Drilling Turbo oil lines on a TD42 N/A motor

[Lowy44]

In regards to fitting a turbo to a TD42 N/A motor, Has anyone thought about or done it, drilling the block for the turbo oil lines? Every thread I have read, all mention installing fittings to the sump. Is there any reason why you couldnt drill and tap a hole in the block where the turbo lines are fitted on the TD42T version motors? I am currently in the process of stripping a recently acquired N/A42 for inspection, and although I havnt got the sump of yet, I really cant see any reason why this could not be done.

Thoughts peoples?????

[MudRunnerTD]

Do you mean the return line? or the supply line mate? The return line normally goes back to the sump because the oil is Hot when its been used through the turbo and goes back to the pool to be cooled. The supply should be taken out of the side of the block from an existing bung.

Also obviously most are fitting the turbo to the running engine in-situ and dont have the luxury of a stripped down block. There should be a heap of available openings into the oil supply galleries down the side of the motor to take the supply from mate.?

[nissannewby]

I have thought about this myself. I wouldnt advise it. Being that it wasnt cast in the block to start with then drilling and tapping the block for your return could muck with the integrity of the block itself. I have always removed the sump when fitting oil drains to them.

[Lowy44]

MudrunnerTD, I'm refering to the turbo oil drain line. I'll have a look at the block today to see if there is any casting in which this may be possible. I would have thought that on the TD42T versions, the threaded hole would be where there is a raised section in the casting, and assuming the blocks are casted the same, that thecasting would be there on a N/A42?

[nissannewby]

Looking at both my patrols one NA and the other a T the blocks do look slightly different. The T block looks to have more ribs in it as such. Will be interested to see how you go keep us posted.

[AB]

The T block had a drain plug but I would be very surprised if your N/A motor had a plug for the drain. Mine didn't and I punched a hole in the sump as mentioned above.

Some people put a T piece on the alternator drain but I'm not too keen on that myself with pressure build up.

Have a look anyway mate and let us know. The plug near the LH front engine mount is oil feed, the plug LHR of the block is water drain, I don't think there is anymore plugs on the LH of the block for N/A.

Take a photo of your block too and post it up...

[Lowy44]

AB, I'm taking about whether or not the N/A block has a raised section in the casting where the plug would normally go on a T block.

I can post a pic up as soon as I get it, can someone post a pic of the LHS of the T block to compare?

[AB]

I'm 99.999% sure it does mate just no plug of course. I will check mine tonight when I get home.

[Lowy44]

These are the castings I was talking about. I reckon the lower casting could be drilled and tapped to suit, and be utilised for the turbo drain.

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy173/lowy44/TD42/30Turbooildraincastingphotobucketupload.jpg

[MC97GQ]

Lowy44,

On my TD42, which has an after market turbo fitted, toward the front of the motor on the alternator side are two holes that were used to run oil lines for the turbo.

Mine doesn't have the oil cooled alternator, so you should be able to use them, I will try to get a photo up some time to show what I am talking about. But if you look at the block you should see where I mean.

I hope this helps

Mark

[MC97GQ]

Hi Lowy44,

Here's what I was talking about.

Mark

22186

[Lowy44]

These look like the ones you've got. Is the larger port the return and the smaller one the supply?

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy173/lowy44/TD42/9ACpumptopmountloosenedphotobucketupload.jpg

[MC97GQ]

Hey Lowy44,

Yeah that's right mate the small one goes to the oil feed on top of the turbo housing and the larger one from the bottom.

Hope this is of help

Mark

[davo94]

nice work.. Just in the process of starting a t coversion

[Diesel-Mate]

Yeah I put a turbo on my td42 and went for drilling and welding a pipe into my sump, would not opt for anything else. It's not that hard to remove your sump... The spot where you are thinking of drilling will proberly be a pressurised oil gallery so your going to blow your turbo.

[MC97GQ]

Yeah I put a turbo on my td42 and went for drilling and welding a pipe into my sump, would not opt for anything else. It's not that hard to remove your sump... The spot where you are thinking of drilling will proberly be a pressurised oil gallery so your going to blow your turbo.

Hey Diesel-Mate,

Would there be a problem using the take off points for the oil cooled alternator as I mentioned in my original post. If so, I would hate to give someone a bum steer.

What are your thoughts.

Mark

[Diesel-Mate]

Your only trying to help :) Well you can use those returns as you mentioned but I wouldn't recommend it as you will have two devices draining from one tube so there is potential for a bottle neck occurance and a blown turbo. There are heaps of people running it like that without problems what so ever but I would prefere a vertical drain straight into the sump. A turbo only needs a mist spray of oil to work properly and a good drain so seals don't leak.

[AB]

Your only trying to help :) Well you can use those returns as you mentioned but I wouldn't recommend it as you will have two devices draining from one tube so there is potential for a bottle neck occurance and a blown turbo. There are heaps of people running it like that without problems what so ever but I would prefere a vertical drain straight into the sump. A turbo only needs a mist spray of oil to work properly and a good drain so seals don't leak.

x 2 with me.

I got told to run it through the alternator too and a lot of turbo places do it but surely it would back up.

You want the oil to drain out fast and I ended up tapping a hole in the sump as well.

[MC97GQ]

Your only trying to help :) Well you can use those returns as you mentioned but I wouldn't recommend it as you will have two devices draining from one tube so there is potential for a bottle neck occurance and a blown turbo. There are heaps of people running it like that without problems what so ever but I would prefere a vertical drain straight into the sump. A turbo only needs a mist spray of oil to work properly and a good drain so seals don't leak.

Hey mate in my original post I made the recommendation based on the fact I don't have the oil cooled alternator. If you dont have the oil cooled alternator would there be a problem using those take off points.

Regards

Mark

[Diesel-Mate]

Yeah you could but I would be still going for a sump drain as you want the oil to drain from the turbo as fast as possible. You don't want any build up in the turbo. Also tapping of the alternator drain lug is only possible with a high mount turbo setup as a low mount turbo will have to force the oil up hill to the drain. Go for a sump drain as you won't have to worry about it.

[huey_gq]

Has anyone got any pictures of the turbo drain barb that you tap / weld into the sump. What size diameter is the tube? 10, 12mm??

[AB]

Hey mate I'm using the phone so can't give a link but have a look at the DIY thread about putting turbo on td42 na conversion. It shows pics of my install.

Not sure if I showed sizes but it was bigger than 12mm. More like 14-16 i think. Bigger is better to get the hot oil out. I'll measure mine when I get home in a few days if no one gets back to you here or that other post doesn't have the exact size.

[huey_gq]

Thanks mate, that would be very helpful. I have the motor out all stripped down ready for the rebuild. I'm not putting a turbo on right now but i will be in the near future. It would be a good time to get the sump side of the job done considering i couldn't get the sump off with the motor in.

[threedogs]

All the ones I've seen done goes into the sump. Quick easy, no fuss. This ranged from Comp to Daily drivers. Never saw a problem

[huey_gq]

Yeah i think i will be heading down that path, i just dont know what size to put in there.

[AB]

You could also just measure the dia of the oil drain pipe that comes off the turbo and match that to the barb and bobs your auntie. No point in going bigger than that.

[nissannewby]

Normally they are 5/8 or 16mm

[huey_gq]

Yeah, well I haven't got the turbo or anything yet. So I can't measure that. I'm going to take your word for it and use 5/8 or 16mm. The engine rebuild has cost a fair bit with all the little extras I have found that need replacing along the way. At least I found out why there was an awful clunky shudder on take off at low revs. The rubber engine mounts had totally separated on both sides!!!

[TurboOne]

Drill and tapping the sump is about a 5 minute job and if you stuff it up, its only the cost of a new sump, not a new block.

[Dales300exc]

I drilled and tapped a barb into a truck block to maintain a factory breather drain (newer engine, older truck) worked a treat and never had a problem.

In saying that, normal aftermarket turbo drain would be the sump, by far the easiest.