Is this a good idea? Would it help the turbo run any cooler?

Ive seen that on dsm drag cars i believe, only works for short term..

If the coolant was ran through another cooler before the turbo, would it lower mean operating temperatures in the turbo over what the regular cooling system is already doing?

That's what I was thinking but to what capacity idk

First of all is a cooler running turbo better ?

I have to ask the question, are you experiencing any problems? It sounds like you are trying to create a fix for a problem that doesn't even exist.

The purpose of using water in the first place is not only to allow the bearings and other equipment to run "cooler", but to allow the oil to perform its primary job which is bearing lubrication and not both bearing lubrication AND heat dissipation at the same time.

See, contrary to popular belief, the purpose of the water cooling jackets on these turbos (both OEM & aftermarket) is to minimize the heat transfer (an exogenric effect) from the turbine housing into the actual cartridge. This is why in some platforms you see people disconnect the water lines on GTX or GT-R series turbos and say that power ran the same without the lines. (One person said its "better", but I highly doubt it actually was at all..)

Running different line setups for a 1-2 degree lower temp is really not going to make any difference than what you already have set up. Even at standard temps, the water (or ethyl glycol or any combination thereof) the water temp in the jackets doesn't really matter as the car is running. Its when the car shuts down, when that transfer effect occurs from the turbine housing to the cartridge, that matters. By then, the temperature of the coolant at the radiator and lines will be increasing anyway (since there's no air cooling the water through the radiator), but still cool enough to minimize any damage to the cartridge (oil coking on the bearings mainly) during that shut down.

This is why on OEM cars water is used on turbochargers regardless of bearing system. because they know most "commuters" start the car drive, shut it off without cool down, and walk away.

So, really.. using an Air to water I/C just for the purpose the water jackets is really not going to help you at all.

Here's a small whitepaper on this transferring effect. Its focus is on Aftermarket water-cooled turbos, but the principals are the same.

http://www.turbobygarrett.com/turbob...er_Cooling.pdf

On the contrary , I am wondering of any way to improve current set up. Not trying to create an answer for an imaginary problem. I would have to monitor oil temp. I just wanted to know of any difference it could make. Reliability longevity etc

I understand oil and water set ups as I owned a subaru which has an oil temp moderating cooler/heater. Oil to water

It is merely a question I thought was worth asking and not a million dollar investment .

All you're cooling is the center cartridge and 185 degree water is more than cool enough to accomplish that.

Not to repeat myself, but are you experiencing longevity problems with turbochargers?

Further cooling the water entering the center section to only be reheated again by the turbo/oil within it, and/or the rest of the cooling system as soon as it enters the engine again sounds counterproductive. Specifically if you lower the coolant temperature below the actual thermostat temperature (as it would be immediately returned to temperature.)

If your intent is to lower coolant temperature, a lower temperature thermostat might be your anwser as it is much simpler, but will be reducing temperature throughout your entire cooling system. Not something I recommend to my clients as I find the stock thermostat and temperature adequite for the types of builds that I do.

Not that I am a fan of it, but look how many oil only turbo setups(PTE, holset, old garrett aireasearch ect) are running around.

I seem to be needing a turbo rebuild every season. To put it in perspective with 185* water temp I guess it wouldn't make much more sense. I run amsoil high zinc, albeit on standard thrust bearing.

I am starting to work with als, and that's certainly not going to increase my turbo life. Maybe it's my turbo that should be upgraded.

I don't monitor oil temps now, and for an autocross car I don't know if it even makes

You already have a water cooler. Its your radiator. You dont need an addtional cooler to the turbo water lines. This should have no change on turbo life.

What is failing in the turbo causing you to rebuild it every season?

If anything, you may need a larger oil cooler but even then, the water cooled turbos are efficient enough to keep the turbo cool after you turn the car off.

That is not normal, regardless if you are on a jb or bb turbo. What exactly is failing within the turbo? What turbo? Stock or aftermarket oil feed and lastly is it fed from the head or oil filter housing?