while... but it depends largely on both the condition of the engine (and they are old engines...) and the quality of the tune. It's a gamble.